New visa to allow Americans to work for a year in Ireland, or Irish people to work for a year in the US

Next month, a new visa agreement between Ireland and the US comes into effect. It allows up to 5,000 Americans to work in Ireland for a year, and up to 20,000 Irish people to work in the US for a year. The visas effectively are one-year versions of the J1 working visa, which people like me used to spend a summer working in the US as students.

These one year visas are a great opportunity to work in a different country, and gain experience of living abroad. I did this myself 15 years ago, and I recommend that Irish and American (and indeed Irish-American) people out there do the same.