Vancouver, Haven for Ireland's Young?

Johnnie Fox's Irish Snug is fittingly named. The tiny bar is crammed between two typical Granville Street haunts, and inside it has the cozy feel of a Dublin pub. On a Wednesday afternoon, the bar buzzes with Irish accents, clinking glasses, and traditional Celtic music.

Brian Cox, the lone bartender, moves quickly between tables but with a friendly ease. The 29-year-old from Tramore, Ireland, has been living in Vancouver for just over one year but has noticed a steady increase in new Irish migrants. For many, the pub is the first place they stop.

"Sometimes I feel like an immigration advisor," he says, only half-joking. Cox reads up on visa rules and employment advice in order to better direct young newcomers, many of whom struggle with culture shock, unemployment and loneliness.

"It's the mentality from home that we have. A problem had is a problem shared," Cox says. So he, like many other young Irish migrants flocking to Vancouver in record numbers, returned to his roots and became part of a makeshift Celtic community -- one that is burgeoning abroad amid the economic disaster back home.

Fall of the Tiger

When Richie Tynan moved to Vancouver from tiny Tipperary, Ireland, he didn't know much about B.C. He knew the winters were mild, yet the ski hills "savage." He'd heard the people were laid back and friendly and -- better still -- he knew it was fairly easy to get a temporary visa for a country whose economy was in much better shape than that of its southern neighbour, the United States.

The bright 25-year-old arrived on the West Coast armed with a marketing degree and one year's experience in his field. He hoped Canada would provide a better job than the one he held back home, where he laboured at his father's glass company.

Pursuing a career in Ireland had appeared out of the question. Before the recession, the country was one of the wealthiest in Europe, its surging economy dubbed the "Celtic Tiger." Tynan and millions of other young Irish received free university education and expected nothing less than well-paying jobs.

But then came the crash. Ireland's 2008 meltdown was the first of the Eurozone countries and one of the most spectacular. Unemployment rose to 14 per cent and Ireland's national debt climbed to 96.2 per cent of its GDP -- a number surpassed only by Greece and Italy. Suddenly, the secure future Tynan's generation had been banking on vanished. It became normal on weekday afternoons to find out-of-work young people at the local pub, commiserating over pints.

"Everyone was so down. A lot of my friends were out of work, and all they talked about was the recession," Tynan recalls. "I just said, 'This is not for me. I'm not going to struggle, when I can go somewhere with nothing holding me down.' "

But what he found in Vancouver was something of a surprise: a city with a fiercely competitive job market and a tough-to-crack social scene.

Migrant wave

Sitting at a downtown Vancouver Starbucks, Tynan's bright purple toque and green nylon jacket help him stand out from the sea of black coats. His thick country accent is peppered with phrases such as "craic," or good time, and "on the tear," or out drinking.

He's one of thousands of young, educated Irish who have migrated to Canada since the Celtic Tiger took a dive. The number of Irish temporary visa holders in the country has more than doubled in the past five years. Ray Bassett, Irish ambassador to Canada, estimates that about 7,000 Irish migrated to Canada in 2011. About 5,000 of them, like Tynan, came on under-35 international experience visas.

Vancouver is a relatively new destination of choice. Unlike the Atlantic provinces or American cities like New York and Boston, Vancouver does not have a long history of Irish migration or an Irish quarter. About 12 per cent of Vancouver's residents claim Irish descent, but the community is loosely connected through websites, Facebook pages and the Celtic Connection newspaper.

Bassett explained that Vancouver's popularity is mostly due to its ski hills and beaches, as well as an Irish fear of the Canadian winter. The city's construction boom also attracts many young tradespeople. But for educated Irish looking for skilled employment, Vancouver has the most challenging job market in the country.

"We get more calls from people in Vancouver who are struggling to find employment (than in any other city)," Bassett said. While many do find success, it tends to take longer or require more support.

