Shaping Ireland’s New Diaspora Strategy 2026-2031
Crosscare Irish Diaspora Support Project is proud to contribute to the development of Ireland’s latest Irish Diaspora Strategy (2025–2030). As the only Irish based non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting both intending and returning Irish emigrants, our submission draws on decades of frontline experience and sustained advocacy on behalf of Irish people navigating migration.
Each year, we assist thousands of people – from those preparing to emigrate, to families returning home including those repatriated in times of crisis. Building on the progress made under the 2020–2025 Diaspora Strategy, our submission focuses on five core aims and makes twenty recommendations towards ensuring that support for those most in need remains at the heart of Ireland’s diaspora engagement.
Today, 15 October 2025, we welcomed the opportunity to share our insights from our Diaspora Strategy submission as part of a special Irish Diaspora Consultation convened in Dublin by Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond TD. In attendance was our Policy and Networks Officer, Zeina Alazzeh, who highlighted the following aims to shape the next national strategy:
Aim I: Expand the Emigrant Support Programme (ESP)
The Emigrant Support Programme is the cornerstone of Ireland’s diaspora policy. While ESP funding has sustained vital welfare and community supports worldwide, demand continues to outpace resources.
We recommend:
- Continue the strong focus of the ESP on the provision of welfare related support, ensuring that needs of the most vulnerable remain at the core of Ireland’s diaspora strategy.
- Introducing a minimum annual increase to the ESP yearly budget.
- Implementing multiannual funding for long-term recipients of the ESP.
- Establishing a rapid-response funding mechanism within ESP that can be activated for existing ESP recipients who are responding to emerging crises situations (e.g. circumstances resulting from natural disasters, war and active conflict, mass repatriations to Ireland etc.).
These steps will secure stability for Irish organisations abroad and ensure that support reaches those in greatest need.
Aim II: Address barriers to facilitate reintegration on return
Returning emigrants often face difficulties that undermine their reintegration in Ireland that can include accessing to affordable housing on return, refusal to social welfare payments due to the Habitual Residence Condition (HRC), visa delays for non-Irish spouses, and lack of driving licence recognition from certain jurisdictions outside of the EU.
Our recommendations call for:
- Establishing a clear support pathways for those returning into homelessness due to circumstances outside of their control (i.e. deportation, war, domestic violence, etc).
- Establishing a fast-tracked or priority HRC assessment mechanism for those returning under crisis conditions.
- Reducing the processing times for preclearance and visas for defacto partners and spouses of Irish citizens returning from abroad.
- Establishing reciprocal driving licence exchange arrangements with the USA, as outlined in the Programme for Government 2025.
Removing these barriers will make return migration smoother, fairer, and more sustainable.
Aim III: Enhance support for repatriated Irish Citizens
The coordinated response to Irish citizens repatriated from Gaza in 2023/24 showed what is possible when government departments work together. Establishing this as a model for future humanitarian repatriation efforts, whether arising from war zones, natural disasters, or deportations would help ensure a more responsive and consistent continuum of support for repatriated Irish citizens.
We recommend:
- Formalising coordination between the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Department of Social Protection, the HSE, and local authorities with responsibility for emergency accommodation provision, drawing on lessons from the repatriation from Gaza.
- Developing interdepartmental crisis-return protocols in consultation with relevant stakeholders including ESP funded organizations.
- Ensuring flexibility and rights-based responses to diverse crises.
Aim IV: Promote inclusion
The Irish diaspora is increasingly diverse, yet some groups including minority ethnic, dual nationality, LGBTQ+, Traveller, and Roma communities can face barriers both abroad and on return. We believe that the next strategy should aim to recognise this and seek to promote inclusion in Irish spaces abroad and on return.
As political participation is an important part of promoting inclusion, this strategy should plan deliver on the commitment in the previous strategy to hold a referendum on extending voting rights to citizens resident outside of the State.
We recommend:
- Providing an adequate resourcing for ESP-funded organisations to embed inclusive practices.
- Developing cross-departmental solutions to reduce barriers for underrepresented communities, through the work of the Interdepartmental Committee on the Irish Abroad (IDC).
- Committing to holding a referendum on extending the right to vote in presidential elections to citizens resident outside of the State.
- Initiating a 12-month Task Force to develop proposals on voting options for Irish emigrants abroad in national parliamentary elections.
Aim V: Engaging with new diaspora communities
With record numbers applying for Foreign Birth Registration and many young people emigrating for study or short-term work, new diaspora communities are emerging. This trend highlights the need for both tailored pre-departure preparation for those leaving and sustained efforts to maintain meaningful links to Ireland, where desired.
We recommend:
- Introducing ceremonies to welcome new Irish citizens abroad receiving Foreign Birth Registration certificates abroad.
- Exploring the use of new digital technologies and platforms to expand the provision pre-departure supports for intending emigrants.
- Commit to hosting a Global Irish Civic Forum every 2–3 years in Ireland, with regional forums in between.
These measures will help Ireland stay connected with its newest emigrants and support positive outcomes for those leaving today.
Aim VI: Be evidence-based and future oriented
Supporting academic research into contemporary Irish migration is essential to building an evidence base for effective diaspora policy. Equally important is capturing the experience of organisations engaging with Irish emigrants and diaspora communities in the areas of welfare related support, business networks, culture and sport.
Establishing structured partnerships between such groups and academic institutions would enable joint research projects that are both academically robust and grounded in practical realities. Such collaboration would ensure that emerging trends are identified early that policy development is informed by accurate and relevant data, and that the experiences of Irish people abroad are translated into actionable recommendations for government.
We recommend:
- Investing in research to identify shifting migration patterns, challenges, and the evolving information needs of Irish emigrants.
- Establishing a dedicated research strand within the ESP to fund joint projects between academia and diaspora organisations.
By strengthening the evidence base, Ireland can anticipate future needs and adapt its policies proactively.
New opportunities and looking forward
Ireland’s previous Diaspora Strategy (2020–2025) was implemented during a period of significant challenges, most notably the global Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, it achieved considerable progress, particularly in areas most closely aligned with our work, such as maintaining a strong commitment to Ireland’s most vulnerable emigrants, enhancing consular collaboration to improve support abroad, and introducing initiatives to engage the next generation.
Building on this foundation, we hope the new Global Irish Diaspora Strategy 2025–2030 will provide an opportunity to reaffirm Ireland’s enduring commitment to its global community. Our recommendations are grounded in lived experience and aim to ensure that the most vulnerable are never left behind.
At Crosscare Irish Diaspora Support Project, we look forward to working with government, partners, and the global Irish community to help implement a strategy that is both inclusive and future focused.
Our full submission is available here.
