When the going gets tough, even the toughest and most resilient in Ireland get going overseas. They have to. The once booming housing market has now crippled the Irish economy. Jobs have been obliterated and before the nation gets itself out of a black hole of debt things will probably get worse. Scores of young people are packing their bags, bidding an often heartbreaking farewell to family and friends and moving abroad in search of a more stable and prosperous future. "All our young people are going. It's not only the immigrants that have come into the country and gone home. It's all our young people, all our own are going". Like many, electrician Alan Niland is going to Australia: "Leaving here is a big thing and everyone doesn't want to go. It's a last resort really." With Ireland going to the polls, many are looking to punish politicians complicit in the economic failure whilst hoping for a new government that can lead them out of the mess.