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Potatoes to paninis
Hilliard, Alan F. Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants
Hilliard, Alan F.
Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants
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PotatoestoPaninis.pdf
Adobe PDF, 135.89 KB
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Abstract
"Beneath the songs of streets paved with gold, low lying fields and broken hearts lie economic realties that cause migration. The failure of the potato crop caused the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of people. Some were packed onto Canadian timber ships that otherwise would have made an empty and unprofitable return to their home ports. Most went south to the United States; those who stayed behind provided a pool of cheap labour that allowed Canada to become one of the great industrialised nations in the world. We can recount numerous stories that reveal remarkable contributions by Irish migrants to many nations. These achievements can anaesthetise what was a painful experience. The journey was traumatic for families and for the Irish nation. We cannot deny the wonderful opportunities that migration offered. For those escaping poverty it created what were previously unknown opportunities that could never have been imagined before departure. For the receiving countries, like Canada, the migrant provided an opportunity for the nation to grow, expand and develop." (p. 1)
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2007
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With permission of the license/copyright holder