Millions of young people have left Ireland for a variety of reasons for centuries.
It is why news stories on emigration always strike a chord with readers and audiences. And this week was no different.
A short video clip of young 20-somethings discussing the topic with RTÉ News in Dublin city centre has been viewed millions of times on social media.
"Everyone is emigrating," as one young man told us on Grafton Street.
We filmed this video after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published results from the 25-year-old respondents to its Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey.
One of the survey's key findings was that one-in-eight (12.7%) of the respondents contacted to take part had emigrated.
This research came after figures released last year which showed the highest number of people emigrating from Ireland (more than 69,000) in almost a decade.
We asked four young people who are 25 years old in 2025 to tell us why they left Ireland, and if they intend to come back.
Darran Connolly is from Co Donegal. He emigrated to Perth, Australia, two years ago where he works in the construction industry.
Darran told us that there was a tradition of emigrating in his family.
"I’m a fourth generation emigrant. The three generations before me, they’ve all emigrated, either away or back to Ireland.
"For example, I’ve had great-grandparents move to America. I’ve had great-grandparents move to Scotland. My parents moved to London in the 80s.
"Now I’m just part of the next generation of Irish people who seem to be moving to Australia in search of better opportunities."
Yasmine O’Neill emigrated to Amsterdam in the Netherlands two years ago where she works as a pharmacy technician and digital creator.
As a creator, Yasmine felt her opportunities in Dublin were limited, noting that the "creative space in Ireland is quite small" so the industry can be very competitive.
"Ireland has an extensive population of creative people, who are itching to expand their talents but I just think that the supply and the demand is just not reaching or balancing each other out.
"You're competing against a high number of people to get that one particular job.
"These opportunities can be few and far between. When you get one it's like a golden nugget so everyone just tries to grab it as quick as they can," she said.
Katie Harrington emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, a year and a half ago where she works as a marketing and sales specialist.
Although Katie was content with the work opportunities in Ireland, she said the lifestyle abroad has more to offer.
"I can afford to live a five-minute walk from the beach, we live a ten-minute bus drive from the city. We live a 40-minute drive from the mountains, so we can go skiing.
"There’s just more things to do here."
Sinéad McCann is a teacher, who emigrated to Dubai.
She said that as a teacher in Ireland, the education system would not provide her with the opportunity to have permanency in her profession straight away.
"I could not have the independence I have here in Dubai if I was living at home, because I would not be able to afford to rent a house in Dublin or in a city.
"It would just not be financially stable on my salary."
Additional reporting by Shauna Burdis
