A Fás Jobs Ireland display in New York aims to lure emigrants back, writes Gabrielle Monaghan

For many of the hundreds of thousands of Irish people who left these shores during the economically barren years of the 1980s and early 1990s, Ireland evoked memories of queuing outside the US embassy for visas in a desperate bid for employment. While these papers often proved to be passports to a better life and career, nostalgia for home and the allure of its economic success are growing stronger.

This suits the Government just fine, because Ireland Inc wants its emigrants back, especially those who "made it" in the United States. Fás, the national training and employment authority, is resurrecting a campaign in New York to lure successful Irish emigrants and restless Americans to Ireland in a bid to ease the growing labour shortage at home.

The Fás Jobs Ireland Exhibition, last held in New York in 2002, will be staged again later this month to provide information to people considering a move to Ireland. The two-day event will showcase employment opportunities here and give advice about employment rights, visas and permits, taxation, healthcare and education.

"The Ireland of today is very different from the Ireland they left behind," says Gregory Craig, director of the event. "Visitors to the exhibition will be updated on the real issues that will affect them and their families."

The exhibitors lending advice will include Enterprise Ireland, Fás Jobs Ireland, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Construction Industry Federation, VHI Healthcare, the Revenue Commissioners, and the Western Development Commission (WDC).

The WDC, a State body that promotes economic and social development in the western region, described the exhibition as a chance to encourage Irish emigrants to move to the West by highlighting the lower cost of living, competitive property prices, job prospects and quality of life. Its "Look West" campaign has been running in Ireland since 2005.

Gareth Noonan and Sarah Butler are just two people who succumbed to the lure of the West. The couple moved to Ennis last year after living in the US for six years. Noonan now works as a market researcher for magico.ie, a web design and online marketing company based in the Co Clare town.

"There were quite a few appealing elements which enticed us to move home - free third-level education was a huge deciding factor," says Noonan. "Third level is not free in the States and it can cost up to half a million dollars to put two children through college." The move also allowed the family to spend more time together, according to Noonan.

"Ireland also offers longer holidays - having just two weeks' holidays each year in the States was putting a huge strain on the family," he says. "We just weren't getting enough time with the children. Sarah was working from seven in the morning until seven at night and heading back to work after just six weeks' maternity leave. That was extremely tough."

Businesses in the west of Ireland particularly need skilled and experienced staff to work in international services, manufacturing, medical devices and the public sector, says Dr Patricia O'Hara from the WDC.

Almost 75 per cent of the 1,016 people who responded to the "Look West" campaign in its initial three weeks held a third-level qualification, while some 66 per cent of the group was aged between 20 and 35.

The Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA) will also be exhibiting in New York in an effort to meet people with financial expertise, especially investment funds professionals, fund accountants, hedge fund accountants, client relationship managers and shareholder services staff.

Foreign financial services companies, led by hedge fund administrators, ranked as one of the biggest new employers in Ireland in 2005. Today, the investment funds industry in Dublin directly employs more than 8,000 people and this number is expected to double within the next five years.

Ireland's booming financial services sector is fuelling demand for more staff, according to the IFIA. Our investment funds industry grew 35 per cent last year, while the number of people employed in the industry climbed 13 per cent.

"Through the exhibition in New York we can tap into people who may be looking at moving back to Ireland to work in the investment funds area," says Deirdre Norris, the IFIA's director of marketing and communications.

"There is a wealth of opportunity, not just in Dublin's IFSC, but across the country in centres such as Kilkenny, Cork, Meath, Wexford, Waterford, Galway and Limerick."

More than 300 high-level jobs will soon become available in Limerick after Chicago-based Northern Trust announced last month that it planned to set up a second Irish fund administration operation at the city's National Technology Park.

In April, HSBC, the world's third-largest bank, said it would add up to 170 jobs in Dublin after it opened a European training and fund administration centre in the capital.

Ireland's expanding construction industry will also be represented at the exhibition, with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) available to provide advice on career opportunities in the sector.

The CIF says it is particularly eager to recruit project managers, quantity surveyors, engineering technicians and architects in a bid to meet market requirements over the next three years.

The Fás Jobs Ireland Exhibition will take place on October 20th and 21st at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel on 31st Street, 371 Seventh Avenue, New York.

For more details on the event, call Fás on 01-6070500.