The authors would like to see studies which would permit to examine and to forecast mobility within this category of worker. This article, which deals with both the historical and contemporary aspects of Irish emigration, shows that the determinants and consequences of emigration vary with social class, ethnic group and regional context. Emigration has resulted in a complete redefinition of the rural population map in Ireland. Emigration is as much the cause of rural peripherisation as its consequence. The author believes that recent emigration is not so much a voluntary act on the part of individuals as the response of a social class to the structural changes in the Irish economy, including the links between Irish and foreign labour markets.
Regional differences remain.
Most young Irish still go to England to take up jobs traditionally reserved for Irish immigrants. In a global integrated economy, international migration flows and capital flows are closely related. Capital flows suppose the migration of those who own these capitals or are responsible for their investment. Launched in the late 1970s, this programme became an integral part of the Canadian immigration policy. From 1980 to 1990, capital accumulation through immigration increased.