Emigration in Ireland in the 1950s - Assignment Example

Emigration in Ireland in the 1950s Introduction The Irish state came into being in 1922 when its war of independence was ended by the Anglo-Irish Treaty that declared Ireland a Free State. Ireland has 32 counties and 26 of these belong to the Irish State. The Ireland constitution that governs the land was drafted in 1932 and it was named after the country. It ended its membership as a British Commonwealth member in 1949 and became a republic. It consequently joined the European Communities in 1973. During independence the Irish economy was one of the best in Europe and it boasted to have a running economy and much hope of improvement in the future. However, due to its interaction with Britain while under its rule, it inherited the same problems that were ailing majority of European nations. These problems included Emigration, unemployment; uneven Geographical development in the young country and a native industrial base was lacking which showed it needed to venture more into industrialization to achieve better goals (University College Cork, Ireland). These problems made the country to lag behind and especially due to the economic constrains that were hitting many parts of Europe, people started to migrate to better part that could guarantee them a better living. The migrations peaks recorded in the Irish history were in 1950s. During this time the Irish economy had retarded and due to the fact the living standards became worse. Emigration in Ireland led to the population falling drastically by almost 50% over the years and the country is still recovering from that. The Emigration debacle started to decline in the late 1980s when the economy became better. This work will address the emigration patterns in the 1950s in the Ireland and establish the causes together with the effects caused by the emigration process to the state we have today Reasons for Migration Ireland has been classified as one of the countries which have been affected a lot by emigration. In the 1950s it lost more than 20% of its population and the consequences were devastating ranging from reduced man power to run the industries to lack of market for its processed goods. The destination of the emigrants has been identified to be North America, New Zealand, Australia and Britain who took the large share while few others were located to have moved to other European countries as well as the United States (Miller, 1988). The period in the 1950s has been identified as the worst moment or the moment of doom and gloom in the history of Ireland. It is a decade that succeeded the great famine and so the economy of the country was crawling on its knees. On 1949, The Irish state had become a republic thereby disengaging itself from the umbrella of the British Commonwealth. At this time it was struggling to get an identity in Europe and so with the financial crisis that had hit many parts of Europe, it was no exception (Miller, 2001). The Irish economy mainly relied on Agriculture at that time and since it was declining many people were affected and they found it not sufficient to sustain their living. They therefore sought to get better ways of making a livelihood which included migrating to other parts of the world where they could get life more appealing (Wagner & Miller, 1998). The Impact of Withdrawal from the British Commonwealth In 1949, the Irish State withdrew from the British Commonwealth after becoming a republic. Due to this, the effects of its withdrawal were far reaching. First there was no finance to develop the industries and so majority of them failed rendering majority of the people who were working in them jobless (University College Cork, Ireland) Second due to the migration of people, the state failed to dedicate enough effort to sustain the development of the industries after there were no small scale farmers abandoned their tools and deserted. This led to many people in the age bracket that is specifically able to work being jobless. The toughest years in the emigration period were between 1949-1956 and in that period the Irish economy rose by a meager 8% which was mainly attributed to the lack of people to work and boost the economy (Barrett, 1999). At the same period the average national income in Europe rose by 40%. So the young people realized that because their country could not guarantee them employment they had to cross the Irish Sea and seek for better venture over the other side. Approximately more than half a million Irish left the country in that one decade. It was estimated that three of every five children who were brought up in that period migrated at one point of their lives to another part of the globe (Wagner & Miller, 1998). As Agriculture in the Western Part of the country continued to decline, migration became part and parcel of the people’s lives as it was one of the only ways that they could be secured of their weekly earnings to sustain their lifestyles (Gray, 2003). Impacts of the Emigration The emigration caused more tragedy to the country which had just become a republic. Due to the high rate of migration there were no people to sustain the industries with raw materials and with the government doing little to