Up to 300 people attended the event, a night after 1,800 were attracted to the roadshow in Cork. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore claimed in the Dail on Wednesday that one in three men aged between 21 and 24 was now on the dole. But the USIT roadshow also attracted plenty of middle-aged workers and a number of people from Africa and South and East Asia who have gone through the Irish immigration process only to find themselves jobless in Limerick.

Terry O'Donnell, a father-of-three from Shannon, said that he had been out of work since May and was now planning on emigrating with his family to Perth where he has relatives. And Australia, which didn't technically go into recession, is where jobs can be found.

"My brother-in-law is telling me he's very busy. Work is up the walls at the moment. I was made redundant in May. I was with Sifa (Schwarz Pharma] for four-and-a-half years. I have three kids, with a young fellow of six months and a dog," said Terry.

"I have been trying (to find work], but to be honest, any place I go, any factory I've been to, I've basically been laughed out the door. I actually saw one crowd put my CV straight into the bin. Most companies are letting people go so there's nothing doing at all. I am a qualified tiler and that's what I'm hoping to do once I get out there. I know a fellow who is looking for tilers and luckily enough he is interested in getting me over there."

Terry said Brian Cowen and Mary Coughlan should also look to Australia on how to run a country.

"They should take a lesson from the Australian government on how to handle a recession. They didn't even go into recession over there," he said.

Sharon Nolan, a UL graduate living in the city centre, has been looking into a move to Melbourne on a skilled work visa. She does have a job in the education sector in Limerick, but doesn't know for how long.

"I love what I am doing but the contract is up soon and I'm not sure they can afford to keep me on. I'm just exploring options. There isn't much around here at the moment. I would go with my boyfriend, possibly to Melbourne. I've just read up quite a lot on it. It's not Sydney, where you have thousands of other Irish people. It would be more of an Australian experience."

"The turnout tonight speaks for itself," said Sharon, "They (the Government) don't really seem to be doing much to keep people here and people are moving all the time. People are just going."