An Irish organisation which connects diaspora with their place of origin is reporting a surge in activity by people outside Ireland tracing their Irish roots as a result of Covid-19.

The numbers of people connecting with Ireland Reaching Out has doubled since last year – with the bulk of that increase happening since the start of the pandemic.

Ireland Reaching Out is a volunteer-driven, non-profit organisation connecting people of Irish heritage with the local community in their place of origin in Ireland.  The community-based charity invites emigrants and their descendants to connect directly with their ancestral place of origin.

A snapshot of the past two months shows that website sessions on the organisation’s online platform — IrelandXO — were up 100pc on the same period last year, new members were up 35pc since the beginning of the year and the number of ancestor profiles created was 70pc up on the same period last year.

Mike Ferrick from Ireland XO spoke to Dermot & Dave this morning.