Irish and Italians lead influx of recession refugees

New Zealand is proving a favoured place for European immigrants trying to escape the economic downturn.

Italians and the Irish are leading the influx as European job markets stall.

There were 50 per cent more Irish migrants in the year till last November than in 2010 (1545 compared with 1030) and 29 per cent more Italians (160 compared with 124).

The Wellington Irish community is flourishing as the jobseekers arrive.

Accountant Catherine Gleeson, 33, said the lifestyle in New Zealand was an improvement on what she had known in Ireland.

"[In Wellington] everybody seems to have extra cash and enjoy themselves ... At home it's hard to get people out at the moment; people are losing their jobs and taking pay cuts." More of her friends at home were planning to look for work overseas.

Eoin Darby, a 26-year-old from north of Dublin, said he was laid off twice in the space of five months before deciding to move to New Zealand for work.

When he graduated from university as a quantity surveyor, about three years ago, he had no trouble finding work in Ireland, he said.

But the job market evaporated.

Mr Darby arrived in 2009 with a working holiday visa and now has a two-year work permit. He recently applied for permanent residency, and did not see himself moving back to Ireland "in the near future".

"It's dismal [in Ireland]. There's just absolutely no work at the moment in construction, and so many other industries.

"People talk about the recession in New Zealand but it's absolutely nothing compared to what's going on at home."

It was "unbelievable" how many Irish people had come to live in Wellington since he arrived.

- © Fairfax NZ News