Place, belonging and second generation return migration from Britain to Ireland

Abstract

The enduring connections between the children of migrants and their parental homelands suggest that the parental home place/s frequently remain meaningful and significant to next generations. This paper aims to explore the concept of belonging in the context of second generation return migration. It is based on research with a small group of the children of the Irish in Britain who, as adults, chose to move to Ireland; a return to a perceived home. The term ‘belonging’ captures the desire for some sort of attachment (Probyn, 1996). In the case of second generation returnees it is the desire for an attachment to place, the feeling or expectation that ‘I belong here’ (Antonsich, 2010). A qualitative methodology was used in order to explore the relationship these migrants have with Ireland and places in it and the results show how three experiences of ‘belongingness’ emerged. The first is the belief, that this is undoubtedly the place that the person belongs, in spite of what others may think or say. The second is a sense of not belonging, a feeling of displacement. The third is a reflexive sense of belonging; an acceptance of the benefits of a loosening of ties to place with evidence for maximising the benefits of dual belongings.