Travel

More Irish people are packing up and heading to Britain now than at any point in the last decade, new figures have shown.

The number of Irish now moving to live among our nearest neighbours jumped by 25 per cent to 13,920 last year.

According to reports in the Irish Times, the vast majority of those making the trip are in the 18 to 34-year-old bracket with London coming out as the most popular destination.

The figures were gauged by the number of Irish citizens registering for national insurance numbers to work or claim benefits, which increased from 9,510 in 2006 to 11,050 in 2009.

However, these rises were put in the shade by the 25 per cent increase seen last year.

One of the few silver linings to the issue is that men proved more likely to emigrate – which means an improved women/men ratio for those of us who remain at home.

The figures show 7,340 men and 6,570 women with Irish citizenship registered for national insurance numbers last year.

“In many ways it is not surprising considering the proximity, lack of visa requirement, lack of cultural boundaries, lower unemployment rate and the size of the British economy that Irish people are emigrating to the UK,” said Joe O’Brien, policy officer at the migrant project.