Low wages is not the only reason thousands of Latvian residents have left their homeland in recent years in search of work in Ireland, a new study finds, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga’s press office has announced.

The study, titled “Brīva Latvijas darbaspēka kustība. Īrijas piemērs” (The Free Flow of Latvian Labor: The Case of Ireland) and organized by the Strategic Analysis Commission (Stratēģiskās analīzes komisija), will be presented Jan. 18 in Rīga.

Researchers traveled to Ireland at the end of last year to interview Latvians living in Ireland, Irish employers and Irish laborers. The researchers also spoke to Latvian residents who have returned to the homeland after working in Ireland, as well as employment recruiters in Latvia and Latvian and Irish politicians.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a Jan. 20 conference, “Vai Latvija iet Īrijas pēdās: darbaspēka migrācija” (Is Latvia Following in Ireland’s Footsteps: Labor Migration), that will examine whether Ireland’s experience might be mirrored by Latvia.

The conference, set in the Hotel Bergs in downtown Rīga, will bring together Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern and other officials. Pabriks noted that Irish workers now are returning to their homeland.

An official head count of how many Latvian residents have migrated to Ireland is hard to come by. One official in the Latvian embassy in Dublin told Latvians Online the number is about 15,000 to 20,000, but other estimates place the number at twice that many. Some have even suggested the number may be as high as 100,000.

The Strategic Analysis Commission’s study, the press office says, looks at a number of factors that explain labor migration to Ireland, as well as dispels stereotypes about Latvian residents working abroad.

The issue of Latvian workers in Ireland saw increased media attention in Latvia late last year. In Ireland, too, Latvian workers drew attention after it was learned a ferry company was replacing native workers with Latvians.

The Strategic Analysis Commission was formed in April 2004 at the initiative of Vīķe-Freiberga and former Prime Minister Indulis Emsis.

Reval Hotels will build a new 230-room hotel in downtown Rīga across from the Vermanes Park, the Estonia-based company has announced.

The company expects to invest LVL 21 million in the project, which will include a restaurant, lobby bar, fitness center, parking space and conference rooms. The project, to be located at Elizabetes Street 71/73, is expected to open in spring 2007, the company said in a press release.

The project will be built by Linstow AS, a Norwegian property development company, and Skonto Būve, a Latvian construction company.

The new hotel will be Reval’s third property in Rīga. The company also runs the 95-room Reval Hotel Rīdzene—one of the city’s priciest properties—and the Reval Hotel Latvija, a property it is expanding to nearly 600 rooms at a cost of EUR 20 million. The expanded Latvija is scheduled for completion in April, in time for the World Ice Hockey Championship scheduled in May.

“We see outstanding potential for development in Rīga and the decision to build a third hotel here is a result of demand and of good economic results so far,” Heikki Vanhanen, Reval Hotels Country manager in Latvia, said in a prepared statement.

When the third Rīga hotel is completed, Reval will have more than 2,000 rooms in the Baltics.

The Reval projects are among several hotel projects recently completed, underway or planned in Rīga. For example, the new 11-story, 246-room Albert Hotel opened early this month at 33 Dzirnavu Street.

Latvia’s new ambassador to the NATO defense alliance, Jānis Eichmanis, began work Jan. 9 in Brussels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

Eichmanis replaces Aivis Ronis, who left the post to pursue private matters. Ronis was a former Latvian ambassador to the United States, and Eichmanis served under him as military attaché.

Born in Latvia in 1942, Eichmanis was educated in Canada and the United Kingdom. His most recent appointment was as Latvia’s ambassador to Greece.

Eichmanis is the third Latvian ambassador to the defense alliance. The first was Imants Lieģis, a Latvian born in the United Kingdom.

Rīga will be the site of a NATO summit in November.