[caption id="attachment_69444" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Minister Michael Noonan."]
Irish finance minister Michael Noonan has opened a political Pandora's box with a view of emigration that is at distinct odds with the experiences of many, if not most of those, who are presently departing Ireland.
Speaking last week after Ireland was given the nod of approval by the so-called "troika" behind the Republic's bailout, Noonan referred to "lifestyle choices" as the reasons for many people leaving the island.
Renewed large-scale emigration has been a consequence of the severe economic downturn in Ireland in recent years.
Noonan, who has several of his own children living outside the country, said - and in an echo of the late Fianna Fáil minister Brian Lenihan's similar remarks 25 years ago -, that Ireland was "a small island" and that many young people "simply want to get off a small island."
And he continued: "A lot of people go to Australia, it's not being driven by unemployment at home, it's driven by a desire to see another part of the world and live there. I have five adult children, three of them living and working abroad. I don't think any of the three could be described as an emigrant.
"It was a free choice of lifestyle and what they wanted to do with their lives. And there are a lot of families like that.
"There are other people being driven abroad all right," he conceded under questioning. "By and large, what happened with the collapse of the building industry has driven a lot of forced immigration."
Noonan's words set off a storm of criticism, most especially from opposition parties.
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald said the remarks showed how out of touch the minister was. She compared the comments to those of ex-tánaiste Mary Coughlan, who was, according to an Irish Examiner report, "rounded on by Fine Gael (Mr. Noonan's party) and Labour for saying emigration was a "lifestyle" option.
When Fianna Fáil's Coughlan made her remarks, in a BBC interview in 2010, Fine Gael responded by saying that it "could have no confidence in a minister who showed such an alarming disconnect."
Current tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore, who is leader of the Labour Party, came to his cabinet colleague's defense, however.
"I think his (Noonan's) comments have been misinterpreted and I think the reality is that people who emigrate - some emigrate by reason of choice, that's fair enough - but there are very many people for whom emigration has not been a choice but has been as a result of the fact that they cannot get employment here."
All was not opposition criticism. Noonan was actually defended by Fianna Fáil front-bench TD Niall Collins who said that the minister had been "wrongly portrayed" as an "uncaring individual."
"He did not deserve the criticism he got. When you take his comment in the full context in which it was given, the criticism he got was unfair.
"From knowing him politically, he is not a man who is unaware of the hardships facing families who see their sons and daughters forced to emigrate. What he said is being taken as a glib, irresponsible remark, when taken out of context," said Collins who, like Noonan, represents a Limerick constituency.
