From tax to twine
Finn Hynes swapped a career as a tax lawyer with a global accounting firm in Sydney for the life of an entrepreneur in Wicklow town on her return to Ireland in 2016. "I had done a few interviews while I was in Sydney with potential employers here," she says. "But they didn't really know what to do with me. I have 10 years' experience as a tax lawyer but half it is in a different jurisdiction. I decided to set up my own business – one I could run from home."
Her business, the Kind Twine Co, sends out specially prepared gift boxes for a variety of occasions. "I had seen similar businesses work in Australia but nothing like it here. I'm still keeping an eye out for opportunities in my profession though."
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The arrival of her second child in 2015 was the catalyst for the decision to come home. “We realised how hard it was going to be out there with two young kids and decided to come home. We are back with the village and that makes parenting a bit easier than doing it completely alone far away from family and friends.”
Housing was one issue which presented a challenge. “Even in the six months between when we decided to come home and our arrival back, rents had risen quite sharply. We had hoped to live closer to Dublin but that didn’t work out. We love living in Wicklow town now though.”
Settling in hasn’t been as smooth as she hoped either. “It takes a long time. I thought it would be like we never left but it’s not like that at all. We left here with two backpacks and returned married with two children. It’s been over a year and I’m still in flux. You don’t realise that you’re different and your friends and family are different. Everyone has grown up a bit in the time you’ve been away. It will take a bit of time to settle back in but I have no regrets about coming home.”
Living the dream
"You have to step away from something to appreciate it for what it is," says Orlagh Reynolds of her experience of returning home to Ireland from Australia. "I absolutely loved Australia but it's great being back in Ireland. My husband is Australian and he loves it as well – he thinks the people are fantastic and he just loves the pub culture here."
A senior business director with Hays Recruitment, she left Ireland in 2007 when she transferred to the firm’s branch in Melbourne. That was followed by a stint in Canberra before another move to Sydney. Her move home was prompted by parenthood.
“We have a two-year-old daughter Oonagh, and we decided to bring her home so she could be brought up Irish and be close to her family here. Australia is very far away and the flights are quite expensive so you can’t get home that often. I put up my hand and asked for a transfer back to Dublin and was lucky enough to get it. I’m back working in Grafton Street and it’s great, I’m living the dream all over again.”
The transition hasn’t been without its challenges, of course. “I was very fortunate in having a job to come back to,” she says. “That’s often not the case. But adjusting to life back in Ireland is still not that easy. You can feel like a tourist in your home town. You’ve lived away, gained new experiences, mixed with other cultures, and you come back with a slightly different mindset. Fundamentally, your friends and family are always going to be there for you though.”
Childcare and housing were other issues she had to deal with. “Childcare is hard to get here. I was fortunate to get a spot but that’s because I planned well ahead and got my friends and family to help looking while I was still in Australia. Housing is also difficult and expensive. Again, we are fortunate as we are staying with family right now and hoping to buy next year. We’ve been lucky and our experience of coming back to Ireland has been very positive. I would advise anyone thinking of doing the same thing to plan ahead for a long time to make things as easy as possible when they do get back.”
Checking out from California
Colleen Gill returned to Ireland in early December to continue her career with PwC. “Having been in California for almost three years, I felt as though it was time to start thinking about returning to Ireland for good,” she says. “Despite loving my time in the City of Angels, it is a long distance from home. My family are all based in Ireland, so I had always hoped to return at some point. I moved home just in time to enjoy the build-up for Christmas. There is nowhere quite like Ireland at Christmas.”
It had been a long-standing ambition to work in the US. “After spending several summers abroad as a student, I had always wanted to live and work in the US. In 2014, after qualifying as a chartered accountant with PwC in Dublin, I was nominated for a short-term secondment to PwC San José. After an exciting few months working in their venture capital group and exploring California in my spare time, I decided to extend my stay and relocated to PwC Los Angeles.”
Gill has now taken up a role as a manager in PwC’s International and Domestic Business group in Dublin. “Coming back to Dublin after several years abroad certainly has its challenges,” she notes. “I think people often assume that the transition will be an easy one but there are lots of things to be considered such as finding a place to live, buying a car and establishing or re-establishing both personal and professional relationships. I was very lucky to have the support of PwC in my transition both to and from the US.”
Despite these challenges, she believes coming home was the right decision for her. “With the growing economy, there is a great atmosphere in Dublin at the moment. There are significant opportunities within professional services, so it is an exciting time to be in Ireland. I definitely appreciate Ireland more having been away, although I must admit I am already missing the warm California winter.”
One piece of advice she has for others thinking of making the switch: “Make sure to tick everything off your bucket list before returning home.”
A difficult move
Siobhan O’Riordan has found the return home more of a struggle than she initially expected. Having spent six years away in London and Australia, the decision to return was very much hers, she says. “For me, it had to be done – I wasn’t going to settle unless we came back to Ireland. I’m here on an emotional level. My husband is English and he would prefer to be back in Australia so it’s difficult for him.”
One particular difficulty was employment. “My husband is a precision engineer but found it difficult to get a job here because he didn’t have a degree. I am a qualified nurse with seven years’ experience but am only paid as a staff nurse because I don’t have a masters degree. I am working as a nurse specialist in an out patients’ clinic but still only getting paid the lower rate.”
Housing too has been problematic with the rising costs outrunning their ability to save. “I took a big reduction in pay when I came home. We are now renting in south Wicklow, that’s the closest to Dublin we could afford. That means we have to run two cars to get to and from work. We have had to dip into our savings just to meet living expenses. We can’t afford to buy closer to Dublin because everything along the M11 is too expensive for us. We would have to move to west Wicklow to find something affordable but that wouldn’t be practical in terms of travelling to work.”
Childcare has been another problem. “We have had to get au pairs,” she says. “We are now on our third in less than a year.”
She cautions others thinking of making the move back to be conscious of the cost of living in Ireland. “We underestimated the bills: electricity, oil, health insurance. We would never have imagined how expensive it was going to be. I’m working three days a week now but even when I was working full-time we never had much left over. The cost of living here is phenomenal. My husband is on a good wage but any time he works extra hours half the money goes on tax.”
A change is as good as a rest
Orla Griffin spent eight years working as a lawyer in Sydney before moving to London where she says she “survived for 18 months”. She returned to Ireland a year ago to spend more time with her two young children, now two and three years of age, and abandoned her legal career to start her own business Sleep like a Log (www.sleeplikealog.ie).
“It’s basically gentle baby sleep coaching and supporting parents with on-the-go instructions for planning sleep for their little ones,” she explains. “It’s gone really well so far.”
The return home was motivated by family reasons. “A lot of people are in the same boat,” she says. “It’s great to have the children back here where their grandparents live. Family is very important to us. My husband quit his job in the bank and we took that leap of faith. It was definitely the right decision to return home.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing though. “The banks were quite hard to deal with when it came to setting up accounts and so on. One tip I got was to get a TV licence in your name and that will allow you to set up a bank account quite quickly. Car insurance was another issue. People say to put your mother down as the main driver to lower the cost. You would think that two people in their mid-30s would not be seen as big risks. I understand the insurance companies are working on that. Simple things like setting up electricity accounts were also difficult. We found things easier when we went out to Australia as backpackers.”
In common with many other returnees, Griffin encountered some difficulties in settling back into life in Ireland. “We had been gone 10 years and all of our friends had their own lives. It’s not like when you come back for a few weeks’ holiday and people are all over you. You’re not a novelty when you’re back to stay. But overall, we’re very positive about the move back. It was definitely the right decision.”