The number of new immigrants from Latvia settling in Ireland appears to have dropped by nearly 30 percent last year compared to 2010, suggest data compiled by government authorities.

Last year, a total of 2,195 persons from Latvia registered for Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs), which are used in Ireland for various transactions with the government, according to the Department of Social Protection in Dublin.

The decrease continues a general trend in the number of Latvian residents filing for PPSNs during the past several years. While PPSN registrations are not a direct marker of the number of immigrants, they generally are considered to represent trends.

Declining economic conditions in Ireland in the past two years have slowed the flow of migrants from Eastern Europe.

The number of people from Latvia who filed for PPSNs exploded in 2004 after the country joined the European Union, easing the flow of labor across borders. That year, 6,266 persons from Latvia filed for PPSNs, a fourfold increase over 2003.

In 2005, the number of PPSN registrations Latvia peaked at 9,328. Every year since then the numbers have dropped—except in 2009 when the figure increased by 5 percent over 2008.

Since 2000, according to the Department of Social Protection data, a total of 48,031 PPSNs have been issued to persons from Latvia.

A national referendum on whether Russian should become Latvia’s second official language is set for Feb. 18, the Central Election Commission announced Jan. 3 in Rīga.

The referendum will decide whether proposed legislation to amend the constitution will be adopted. The legislation would change five sections in the constitution, including Paragraph 4, which sets Latvian as the sole official language.

At least half of all eligible voters, or nearly 772,000 citizens, would need to vote in favor of the referendum question for it to pass, according to Latvian law.

Many political observers have commented that the referendum has little chance of passing, but the fact that the language issue has come this far has sharpened discord between ethnic Latvians and ethnic Russians in Latvia. Both President Andris Bērziņš and Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in their New Year’s messages to the nation reiterated the centrality of the Latvian language.

“No matter what your decision will be about participating in the referendum and your vote in it, know that a vote in favor of changing the status of the official language will be a vote against Latvia as a state,” Bērziņš said.

The issue of Russian as a second state language was propelled by the pro-Russian Dzimtā valoda (Native Language) organization. It gathered enough signatures on a petition to spark a citizen initiative, which in turn garnered more than 183,000 signatures to bring the proposed legislation before the Saeima. The parliament, as expected, on Dec. 22 rejected the bill on its first reading.

Under Latvian law, that normally would force a national referendum. However, taking the issue to the voters was inevitable because of the proposal to change Paragraph 4 of the constitution, which is possible only through a referendum.

Polling stations will be set up across Latvia and abroad, according to the Central Election Commission, and voting by absentee ballot also will be available.