Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. Are they now returning driving BMWs? Judging by a recent trend, the answer to this question is, probably, yes.

This topic was debated recently in an Irish pub in New York by the Irish Business Organisation and UCD. "The bad Irish economy forced many of us out of Ireland," said Janet Walsh, a lawyer on the UCD team which was against the motion. Her definition of snakes was "those who deserted when times were bad".

But Gareth Fitzgerald of the IBO, who won the best speaker award, said: "The Celtic serpents are back you can lead, follow or get out of their way."

Last year was the first time in many years Ireland recorded positive migration. Some 15,000 more people arrived in Ireland then went abroad. This compares favourably to the 200,000 people who left Ireland in the 1980s.

But the new band of returned emigrants are no longer just married people with small children who want to bring them up in Ireland. They are also educated, single, Irish people with good jobs abroad who want to return home.

"Up until the last 18 months, people moved back for family reasons. They were young families who missed the family nucleus at home," says Philip McGauran, an ex-Dub who has been living in New York for the past nine years and is president of an international marketing company, Belvedere Communications.

"Now it is single, educated people going back having settled here for several years. For them to make that decision is more difficult. But having moved up the corporate ladder, they're prepared to take that risk," he says.

One such returning emigrant is Jim Harrington (31) of Malahide, Co Dublin. "I came for the adventure and to progress in my career," he says. He has been working with Bankers Trust in Jersey City since 1994 and is now transferring back to its Dublin office as relationship manager for offshore funds. He didn't see too many opportunities in Dublin when he left and thought it might be difficult to get promoted. Moving to the US, however, meant moving up to the next level.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the US and learnt a lot, but lacked a family structure," he says. There is no doubt that the Irish who settled here have done well. "New York has opportunities. It is a dynamic, vibrant city," said Marian Curry from Mullingar who came here in 1988. She began to work in the marketing department of the Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue before becoming a marketing executive with Quikbook, a travel planners' hotel marketing company. Now, years later, the same criteria that enticed her to America are attracting her back to Ireland.

"Irish companies are growing. For me the timing is right to return now," Ms. Curry he says.

When at home for Christmas, she checked out the job scene and attended interviews. Before returning to Ireland late last month she had landed a job with a corporate design firm in Dublin called Source Design Consultants.

"I have great confidence in the Irish economy. It has always been a desirable place to live. Now it is more desirable with a booming economy," she said.

New York is a transient destination and many will testify to the fact that friends have come and gone over the years. However, the Irish tend to stick together.

Between the Glucksman Ireland House, which is a social, cultural venue for readings by authors, journalists and playwrights, the Irish Business Organisation which acts as a networking group for professionals and alumni committees from UCD, Trinity, Dublin City University and University of Limerick, there is no shortage of outlets. But still, experiencing a bit of Ireland in America is not the same.

There has been a big surge homeward now that the Morrison and Donnelly recipients have come of age. Many have lived in New York for five years or more and so are now entitled to US citizenship. Once they qualify, they leave.

There also have been people leaving due to new immigration laws which came into effect last year says Geraldine Ryan, programme co-ordinator of the Bronx office of the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre. "These are the most strict yet on illegal immigrants."

Many of the Irish who move to US do so because they won a lottery visa, were born here and it was what their parents did, or they already have family and friends here.

Bettina MacCarvill (27) moved to Chicago in November 1993 because both her brothers had been there before her. "I never really expected to look for a job after graduating in Ireland," she says "I got the Morrison visa and the timing made sense."

Unfortunately when she moved to Chicago it was experiencing the worst winter in 50 years. She had no job and nowhere to stay. But after temping for a while, she soon found a job with Daiwa Bank and later moved to New York. In 1996, Daiwa was thrown out of the US due to its fraudulent activities and its US operations were taken over by Sumitomo Bank of California. Last week, Sumitomo shut its offices in New York resulting in the loss of 120 jobs.

"I was planning to go back anyway but this speeded it up," says Ms MacCarvill. "I probably would have stayed one more year to fulfill my citizenship." But since her room-mate is also returning to Ireland she would have had to look for a new apartment in New York "and that is tough".

She saw a big change in Dublin when she was home at Christmas. "Everyone was so confident and more sophisticated than I remembered," she says.

Another person who is keeping her options open but is definitely going "cold turkey" is Maeve O'Reilly (35) who has been living in the New York for the past 12 years, although she only intended to stay one year.

Like many of the Irish before her she moved to Queens when she came here first. She found a job working for Ashford Hotels, an Irish-US company that is now defunct. She got the Donnelly visa in 1988 and moved into the sales and reservations side of the business.

"I loved the idea of working for a company that had the benefits of being in the US yet was selling Ireland. It was something I knew about and I felt Americans couldn't sell or market it as well as I could," she says. "I wouldn't have stayed if I didn't have that environment."

She initially lived with friends, then networked until her social circle built up. But she has decided to leave these friends behind as well as her job as executive assistant to the general manager of a bank, Credit Commercial de France. "Things at home seem to be improving. It's not the Dublin I left. There's more potential there and I think industry in Ireland will pick up because of the euro," she says. "US companies may invest there instead of going to the UK"

Her aim is to get a job with an American company. "I believe they might hire me because of my experience working in the US and their benefits and salaries are generally better," she says.

However, her return to Ireland is tinged with sadness. Her parents died three years ago and so the family home in Rathfarnham has been sold. Instead Ms O'Reilly will stay with a younger brother in Sandycove, Co Dublin. "I don't have a home address anymore, so it's sad for me," she adds.

She admits her decision to return is not carved in stone. "If I land on my feet, I'll stay for sure. I don't want to be back there struggling. If it doesn't pan out, I'll be forced to come back here and that's not the worst thing that could happen."

Like the other returning Irish immigrants, she'll test the climate at home and decide from there.

To quote Mr McGauran: "For centuries the Irish came, went and conquered. Now they are returning to the motherland. They are returning to the ultimate driving economy, driving the ultimate driving machine."