Ireland becomes refuge for anti-Trump Americans

They have left everything behind to get away from US President Donald Trump's America. Entrepreneurs, academics, scientists and students: tens of thousands of US citizens have moved to Ireland in recent years. Last year alone, some 10,000 Americans settled there and nearly 100 even applied for asylum – citing political, racial or gender persecution.

For some US citizens, moving to Ireland feels like coming home. Around one in 10 Americans claims to have Irish roots, with ancestors who fled famine and hardship in the 19th century onwards, and applications for Irish passports have never been higher.

Emma Hensley is a postgraduate student at Trinity College Dublin. For her, Trump's America no longer guarantees women's rights. In County Cork, southern Ireland, Daniel Rothman has just arrived from Alaska, where he lost his job at NOAA, the US agency for oceans, fisheries and climate policies, after budget cuts imposed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Finally, Ophelia and her wife Zahra, a transgender couple, describe the increasingly dangerous discrimination faced by transgender people.

Ireland is welcoming these new arrivals from the US, but they could upset a fragile diplomatic balance. Dublin is a long-standing ally of Washington and one that relies on US investment to sustain its growth.

FRANCE 24's Chloé Domat, Sophie Guignon and Merlin Ferret report.