Wild Geese: David Flynn, vice president, Mutual One Bank, US

When David Flynn left Terenure College in 1984 and was looking for his first job, Ireland was in the grip of recession. Like many others at the time, he walked the streets to find work, before a sales training course with the then employment and industrial training authority, AnCO, helped land him a job with the Steel Company of Ireland.

With opportunities thin on the ground, Flynn stayed put until 1986, when he became part of the so-called “brain drain” of young Irish people who emigrated in their thousands during the 1980s.

Flynn moved to Boston, where he got his first job in equipment leasing, before moving into mortgage lending in 1989, and then into small business banking in 2010. Today, he is vice-president of Mutual One Bank, which is based in Framingham, Massachusetts.

“We are very much a community-based bank lending for the community’s needs in areas such as construction and working capital,” Flynn says. “Working at a smaller bank allows me to be more involved in the different aspects of the client experience and also means we have more control. We can make local and time sensitive decisions more easily.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is seeing at first hand the positive effect these decisions have on my community.”

Candid about move

Flynn is candid about his move to the US. “It was not a positive choice in the way it was for others at the time, or for today’s young people for whom living and working abroad is a rite of passage,” he says. “I moved because I wanted to be with my family. My dad’s business had been closely linked to the construction sector in Ireland and when that slowed dramatically in the 1980s, he decided to leave. He was in his 50s then, so it was a tough call.

“When I first moved to the US, the business cultures in Ireland and the US were like polar opposites,” Flynn adds. “That gap has closed. Today, the cultures are very similar on the corporate side of things. However, as regards the consumer, I think Ireland still has a way to go when it comes to customer experience issues.”

Having been involved in the financial services industry for most of his career, Flynn has seen the sector go through dramatic and often high-speed change.

“Local and global downturns have had a big impact and I’ve had to move positions, sometimes at an alarming rate, or get left behind,” he says. “I believe multiple factors led to the global mortgage industry collapse, but individual greed aided by loose guidelines were a recipe that ruined a lot of lives.

“When a crisis occurs the regulators have to draw a line in the sand, but the result is that lending today in the residential sector has become too restrictive and heavily regulated. I believe many of the measures taken could do with being revisited and amended. However, as a lender, I will always feel that the consumer could bear more, or some, of the blame.”

Dealt a double blow

Six years ago the Flynns were dealt a double blow when both Flynn and his wife were laid off and his wife became ill with cancer. “I had to completely change course and I don’t think I would have been afforded the same kind of opportunity to rebuild my life in Ireland,” he says. “I took a position with a greatly reduced income and worked my way back up through five promotions and three banks to get my income back to where it was.

“I may be wrong, but I think it would have been a lot more difficult to do that in Ireland.”

Flynn says there are still many job opportunities for well qualified people in the US. “For the most part, young Irish people are welcomed and assisted here with great enthusiasm,” he says. “Their education and the fact that they speak English are of huge benefit. IT and financial services skills are in great demand and anyone qualified within the medical and pharmaceutical fields will always find work, especially in the northeast.”

Now 30 years in the US, Flynn says he feels more connected to Ireland than ever before.

“For most of those who emigrate, I think there is always a conflict as to where home actually is,” he says. “ What I like about living in the US is the people and the diversity. I think this society suits my personality better but, as the years have passed, I feel more at ease in Ireland.

“Internet radio has been a huge gift. When you’re phoning home there’s only so much you can say about the weather. Now I know what’s topical and this has enriched our conversations.”

Having just turned 51, Flynn is content that he has found his niche at Mutual One Bank.

“We have been through a lot as a family and I am proud of how we have recovered. We got two children successfully through college, which is not cheap here, and both my wife and I are now doing well in new fields.

“At some point I plan on getting my realtor’s [estate agent] license and I see myself working part-time into retirement. Right now, however, we consider ourselves fortunate to have come out the other side.”