1,000 people turned away from work abroad exhibition at the weekend

It seems that a lot of us a desperate to get out of the country. So much so, in fact, that 1,000 people had to be turned away from a work abroad expo in Dublin’s RDS.

The Irish Sun reports that the work abroad fair had to close its doors after a massive 12,500 people showed up at the weekend. If you were anywhere near the RDS, chances are you saw the queue of potential emigrants stretching for over half a mile outside the building.

The two day event was set up to give people information about what it’s like to work abroad and just how you go about applying for jobs overseas. Specifically the event was aimed to promote jobs for Irish people in Australia and Canada. Obviously they didn’t expect such an overwhelming attendance.

In fact, so many people showed up yesterday that 1,000 people had to be turned away and the organisers of the event were forced to close early.

“We had to close early because we were just overrun by demand. We had people queuing from 6.30am to get in for 10am. It’s heart-breaking and very humbling,” said David Walsh, the man overseeing the event.

Over 50 companies were at the RDS event hoping to recruit some Irish workers for sectors such as healthcare, construction and farming.

The situation in Ireland at present remains dire and many unemployed people and recent graduates feel they have no choice but to travel abroad in an attempt to make a decent life for themselves. In the past two years over 65,300 Irish people have emigrated and this number continues to rise.

The work abroad expo is set to hold another event in Cork on Wednesday. If the Dublin event is anything to go by, a lot of people will probably be turned away in Cork too.