The last time I was flying from Ireland back to my new home in the US in the New Year, I almost didn’t get on the plane. Despite the fact I’d spent nearly half my life on either side of the Atlantic, and I’d taken that transatlantic journey more times than I can count, I nearly broke down in front of my parents as I went through the security checkpoint at Shannon airport. For the first time in three years, I cried to myself on the plane ride over.
 
You have to remind yourself when you’re heading back of all the logical arguments: “ah sure, you only saw the good side of home, when at Christmas everyone’s about and in good form” or “sure, look, Eoin, you wouldn’t have anywhere near the take home pay you enjoy in New York”. But after a while, those arguments grow stale and your mind starts turning to going back.
 
I’ve noticed among my friends that are immigrants - here in the US and in other countries - that most are trying to build a life independent of Ireland without any serious thoughts to returning home. For individuals like, me, though, it’s nearly like I’ve suspended my life for a while. I haven’t had a serious relationship since I left Ireland. Part of it is an, at least subconscious, view that I shouldn’t get into something here to add another hurdle to getting back.
 
I’m one of those lucky few that have dual citizenship, and I have family here in the US still. So when a family issue arose, and I had just finished a masters in London, I decided to move over and provide the moral support to get through the problem. A lacklustre trip home to find a job later, I ended up taking a position as a management consultant in the New York City area, a job I had been working towards since I left University College Cork in 2010. That job has afforded me some wonderful international work experiences and unparalleled economic opportunity, both of which would be hard to replicate on Irish shores. Transferring the skills and experiences I’ve built in the American corporate context to the Irish one is the key challenge facing me as I think of ways to get home but maintain my career momentum.

"The contemporary political party system and its corporate bedfellows failed [my generation] completely"

I’m truly happy that Ireland’s unemployment rate is officially lower than it’s been since I completed by undergraduate degree. But the Irish pessimist in me can’t help but not truly believe the numbers: are pharma companies really investing in Ireland like they used to? Do we have a genuine strategy to inject economic momentum into indigenous companies for the next 20 years? Have we lost the competitive advantage of a well-funded and expert third-level education system?
 
My biggest hope for Ireland is that it wakes up. I can’t help but marvel at the level of political engagement across the Irish Sea in Scotland and yearn for that energy at home. It’s my distinct view - and I would hazard to say, the view of my generation - that the contemporary political party system and its corporate bedfellows failed us completely. I read the news from home religiously, and find the parallels between the direct provision centres and the Magdalene laundries absurdly infuriating. I find the apathy given to public service even more so.
 
But I am hopeful that things can change. We are more educated than we have ever been. We are still a country of opportunity for many, and the generosity of the Irish is more alive than ever. My ultimate hope is that I return to an Ireland that has finally rejected the old symbols of conservatism: economic inequality, political nepotism, and religious deference. I hope that I instead find a country welcoming immigrants (both returning and new) with open arms, looking to harness the innovation of a global diaspora, and recreating a Republic equal to the visions our country had 100 years ago.
 
Eoin Hayes is a 26-year old Limerick-born management consultant based in Manhattan, New York. You can follow him on Twitter @Eoin_Hayes