In the 12 months to April 2025, 6,100 Irish people emigrated to America. But the figure for Americans emigrating to Ireland was a third higher, at 9,600. The fact that this number has suddenly jumped by 96% suggests it might not be a permanent trend, but while it lasts, it might be a significant one, especially for Ireland.
3 million Americans hold an Irish passport, and 10s of millions more are eligible for one. Add to that, Italian passports are easy to obtain for Americans with Italian ancestry. An Irish or Italian passport is an EU passport, meaning you can work, start a business, and reside freely anywhere in the EU as an EU citizen. Even after Brexit, Ireland and the UK allow each other's citizens to work and reside freely in each other's countries, too.
Might the centuries-long trend of European-American emigrant traffic be about to reverse, too?
96% jump in number of people coming from the US to live in Ireland
Update on Italy:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/2/why-has-italy-tightened-citizenship-rules
its eligibility criteria to those with Italian parents or grandparents.
That's the existing criteria for Irish passports. I'd guess the number of Americans with one grandparent born in Ireland or Italy must run to 10s of millions.
yeah but most Americans are lazy af. they're not all jumping at the opportunity. it's pretty hard to do complete the process, for Italy as least. dunno about Ireland.
Don't forget complacent, how many are seriously thinking about leaving? And that's not even just America but the whole West, although I'd hope we're learning.