An end to Irish migration to the United States will be bad for Ireland, argues Niall O'Dowd
The effective end of Irish emigration to the US was brought closer by the failure of the immigration reform Bill to pass the US Senate last week.
While the focus has naturally been on the illegal Irish in America, the long-term cost of no Irish emigration to the US will be considerable and damaging to Ireland.
Efforts to revive the Bill are under way, but even were it to pass in its current form, it will represent a very porous vessel on a storm-tossed sea.
Put simply, there is no real provision in the new law for future emigration from Ireland other than a merit-based points system which would disperse a mere 200,000 visas a year among every country in the world. Ireland would be lucky to get a mere handful. It must be a key priority for the new Government to ensure that the links between Ireland and America are strengthened rather than fractured.
The beneficial power of the Irish diaspora in America will begin to decline as Irish communities across the US lose their cohesiveness.
Like generations of Irishbefore them they play a huge role in shaping the consciousness of millions of Americans about Ireland. As they fade away so will the first-line contact so critical to relations.
There are only 128,000 Irish-born in the US, down from 160,000 in 2000. Without ongoing emigration already Irish communities around the US are losing their shape.
The role of the diaspora in encouraging the American investment in Ireland which created the Celtic Tiger and also in securing the all-important American backing for the Irish peace process at critical stages was vital. The impact of Irish-American tourism on Ireland, while often the butt of jokes, is such that the tourism industry would be devastated were it to dip. With the exception of Israel no other country has such a readymade fount of influence and goodwill in the US, the most powerful nation on Earth. Yet it has been taken for granted for far too long by many in the mother country.
Take the annual brouhaha when government ministers go abroad selling Brand Ireland over the St Patrick's Day period. No other country has such a God-given opportunity to showcase itself worldwide, yet there are many who resent that it is done at all.
An Austrian diplomat told me that had Austria the same access to the White House, US government, politics and business as Ireland does and had millions of Americans who considered themselves part of an Austrian diaspora they would consider it a $50 billion a year gift.
Which is why the issue of the future flow of Irish to America must be made a priority as well as the fate of the undocumented living here. Since the 1965 immigration act legal Irish immigration has slowed to a trickle. Stop-gap solutions such as the Morrison and Donnelly visas schemes have now petered out.
In 2005 out of 1.1 million green cards issued Ireland received a little more than 2,000, a derisory number given the extraordinary contributions of the Irish over the centuries.
Precisely how and why Ireland failed to safeguard its access to the US is the stuff of history now but suffice to say it could have been done.
Many will argue that the newfound economic confidence in Ireland means emigration is no longer a salient reality. That is true, but it is also the case that no tree grows to the sky and the day may soon come again when people wish to emigrate.
Also, there are many who with typical Irish bravura would love to experience the American way of life but who now find the doors firmly closed to them because there is simply no legal way to emigrate.
What can be done? The Irish Government has a huge role to play. The Australian government recently negotiated 10,000 visas a year for Australian citizens to come and work in the US and 10,000 skilled Americans to settle in Australia.
The Fás job fair in Manhattan last year was attended by more than 6,000 Americans looking to work in Ireland, most of them highly skilled and badly needed. The irony is it is as difficult for Americans to work in Ireland as it is for Irish to work here.
Surely an Australian-type arrangementwould benefit both countries enormously and help replenish the bonds that are so vital to Ireland and now America.
It is time Ireland stopped taking its diaspora in America for granted and rebuilt the links that are becoming increasingly frayed.
The question needs to be asked, what is Ireland without its footprint in America? The future of the economy and the US-Irish relationship could depend on ensuring it remains.
• Niall O'Dowd is founder ofIrish America magazine andIrish Voice newspaper. His publications will host a conference on the diaspora in New York in November