DUBLIN researchers are to create a guide for coping with emigration by drawing on the experiences of those who have already left home.
Crosscare Migrant Project launched a survey of recent emigrants this week amidst claims that emigration is “one of the most challenging things that any person can undertake”.
“Unfortunately emigration looks like it will be a feature of Irish life into the future,” said Joe O’Brien, Crosscare’s Policy Officer.
“This survey is about finding out about the strength of our recent emigrants and the practical ways they have coped with the emotional upheavals involved – all with a view to better informing and preparing future emigrants.”
The charity hopes to use the results to create a short “emigrant-driven” guide for coping with leaving home.
Its announcement follows reports in The Irish Post that hundreds of Irish people in Britain are in the grips of “suicidal crisis”.
Suicide-prevention charity Console said new emigrants represented the “vast majority” of the 2,200 calls its London office received in December from people contemplating taking their own life.
Mr O’Brien said Crosscare wanted to know if current emigrants are suffering isolation and neglect in their adopted countries as previous generations have.
The survey will be open until the end of May and is aimed at anybody who left Ireland since 2009, including those who have returned home.
It covers individuals’ coping mechanisms, emotional supports, homesickness, as well as their positive experiences of emigration.
The survey also asks participants to assess their mental health before they left, during the process of emigrating and today.
The most recent statistics show that Britain was the most popular destination for emigrants in the 12 months to 2013, when the number of people leaving Ireland hit its peak since the 2008 financial crisis.
Some 21,900 Irish people came to Britain in that period, the equivalent of 60 per day.
