Oral Space and exchanges: how has Ireland's economy impacted migration?

SPACES AND EXCHANGES

I am going to talk about the notion of Spaces and Exchanges. I will give you a definition of it. This notion deals with the geographical and symbolic areas that all societies occupy and the interactions between men and different societies. Our world is built on the exploration and conquest of new spaces. The different cultural, economic, sociological and language interactions have shaped and characterised our modern-day world.

This year, in class we studied various documents about spaces and exchanges and in particular about emigration.

How has Ireland’s economy impacted migration?

To answer this question, I will give a plan in two parts. Firstly, I talk about the decline of the economy which is the cause of emigration. In the second part, we will see that during the economic boom, people come to this country that becomes a magnet: the “Celtic Tiger”.

I/ The decline of the economy causes emigration

In the first time, we can see that emigration started in the early 1950s thanks to the painting “Emigrant Journey, National Journey” painted by Bernard Canavan, a painter who emigrated from Ireland to live in Ireland to live in London in the 1960s, where he worked as an illustrator. His painting represents the history of the Irish Diaspora in England. The Irish people emigrate because have unemployment, poverty, lack of opportunities and even famine.

Next, in the second document, an interview called “Emigrants’ memories” we hear Irish people interviewed explain the reasons that made them leave. Most people left because there were no facilities, no job opportunities, no money and no hope in Ireland. The Irish were surprised when they were told about the Boom that touched Ireland.

Then, the document 3 called “Brooklyn” is a movie which was realized by John Crowley which shows us the journey of a young Irish girl who had to leave her country to work in the United States. In the movie, we find the push and pull factors of emigration in Ireland. She feels various feelings like homesick but she is happy and in love of Antonio Fiorello.

Finally, the fourth document is entitled “Tis a memoir”, it is an extract of novel that was written by Franck Mc Court. This extract talks about the arrival of an Irish to New York and the stereotypes that the New Yorkers on Irish have.

We can link this document with the movie “Brooklyn” because in the movie, Eilis leaves his country, Ireland to go to the USA.

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