Irish emigrants opting against Australia

Irish citizens seeking to leave the Emerald Isle are increasingly deciding against Australia, suggests recent data showing the number of working visa applications.

In the 12 months leading up to 30 June last year, 11,996 Irish people travelled to Australia on first-year holiday visas, a drop of over 37 per cent on the previous 12 months, and 53 per cent below the all-time high of 25,827 recorded in 2011-2012.

The was also a significant fall in the number of Irish citizens who obtained ‘457 visas’, or temporary residence permits granted to skilled workers, according to Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Over the same 12-month period, 5,947 such visas were offered to Irish people, in comparison with 10,291 in 2012-2013.

Some analysts claim that the decline in visa numbers could either be an indication that the economy is on the up back home or that other countries are becoming more appealing. However, the data also reveals that some categories of Irish emigration in Australia continue to rise.

One such category, the number of people granted permanent residency, stood at 6,171 in 2013-2014, compared to 5,209 in 2012-13, while the number of Irish nationals granted Australian citizenship increased from 1,796 to 2,843 over the same period.

The large number of citizenships granted has been put down to the huge rise in emigration on the back of the Irish economic collapse in 2008.