Tynan spent his first year and a half in Canada struggling to find permanent work in marketing. First he worked as a glass glazer, similar to the job he left in Ireland. Then he found seasonal work at a Banff ski resort. Finally, he moved to northern Alberta to work on an oil rig, but found it depressing and returned to Vancouver late last year. He began sending out applications for marketing jobs "left, right and centre." He had interviews that seemed promising, but found out later that the jobs were door-to-door sales or commission-based.

Tynan searched for months until he finally had a breakthrough. A glass company in Langley advertised for a sales representative, and after several rounds of interviews, he got the job. Ironically, it's an Irish company -- one that likely isn't hiring at home.

"It's a job that I wouldn't be able to get at home. I'm lucky in that respect," he says. Although not the dream marketing job he had hoped for, it's a foot in the door he's grateful for.

'You've got to be innovative'

Mary Monks, a Dublin native in her fifties who has lived in B.C. for two decades, wrote a sober article for the Irish Times in November about Vancouver's new migrant generation. She lamented her homeland's loss of a highly educated generation and the squandering of prosperity during the Celtic Tiger years.

When Monks moved to B.C. to marry a Canadian man in the early 1990s, it took 10 days for the Irish Times newspaper to reach her and long-distance calls cost $1.50 a minute. She felt lonely and isolated, so she started a club where she could meet other Irish women. The Irish Women's Network is now one of the city's oldest Irish community organizations.

Monks and other established Irish have reached out to welcome the new crop of immigrants through networking events and pub nights. But the younger generation, it seems, is ready to plant their own roots -- using new tools like social media. Ruairi Spillane, a successful young Dublin émigré working in financial software, started his website and Facebook page, moving2vancouver.ca, because he noticed that many young migrants were arriving unaware of basic differences in how to format a resume or search for a job. He noticed that many new immigrants were applying for jobs the "Irish way" -- sending out as many carbon-copy resumes as possible and hoping for the best.

"If you really want something, you can't always go via the front door. You've got to be innovative," he said.

In Vancouver, finding a job comes down to who you know and how you market yourself. Spillane tells job seekers to call companies they want to work for and go for coffee with established people in their field. He's one of many young Irish launching new support groups and websites. Irish stick to Irish a lot, especially in a city with an aloof social scene, where people in a bar mostly stick to talking to those they already know.

Returning home

The Irish have always been on the move. Millions fled the potato famine in the mid-1800s, and various other economic disasters have touched off waves of migration since. Even during the country's Celtic Tiger years, thousands of young people travelled abroad on temporary visas.

So most young immigrants in Vancouver don't wax romantic about leaving Ireland because of an economic disaster – they believe they'd be travelling the world anyway. Monks worries that young migrants don't realize they may never be able to return home.

"I think a lot of them haven't realized they may have to settle wherever they go and get serious about a career," she said.

Even if they do eventually return, they might not find the same Ireland they left. A report in early 2011 by Ireland's Economic and Social Research Institute estimated about 1,000 people were leaving the country per week. Friends and family are dispersing all over the globe -- to Australia, Britain and the United States.

Ray Bassett is hopeful that the Irish economy will begin to stabilize in 2013. The ambassador believes many young migrants will eventually return, bringing back the valuable work experience they have gained abroad.

"In the meantime, it's Canada's benefit, Canada's gain. Only positive things can come from this exchange between the two countries."

Tynan and his brother Liam live together in Vancouver's West End. His brother, a biochemistry graduate, found work after eight months of searching – but only "barely," doing menial tasks in a lab. Both brothers hope their entry-level jobs will grow into something more.

Their parents and sister visited them for Christmas. Business at the glass company is slower than it used to be, but their father is still getting by. During the visit, he said something that surprised Tynan.

"He said, 'If you didn't come home, I would understand.' It was a bit sad to hear him say that," Tynan admitted.

The boys have struggled in Vancouver, but the situation in Ireland may not improve for some time. Asked if Ireland will ever be the same place he once knew, Tynan answered quickly.

"No. It won't be." He paused, and glanced down at his coffee cup. "But it's home."