Locals hope news will reduce emigration

Hundreds of new jobs are set to help cut the number of people who emigrate from small towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland, reports the Irish Independent.

Residents of the town of Inverin have received a boost after 220 jobs were created in the area, which has seen countless young people emigrate in the past few years. One town saw 14 young people depart in just one week for Australia last month. A number of the area’s small businesses have been forced to shut down due to the numbers of people leaving.

Nineteen-year-old Orla McGhee is in the second year at NUI Galway. The biomedical student said that she would love to find a job in Galway and welcomed the news about news work being created. She said they would enhance the chances of her finding work at home.

Local store owner Derek Kerrigan described the news as “fantastic”. He pointed out that emigration is affecting the area and his business. He said that in nearby Bealadangan, 14 young people left in a week, adding that it became hard to even field a football team.

The 220 new jobs will be created by Mylan, a pharmaceutical company that is investing as much as €76m per year in Ireland from now until 2016.