From FergusKelly.net:

The first thing that struck me when I started to curate the @Ireland Twitter account was the diversity of its followers in all respects – geographically, demographically, politically. I tried to find out more.

With the upcoming referendum in Ireland, I’m hoping to get the views of those outside the country, specifically the diaspora across Europe and what people in the country they are in think of Ireland and the treaty we vote on on Thursday.

I used @TweepsMap to map where all the followers of the @Ireland account are and got some intriguing results. The followers are spread across the globe but I was surprised at how few (relatively speaking) are in Europe.

Unsurprisingly Ireland accounts for almost 47% of @Ireland’s 6,762 followers at the time the map was created (very roughly 3,175 people), followed by America on almost 20% (1,349) and the UK just over 8% (561).

Exploring European followers a bit more, Sweden accounts for 1.04% (about 70 people), Germany 0.91% (62), France 0.88% (60), Spain 0.62% (42), The Netherlands 0.6% (41) and Italy 0.46% (31). After these countries the number of followers drops dramatically. I wonder why?

Recent Irish emigration statistics make unpleasant reading, and via the Irish Times’ Generation Emigration blog I discovered this interesting interactive infographic about where emigrants from Ireland have gone. It doesn’t specifically show where the Irish nationals have gone, just net emigration from Ireland. I did find a little more information, including a basic breakdown of the nationality of those who have left Ireland up to 2011.

Interesting reading.

The statistics in full:

Ireland 46.94%

USA 19.88%

UK 8.3%

Canada 2.09%
Australia 1.35%
Sweden 1.04%

Germany 0.91%

Brazil 0.91%
France 0.88%
España 0.62%
Netherlands 0.6%

South Africa 0.46%
Italy 0.46%
New Zealand 0.44%
India 0.42%

Mexico 0.37%
Japan 0.31%

Indonesia 0.22%
Turkey 0.2%

Norway 0.18%
UAE 0.18%
Russia 0.16%
Finland 0.15%
Croatia 0.15%
Argentina 0.15%
Georgia 0.15%
Philippines 0.13%
Pakistan 0.13%
Austria 0.11%
Belgium 0.11%
Venezuela 0.11%
Colombia 0.11%
South Korea 0.11%
Chile 0.11%
Switzerland 0.11%

Romania 0.09%
Portugal 0.09%
Hong Kong 0.07%
Israel 0.07%
Latvia 0.07%
Thailand 0.07%
Iran 0.07%
Hungary 0.07%
Greece 0.05%
Denmark 0.05%
Ecuador 0.05%
Ukraine 0.05%
Serbia 0.05%
Costa Rica 0.05%

KSA 0.04%
Singapore 0.04%
Tanzania 0.04%
Czech Republic 0.04%
Poland 0.04%
Lebanon 0.04%
Bolivia 0.04%
Botswana 0.04%
China 0.04%
Nepal 0.04%

Guyana 0.02%
Afghanistan 0.02%
Mongolia 0.02%
Estonia 0.02%
Egypt 0.02%
Isle of Man 0.02%
Jordan 0.02%
Vietnam 0.02%
Malta 0.02%
Korea 0.02%
Monaco 0.02%
Panama 0.02%
Barbados 0.02%
Peru 0.02%
Luxembourg 0.02%
Belize 0.02%
Uruguay 0.02%
Nicaragua 0.02%
Bulgaria 0.02%
Kiribati 0.02%
Cyprus 0.02%
Honduras 0.02%
Cameroon 0.02%
Palestinian Territory 0.02%
Iceland 0.02%
Belarus 0.02%
Malaysia 0.02%
Gibraltar 0.02%
Jamaica 0.02%
Nigeria 0.02%

You can read more about @ireland and apply to curate the account for a week here