sustain the industries majority of them collapsed and the ones that were left could not develop (Barrett, 1999.Miller, 2001). This is one of the reasons that saw the national income of Ireland rise by a meager 8% during the period from 1949-1956 a period that the average rise in the national income for the other European countries stood at 40%. Emigration became part of the people’s livelihood and to sustain their living they had to move to other parts where job security was guaranteed. The trend further crippled the economy and it did not serve to make things better for Ireland (Barrett, 1999). The Irish people were used to receiving regular weekly wages when the times were better and so with the fall of the industries where they were used to getting their livelihood they could not cope with the new livelihood. In the period from 1950-1960, majority of the people in Ireland were not skilled (Barrett, 1999). The previous rule which had seen them being strongly under the British influence had not helped to improve on the education standards of the people. This meant that these people could not fit in the highly changing society which needed the people to have specific skills to be able to maneuver well in the job market (University College Cork, Ireland). This further facilitated to the emigration epidemic which left the country barely empty of the able people who could work and raise the economic status of the people (Gray, 2003). At this time the population of Ireland stood at around three million people and with more than half a million migrating it really created a dent on the economy (Kennedy, 1973). One positive impact of the emigration was the increase in level of production per farmer which rose by more than 50% despite the decline in number of workers. The higher yields were attributed to improvement in farming techniques and use of fertilizer in the farms. New varieties of crops and animals were introduced which further improved on the rate of production from the sector (Adams, 1980). Another important aspect that led to increased production was the increase in machinery which saw the number of tractors rise from 4500 in the whole country in 1946 to 39700 in 1961. This reduced the farmer to tractor ratio from 56:1 to 5:1 in 1961. Though the economy was suffering the government made efforts to spread electricity to the rural areas of the country (Gray, 2003). This led to the increase in the number of consumers from around 1000 in 1948 to 237000 in 1961. This was a great improvement in the whole sector and it led to the initiation of home based industries which further facilitated the improvement of the crippled economy (Kennedy, 1973). Ireland after the 1950s Emigration Ireland was slow to recover from the immigration catastrophe. First it embarked on improving the education standards of its people (Blessing, 1992). This would improve the economy of the country by providing skilled labor to handle its institutions and industries. Though emigration did not cease immediately by 1980s the economy had improved amicably (Kennedy, 1973). Conclusion Ireland suffered a lot due to the trends in emigration witnessed in the 1950s. This was due to the reduced labor force that was caused by the emigration of about half a million natives into other countries mainly being New Zealand, Australia and Britain. Agriculture was the main economic activity of the people who were mostly unskilled. On top of this agriculture was important in sustaining the activity of the industries which relied on the small scale farmers for raw materials. The high rate of emigration therefore had a negative impact on the agricultural field. However, due to the government’s effort it was able to raise the production per farmer by over 50% (Kennedy, 1973). New varieties of crops and animals were also introduced which improved the production amicably. Though these efforts were not enough to compensate for the labor lost due to emigration a new trend in production was cut clear and it helped in setting the new economy of the country. As he economy improved the rate of emigration reduced and some of the people who had migrated started moving back home (Kennedy, 1973). Bibliography Kennedy, E. R. 1973. The Irish: Emigration, Marriage and Fertility. University of Michigan Press, First Edition. Gray, B. 2003. Breaking the Silence: Emigration, Gender and the Making of Irish Cultural Memory. University of Limerick. Barrett, A. 1999. Irish Migration: Characteristics, Causes and Consequences. IZA Discussion, No. 97, December 1999. Irish Cabinet Notes on the Negotiations, 3rd December 1921. University College Cork, Ireland. Irish Emigration History. Wagner, P. & Miller, A. K. 1998. Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to American. California, Roberts Rinehart Publishers. Miller, K. 2001. Journey of Hope: Those of Irish Immigration to America. Middle bush: Chronicle Books, 1st Edition. Miller, K. 1988. Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America. London: Oxford University Press. Adams, W. F.1980. Ireland and Irish Emigration to the New World from 1815 to the Famine. Geneoalogical Publishing Company. Blessing, P. J. 1992. The Irish in America. Washington: University of America Press. Read More