Abroad

July’s top Abroad stories: ‘There are no fans like the Irish fans, and to feel that sense of community is something else’

We hear about how the Irish are supporting the Girls in Green in Australia; Yvonne Farrell tells stories about her life in Sicily and Grace O’Malley talks about her experience in Sweden

Justine and Darren McKillop. Originally from Co Antrim, they have lived in Sydney for 13 years. They have two Australian-born daughters, aged four and six, who are supporting both the Irish team and the Matildas in a celebration of both identities.

Thu Jul 27 2023 - 14:50

Brisbane became the Irish team’s home away from home when they travelled to Australia for the Women’s World Cup; the same can be said for Justine McKillop and her family, who moved to Australia 13 years ago. “There are no fans like the Irish fans, and to feel that sense of community, love and support is something else,” Justine said. Their family is one of many who have decided to move life to Australia, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 85,863 Irish migrants living in the country as of June 2021. Justine says having the team here for their first major tournament is a “proud moment” for the Irish community in Australia.

There is no short supply of Irish fans in Perth either, Ireland’s location for their game against Canada. Located in Western Australia, the government there promises “higher wages, lower cost of living, and surf and sunshine lifestyle”. A recruitment campaign called “Build a Life in WA” was launched by authorities there to “bring international recruits to fill posts”. Lisa Boland, who moved to Australia says, “there’s so much more of a balance here, there’s no comparison I don’t think”.

For anyone thinking of moving to Australia, Brianna Parkins looks at how to balance the books and make your finances work Down Under. “It’s estimated 400,000 people from abroad will call Australia home (at least temporarily) between 2022 and 2023,″ a significant increase from the pre-Covid years. Evaluating everything from flights to the average rent, this piece gives you an insight into the likely costs involved if you want to make that move.

Emma Hanrahan wouldn’t describe herself as a risk-taker; but after a three-week holiday to Australia, in 2017 she “got on a one-way flight to Sydney. It has been the best thing I have ever done.” Times changed when the pandemic hit and Australia was placed under lockdown. “It was a crazy time for expats here” she says, “we were essentially locked in for nearly two years”. Lockdown provided Emma with a business opportunity when she launched Cakes by Emma. “After a lot of deliberation, I took the plunge,” she says. As a small business, she started on Facebook and things took off from there. “The Irish community is incredible out here” she says, “They have supported me from day one and I will forever be grateful.” Like many Covid-businesses, when the lockdown began to ease Emma had another decision to make that would affect the lifetime of the business.

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Emma Dooney gives an Irish perspective on the concept of the royal family while living and working in England. Her friend previously described the royal family as “a toxic ex you’re completely over, but still feel compelled to check up on every now and then”. This all came to a head with the death of Queen Elizabeth in September. When Emma was working as a royal news reporter in London, “I began all my shifts by checking various social media accounts, compulsively refreshing the pages for any updates on the queen and her living bloodline”. Meanwhile, London Correspondent Mark Paul outlines the extraordinarily complicated process of finding school places for newcomers in his column this week.

Yvonne Farrell talks about her life in Sicily and how she thinks “our two islands have much in common, beginning with the warmth of the people, the kindness.” It began in January 2022 when she bought a house with her husband, Fabrizio. “There’s so much here that’s wonderful” says Yvonne, “the weather, the beach, the lifestyle, the food.” In a country that gets warm summers that Ireland can only imagine, living near the sea is a pleasure. Even though Yvonne loves her home in Sicily, she still misses people in Ireland and “that makes homesickness kick in.” Now coming home is a treat, she says. School principal Tomás Ó Dúlaing also decided to leave his 35-year teaching career in Dublin and head for Italy. He writes: “Be careful if you come to southern Italy. It’s the kind of place you can get stuck. The Aperol Spritz sorts your thirst and the tomatoes sort your appetite.”

Grace O’Malley writes about her experience moving to Sweden in April 2021 and some of the challenges she faced once she arrived. One of the main questions she was asked by people at home was, “Have you made any friends?” Grace drew inspiration from Dr Gladys McGarey and something she coined “your juice”. Dr McGarey says, “your juice is something that sparks you, something that you exist for, your purpose for being alive”. It was this juice that Grace went looking for and she found it in the local theatre group.

“When you can’t get by with your words, you have to multiply your personality by 10 to be understood” says Claire Gallagher. She learned this lesson when she moved to Paris in 2009. Only planning to live abroad for a year, but instead “14 years, three cities and two children later we’re now learning to navigate Barcelona as an expat family.” She now runs a content marketing business while living with her family of four in Barcelona. “Speaking a new language made me feel very self-conscious at first,” she says.

Ruth Kelly talks about living in Durham, North Carolina, somewhere she did not think she would end up when she started travelling in 2021, “Ireland was still very much in the depths of Covid restrictions and I had just completed my PhD in Human Genetics at Trinity College Dublin” she said. The move to the US provided opportunity that was not available in Ireland. Kelly describes how she and her boyfriend could “comfortably rent a two-bedroom town house,” something that would not have been possible for them in Dublin.

If you are living abroad and have a story to tell, please contact Irish Times Abroad and share your experience. Email abroad@irishtimes.com with a little information about you and what you do.