Coming Home During Coronavirus: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ireland’s returning young migrants.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019/2020 has undoubtedly influenced international migration trends of young people, and notably in Ireland there has been a significant influx of returning migrants from key emigration locations such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and other EU countries. As of April 2020, the highest number of returning Irish nationals since 2007 has already been recorded, with this trend being expected to continue into 2021 (CSO, 2020). While Ireland has a noteworthy history of mass emigration and well-documented periods of return, the recent experience of returning during the COVID-19 pandemic represents a novel phenomenon worthy of investigation. This thesis will examine the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Ireland’s returning migrants, to better understand the experiences, motivations and intentions related to their migration decisions. The research findings are drawn from semi-structured interviews, identifying factors that influenced the decision of these young people to return to Ireland. The central objective of this research was to better understand the lived experiences of returning ‘home’ during a global health crisis, and the potential effect this will have on their future livelihoods and reflexive mobility strategies. This research examines the unique set of circumstances and challenges facing this cohort of returning migrants and highlights the importance of further research on this subject.