Madam, – Dean Moore (April 19th) admonishes Cian Caffrey (April 18th) for recommending that a young graduate seek opportunities beyond these shores and argues that they should remain to “rebuild from the ashes the country of his birth”; to do otherwise he characterises as a cheat of the taxpayers’ investment in higher education.
Imminent redundancy and lack of opportunity in my profession are forcing me to emigrate in five weeks. There is no opportunity for me to either secure my future in this country or “rebuild from the ashes”. Even if such an opportunity existed I am reluctant to avail of it and condemn my family to suffering for the greed, knavery, and stupidity of sections and sectors of Irish society; they have denied me a future in my country of birth and I shall have no hand in securing theirs at either mine or my country’s expense.
Consequently, my wife and I leave for her country of birth, where we do not yet have either jobs or access to public assistance, but which does provide hope for a better future; it is optimism and not defeatism that motivates us. It is more than “better pay” and “sunnier climes” that we seek, but a society in which all citizens are afforded the opportunity to acquire a stake in society and contribute to its well being. Ireland neither provides such a future nor allows contribution to its development. – Yours, etc,