THE QUEUES of people considering emigrating began forming underneath the blue ensign flags and the posters of kangaroos, vineyards and beautiful sandy beaches shortly after 11am yesterday at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.
There were plenty of young mothers carrying babies, lots of fathers trying to keep toddlers quiet, and a few students eyeing up the stand advertising jobs for people with working holiday visas.
Some were happy to talk about their reason for considering emigration. Others, fearful of the reaction of employers or family, preferred to keep their own counsel.
By 5pm, several hundred people – most under 40, with good qualifications – had visited the Australian Information Days seminar, which offered free advice to people seeking a new life down under.
“We went on a working holiday visa to Melbourne and Sydney about a decade ago and we’re sorry we ever came back,” said Sandra Brooks, who attended the seminar with her husband Gerry.
Mr Brooks, who bought a family home in Drogheda because he couldn’t afford one in Dublin, has been unemployed since his multinational firm pulled out of the Republic about six months ago.
“I’m sending out lots of CVs every week. I’m willing to do any type of work, but I’m just not getting any responses,” he said. “I don’t think there is a future for us here, with lots of unemployment. We also want to emigrate for our children as much as ourselves.”
Christopher, an engineer with a wife and two children, is starting the visa application process. “I have a job, but a big driver for me going to Australia is that a lot of my friends are moving out with their wives and children . . . I’m also sick of the Government, the whole financial mess here, and healthcare is a disgrace,” he said.
“My wife’s grandmother died recently at 97 years of age . She lay on a trolley for a day in hospital waiting for a bed,” he said.
For Derek and Carla Kinlan, emigrating to Australia is a lifestyle choice.
“There aren’t great prospects here at the moment. But we’ve been incredibly lucky – I work for myself as a roof contractor and I still have work,” says Mr Kinlan, who travelled from Co Wicklow.
“We’ve been there before on a holiday working visa back in 1996 and on several holidays since. The kids love it and I think there will be better prospects for them in Australia,” said Mr Kinlan, who thinks the family’s visa application could take up to two years to complete.
Those attending had a range of skills. There were engineers, therapists, lawyers, builders and even a chef, seeking to speak to experts from the Australian government, recruitment companies and firms specialising in visa applications.
“We’ve had a phenomenal response to the seminars we have organised to mark Australia Day this week,” said Liz O’Hagan, founder of Australian Visa Specialists, which organised the seminar.
“More than 400 people pre-registered for today’s seminar, 280 registered for Saturday’s seminar and we have a series of smaller meetings this week,” she said.
Standing beside a huge poster advertising Adelaide, Alice Whittington, business development manager of the South Australian government, said Adelaide offered emigrants a Mediterranean climate, a low cost of living and jobs.
“We are seeing a lot of interest from skilled migrants from Ireland, which fits our requirement for attracting people with skills in health and engineering,” she said.
The number of Irish people granted residence visas to live in Australia increased by 25 per cent last year to 2,501. A further 22,786 people under 35 years of age took up working holiday visas.