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This article examines the ability of young Irish graduates to enact mobility as a form of personal and career development both during economic expansion and recession. Of particular interest is the observation that Irish graduates are much more mobile than those in other countries which were also badly affected by the recession. Drawing from a study of recent Irish graduate emigrants (Irish Graduate Abroad Study), the article demonstrates how Irish graduates have successfully negotiated routes into global labour markets, facilitated by the relatively straightforward recognition of their qualifications, their ability to speak English and the visa permissions that enable such movement. Irish graduates have incredible global networks generated through a family history of migration. Irish graduates also have a considerable prior culture of mobility facilitated through institutionally mediated mobility programmes. Taken together, Irish graduates have amongst the lowest barriers globally to actually enact global careers. In the context of limited opportunities in Ireland due to its size and its current economic situation, mobility is an attractive choice with far more to gain than lose for many young Irish graduates.

Some feminist writings have claimed that `bureaucracy' is inherently `patriarchal'. This article challenges this argument by comparing the experience of women in Ireland in a state sector organization and in a cluster of software firms. While the bureaucratic state company has been reformed to incorporate equal opportunities, in the individualized or `marketized' software companies women's progress is at the whim of individual managers and motherhood and a career are largely incompatible. If bureaucratic organizations can be reformed in this way, it cannot be claimed that there is any inherent link between bureaucracy and patriarchy. Instead organizations can be either bureaucratic or marketized, and either patriarchal or woman-friendly. These are two separate dimensions which change independently of each other. On this basis the article suggests that the contemporary `remasculinization' of management occurs because earlier reforms in bureaucratic organizations are now being eroded.

This article analyses labour migration through a case study of migrants and employers in the Irish construction sector. It seeks to locate the choices of both sides of the employment relationship in a broader socioeconomic context that takes into account the regulatory environment and the labour market situation. The authors show how both sides of the employment relationship took advantage of Ireland's open labour market policy in 2004. As employers were keen to fill skill and labour shortages in a buoyant construction sector, migrants found employment with relative ease, often involving subcontracting arrangements and informal recruitment patterns. During the boom years the sector provided considerable opportunities for migrants at different skill levels. However, now that the sector has moved from 'boom to bust', the employment context has dramatically changed. In the light of large-scale job losses the bargaining position of employers has increased as migrants try to cope with deteriorating employment conditions.

In this paper we explore the impact of the current economic downturn on Polish migrants in the Irish labour market. Ireland appears to be well suited to study the impact of the recession on intra-European migration. The country has not only experienced large-scale inward migration from the new EU Member states (NMS) in recent years, but has also been severely hit by a recession. At times of an economic crisis, questions have begun to be asked about the future intentions of migrants. By drawing on an ongoing Qualitative Panel Study on the experience of Polish migrants in the Irish labour market, we argue that simplistic assumptions about migrants leaving the country 'when times are getting tough' are misplaced. No doubt some NMS migrants will leave because of the worsening economic situation and new opportunities elsewhere. As East-West migration has adopted a more temporary and circular character facilitated by a free movement regime, NMS migrants have the opportunity to move on elsewhere at times of a downturn. At the same time, many Polish migrants are 'here to stay', for the moment at least. This is for at least three reasons. A clear majority of NMS migrants remains in employment, in spite of the downturn. Furthermore, even if migrants should lose their jobs, welfare state arrangements in the host country offer some protection against destitution. Moreover, the decision to migrate, and consequently to stay or move on, is not just reached on the basis of economic considerations alone. Particularly social networks are of importance in sustaining the migration process relatively independent from short-term economic change, including an economic downturn.

This book examines Polish migration to Ireland in the context of 'new mobilities in Europe'. It includes detailed accounts of the working lives of a group of mainly skilled Polish migrants in Dublin, and traces their careers and aspirations as Ireland moved from 'boom to bust'