As more Irish emigrate to pastures new, St Patrick’s Day takes on a greater relevance, writes Andrew Farrell
The thousands of Irish of all ages (mostly young, though) who flocked to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup might disagree, but there are few if any better occasions to celebrate your Irishness than St Patrick’s Day.
After four years of seeing Ireland “in the hurt locker”, as my American friends like to say, it’s always worth taking advantage of any opportunity to showcase the best this tiny little island has to offer, especially if you’re one of those exiled to some of the farthest regions of the globe. Just type ‘celebrating St Patrick’s Day as an expat’ into Google, sit back and marvel at some of the wonderful destinations where people have been togging out in green for our national holiday.
And there are a lot of us. A recent report by Locus Insight states that emigration doubled between 2006 and 2011, and that now one Irish person is emigrating every seven minutes. In other words, every hour, nine families are left in tears at airports or ferry terminals across the country.
The Economic and Social Research Institute also reported in January that people were leaving Ireland at a rate of more than 1,000 per week, and that over 60,000 people will have emigrated by the beginning of this month. It’s estimated that a further 40,000 will pack their bags in 2013.
Most articles published on the theme of emigration highlight Australia and Europe as the top destinations for exiled Irish, and that the US – traditionally a favourite for many of us – will see a sharp decrease in intake.
An Ipsos MRBI/Irish Times survey of attitudes among recent emigrants showed that a majority of those who left are happier now than they were in Ireland, but 72 per cent said they would like to return home eventually. Just seven per cent said they would go home within the next year, and over half said they would in the next 2-10 years.
Here in Seoul, hundreds of Irish people and an assortment of other nationalities gathered for the annual St Patrick’s Day festival, run by the Irish Association of Korea.
This year there was no parade, but celebrations were held in a small amphitheatre outside one on the country’s busiest subway stations, with everything from Riverdance to U2 on display.
So what do the Irish make of life in South Korea. “I actually arrived here on St Patrick’s Day two years ago,” says Helen Kenny, a teacher in Seoul. “I was never too fussed about a big celebration back in Ireland.
“The nice thing about celebrating in Korea is that it gives you a connection to back home and you can take a day to celebrate your Irishness.”
Meanwhile, Ciaran Lynch, also a teacher, has been in South Korea for nearly three years and admits he has grown tired of the lifestyle.
“I’ll be leaving Korea at the end of the year, lots more places to discover,” he says. “I won’t be going home to Ireland though.
“It’s time to change. Korea has been good to me. I can’t see myself going back to Ireland though. There’s nothing for me there.”
Next year, a new raft of Irish teachers, students, business people and backpackers will celebrate St Patrick’s Day abroad – something we’d probably never do together back home.
Andrew Farrell works as an English language teacher in Korea.
