Ireland now may be home to at least 37,000 former residents of Latvia, according to data compiled by the Irish Department of Social and Family Affairs.

The figure is based on records of Personal Public Service Numbers issued by the Irish government. From the middle of 2000 through the end of 2007, a total of 35,059 numbers have been issued to persons from Latvia. Through the first seven months of 2008, an additional 2,192 numbers have been issued.

The statistics lend credence to estimates of the Latvian population in Ireland, which often range from about 20,000 to 60,000 or more. A 2006 study by the Rīga-based research firm SKDS estimated 30,000 Latvians lived in Ireland. Most of the immigrants arrived after Latvia joined the European Union in May 2004, when travel to countries such as Ireland became easier.

“We cannot be certain that all those people are now working in Ireland but it would be the intention of the majority of those applying for PPSNs to work,” Oonagh Duffy, deputy press officer in the Department of Social and Family Affairs, told Latvians Online in an e-mail. “The statistics could therefore be indicative of the numbers of people from accession countries who may have come here to work since May 1st, 2004.”

The number of new PPSNs issued to persons from Latvia shot to 6,266 in 2004, up 409 percent from the previous year. From the middle of 2000, when statistics first are available, through the end of 2003 the total number of permits issued to Latvians was 6,837.

The figured jumped again in 2005, when 9,328 PPSNs were issued to Latvians. Since then fewer PPSNs have been issued. In 2006 a total of 7,954 PPSNs went to persons from Latvia, but in 2007 the total was 4,674.

PPSNs were introduced in Ireland in 1998. They are used in transactions between individuals and government agencies such as social welfare services, tax payments, driver licenses and child immunization. Both adults and children may obtain the numbers.

The statistics do not indicate whether people holding PPSNs are still in Ireland. Individuals do not relinquish the numbers when they leave Ireland.

From the middle of 2000 through the end of last year, a total of 7,933 PPSNs have been issued to persons from Estonia and 66,839 to persons from Lithuania.

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers has strongly condemned Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the president’s press office announced Aug. 26.

Russia’s decision is in open contradiction to the United Nations Charter, U.N. Security Council resolutions and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Zatlers said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev—referring to the same documents cited by Zatlers—said he supports the decision of his country’s Federation Council and State Duma to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The two regions in the north of Georgia share borders with Russia.

Medvedev, in an Aug. 26 statement, blamed Georgia for the latest conflict. Russian forces invaded Georgia on Aug. 9, a day after the Georgian military began an operation to regain control over South Ossetia. Russia says some of its peacekeepers stationed in South Ossetia were killed in the Georgian attacks.

“It stands quite clear now: a peaceful resolution of the conflict was not part of Tbilisi’s plan,” Medvedev said. “The Georgian leadership was methodically preparing for war, while the political and material support provided by their foreign guardians only served to reinforce the perception of their own impunity.”

Zatlers, however, said Russia’s decision is a gross violation of Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Latvia will continue to support Georgia’s territorial integrity and the Georgian people’s desire to see their country join the European Union and the NATO defense alliance, the president said.

Latvian Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš also blasted Medvedev’s decision and called for a political solution to the conflict.

Zatlers was not alone among European leaders in condemning Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a visit to Estonia, joined Estonia President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in calling Russia’s actions an “illegal aggression against a sovereign nation,” according to the president’s press office. Later in the day, similar statements were made whe Merkel traveled to Lithuania to meet with President Valdas Adamkus.

“The withdrawal of Russian troops and the presence of EU peacekeepers,” Adamkus said, “would help regulate the conflict in Georgia.”

Emigration from Latvia to other countries appears to be on the upswing this year after slowing in 2007, according to data provided by the Central Statistical Bureau in Rīga. At the same time, immigration continues to increase, although the net result is still a loss in population.

In the first six months of this year, 2,752 persons emigrated from Latvia compared to 2,110 during the same period in 2007, an increase of 30.4 percent.

Emigration from Latvia has been an up and down affair for the past decade. The most recent spike in emigration was in 2006—two years after Latvia joined the European Union—when a total of 5,252 people left the country. Last year, a total of 4,183 persons emigrated, but if the trend recorded in the first half of this year continues, the final number for 2008 could be higher again.

On the other hand, immigration to Latvia in the first half of this year jumped more than 33 percent over the same period in 2007. From January through June of last year, 1,410 persons came to live in Latvia. Through June of this year, 1,878 had immigrated.

From 1998 through 2003, immigration to Latvia declined steadily. But in 2004 the trend reversed. Last year, a total of 3,541 came to live in Latvia, an increase of 26.4 percent over 2006, when 2,801 persons immigrated to the country.

During the first half of this year, the difference between emigration and immigration resulted in a net loss of 874 persons, according to the Central Statistical Bureau. The net loss for all of 2007 was just 642 persons.

The population of Latvia in June stood at 2.266 million.