Hard Times Again Push Irish Youth Abroad

After two decades of boom, Ireland’s economy has faltered and Irish youth are once again looking to distant shores for opportunity, the Los Angeles Times reports. Experts predict up to a 7% contraction this year for an economy that posted double-digit gains not too long ago, and, like their forebears, young Irish are gazing toward Britain, Canada, and the US.

Exodus haunts Ireland’s history, with today’s population of 4 million only half what it was 150 years ago. Though the prosperity of recent decades spurred a small population boom, over-leveraging by banks and an overcooked property market threaten to send the isle’s youth packing. “Some of the top talent has been going overseas,” a career-agency exec says, “so our talent pool is shrinking.” (More Ireland stories.)