Dutch TV show will show the plight of Irish emigrants

A Dutch TV station plans to screen a hard hitting new program focusing on at the spike in emigration there from north Cork.

Growing concern about what is happening to Ireland's political, economic and social fabric is not exclusive to Ireland itself, it seems.

Saskia Dekkers, the European correspondent for the show News Hour, told the press that the Dutch people would be shocked by Ireland’s suddenly burgeoning emigration plight.

"In Holland, people emigrate because they want to. In Ireland it’s an economic necessity. Young people don’t have a choice," Dekkers said.

"We could clearly see some people were sad and depressed. You could sense they had suffered months of depression before making the decision to emigrate.

"The ones who are the least to blame for the economic crisis are the ones who are suffering most."

"A lot of people we spoke to blamed the Government. We were filming in north Cork for four days and I got the impression quite a lot of people won’t be voting for the government parties," Dekkers added.

The station told the press it hopes to do a follow-up program on what happens to the Irish people who emigrate.

The Dutch TV crew flew to Ireland after one of the station’s reps met Fine Gael candidate Tom Barry in Brussels.

"I was surprised when I got the call from them," Barry told the press. "At first I thought it was a wind-up. But it soon became apparent they were as concerned about the situation as I was. We need to be exporting our goods, not our kids."

Barry added that the fact that a Dutch television station was focusing on the Irish economic crisis and emigration illustrated how concerned fellow EU states had become about Ireland's current difficulties.