ACCORDING to Dublin-based economist David McWilliams, there are thousands of young Croatians packing their bags and heading for work in the south's capital city.
The article depicts the Croatians as hungry, ambitious, well-educated and in love with Dublin. They’re even writing songs about the Republic, depicting our neighbours as the land of milk and honey.
Recently I was in Dublin competing in my 4th Ironman triathlon of 2016 - along with 2,500 athletes completed a course of over 70 miles by swimming, biking and running. Over 10,000 people lined the streets as the race weaved in and out of the city.
I've been a regular visitor to Dublin over the course of the last 15 years and more particularly in the last few, as our company GDP Partnership set an office up in the city centre to try and help those who were struggling with property debt.
Over the last number of years it has seen more than it’s share of economic troubles but today Dublin is flourishing.
As I cycled through the city I was nearly envious of the quantum of cranes and development sites that are now well under way and buildings that are coming out of the ground. The city was thronged with people. In addition, it’s fair to say that the city will benefit from Brexit, adding to the Ireland’s lure to global tech finance and corporates.
I later pondered as to where Northern Ireland currently sits amidst this progress and economic buoyancy of our neighbours? What does Northern Ireland in this current state of flux offer our young people?
With the constant negativity surrounding our institutions and the recent Brexit development, it’s becoming much harder to pitch a case to our young people to remain at home.
In the year 2000, I packed my own bags and set sail for Sydney to get some work, play football and drink bottles of beer around Bondi beach. It was the best of times.
The Devine clan is still well represented in Australia - my youngest brother has made the eastern suburbs of Sydney his home for the last 16 years and is now flourishing as a residential estate agent in the property game. He’s married to an entrepreneur from Co Down who runs a thriving business in Bondi Beach.
In fact,the last time I counted, there are over 200 people who originally came from my home town Cookstown who have decided to leave these shores and try and set up a more positive life for themselves in Australia.
The talent drain from Northern Ireland over the last 10 years has seen thousands depart for USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and recent data would suggest that this trend shows no sign of abating.
As we made the successful transition from troubles to peace, I am suggesting we must now work extra hard to find a way to make this place not only attractive to tourists and the occasional direct foreign investor but to our friends, family and neighbours.
We need to rethink our offering here, and fast. If we are to encourage our young people to want to stay, work and live here, then we need to very urgently address many of their concerns.
It’s very clear to see, that in Dublin, immigration alone is telling us that they are doing something right only 100 miles down the road. We might only be a couple of hours away by car, but they are evidently light years ahead of us in many other areas. It’s time we all started to get our collective act together here, don't you?
:: Conor Devine (conor@gdpni.com) is principal of GDP Partnership (@GDP_Partnership) which provides services across asset management, bank mediation, restructuring, corporate finance and real estate advice.
