A chara, – Fintan O'Toole suggests many of us lean on Plan B and emigrate to fulfil our goals. He says we're "brilliant" at fecking off ("What makes us world champions at fecking off", Opinion, December 31st). It was never my intention to "feck off" and I have every hope of returning when opportunity allows it.
Young people today are torn between choosing the dole or emigration. Wouldn’t we better service our country if we gained experience wherever we could and brought it home once we’ve built up sufficient expertise to be valued on Irish soil?
I agree, the Government needs to take action to prevent emigration from being the only answer to Irish ambition. However, emigration is not a wilful demonstration against the State. Plenty of countries wave farewell to their youth and Ireland is no different.
What would really serve the State is if we stopped slating ourselves and realised we’re not in an exclusive position. Every nation has its struggles and historical baggage. In fact, emigration is one of the best ways to discover this. It invokes a strong national identity because suddenly we realise other developed countries are failing too.
People are people wherever you go and they all have similar complaints. Emigration is not to be sneered at. It offers the young a chance to kick-start their careers and I believe many will come home to inject that skill into the economy in the future. – Yours, etc,
NATASHA BROWNE,
Woodford New Road,
London, England.