Emigration to Ireland is a cause of real concern for Latvia, according to Andris Piebalgs, the country's EU commissioner in Brussels. His assessment is welcome for its honesty and should prompt careful reflection by all those who have benefited from the strong flow of Latvians to find work in Ireland over the last few years.
The figures are astonishingly high, as up to 40,000 Latvians may have found work here - perhaps one third of the 100,000 or so who have left their country since it joined the EU in May 2004. This is a large number of, for the most part young, active and well qualified people out of Latvia's total population of 2.3 million. They are missed all the more because Latvia is growing rapidly, if unevenly, and badly needs their expertise. But incomes are also very unequal, wages low, and prices far out of kilter with them due to high inflation. As Mr Piebalgs says, Latvians must tackle these problems if they are to avoid damaging their society by the loss of so much talent.
The Latvians who died in the Donegal car accident last month brought home some of these realities for Irish people. The tragedy left their families bereft - "all we have is debt, poverty and broken hearts", one of their mothers told a reporter from this newspaper.
In Ireland's rapid transition from an emigrating to an immigrating society over the last decade or so it has been all too easy to forget the former mindset as we adjust to the newer one. Emigration used to be regarded as a safety valve against social instability, a disaster for the social structure, an indispensable way to supplement family incomes or an opportunity for individuals to acquire new skills which could be applied at home when emigrants returned.
Even though the habit of comparison was undeveloped in the Ireland of the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s or 1980s when emigration was in full flow it can be seen in retrospect that Ireland's experience closely parallels that of other states. In particular the strong flow of people from Latvia, Poland and Lithuania since they joined the European Union in May 2004 shares many of these characteristics.
Examined closely, they look less contradictory than at first sight, because different social interests are at play. Emigration reduces rebelliousness among the socially disadvantaged. It drains society of youthful and often well educated talent. Remittances can sustain those who remain, but marginally so. When and if there is a chance for those who have left to return home they can be a valuable source of skills and energy. These common experiences should be recognised in both countries.