Welcome to The Irish Times abroad newsletter for September. As the evenings get shorter and days get a bit cooler it is nice to imagine life in sunnier climates. Gillian Moore writes about her life in Colombia where she lives with her husband Santiago Lopez. She flew to the country 18 years ago “at a time when even my Colombian uncle-in-law said it was not safe”. However, she describes it as love at first sight. There she met her husband, Santiago, and after deciding to move to Colombia a few years later they set up a tour guide company, “specialising in bespoke private tours for travellers wanting to experience the real Colombia”.
John McGrail lives in Madrid where he works in the financial sector. “You can fly out on a Thursday night to Majorca. You could work remotely on the Friday, and you can have the weekend there,” he says. The freedom to explore other areas of Spain with such ease has turned his relationship with the country into a “lifelong love affair”.
Deirdre McGlone from Donegal says people should “enjoy the moment”. She tells the story of how she and her husband bought a hotel in France. Stepping into the world of hospitality was an old familiarity, however, as the couple ran Harvey’s Point in Donegal for 30 years. In 2020, as Storm Dennis battered the country, dreams of living in sunnier climes led Deirdre and her husband to “an alluring video of an ancient mill in the southwest of France” which kept appearing as they crawled across different websites. Five years on their hotel, Le Moulin, is thriving and Deirdre and Marc are “loving life in the slightly slower lane”.
Amy Byrne talks to Olivia Powell about her life in Australia compared with the life she left behind in Ireland. Byrne completed three months of regional work on a pumpkin farm to extend her working visa. Despite enjoying the extra time in the country, Byrne has plans to return to Ireland, mainly because of career goals. “If I could get sponsored in a job that I really liked, that I feel I was getting career progression in, then I might have stayed an extra year or two. I feel like I’m at a stage where I want my career to progress, and I think that’s better off at home.”
‘Loving life in the slightly slower lane’: From Donegal to the south of France
Moving to Australia: ‘I would have had a very fixed life in Ireland. I feel very light here’
‘I met my husband at a bus stop in Colombia’
‘I decided to move to Tunisia alone, fresh out of university, with no connections and no plan’
In the same piece, Helen O’Sullivan from Cork, echoes Ms Byrne’s point saying that the cost of living in Australia and the stress of finding a job while on a short visa “makes it very hard to even get an interview, as it is unattractive to potential employers”.
Jonathan O’Connor lives in Atlanta, Georgia – a place that is “very different from Ireland”. Outside of the change in weather, there is no public transport – so a car is a necessity. Mr O’Connor spent his career working in the banking sector. His work took him to different places abroad over the years such as Haiti, South Africa, Malta and Poland. However, a heath scare in 2023 ended his international travel and now he sits on two boards for fintech companies.
Milena Minta Barnes writes about her move to Tunisia where she works with NGO projects based in Syria. She has “developed a keen insight into the complex realities of the international aid system”. Ms Barnes says she felt accepted as a young Irish woman living in Tunis. However, that turned to uncertainty because of the war in Gaza and breakdowns in international relations. She found a connection through music with her neighbour, an oud player and producer from Gaza. “While our compositions were full of harmony, they also expressed the dissonance that existed between us in our similar, yet conflicting, experiences as Irish and Palestinian today.”
Patricia Killeen reflects on the Paris Olympics that happened earlier in the summer, as an Irish woman living in the City of Light. “Living around the corner from the Olympic Village, I felt so proud of Team Ireland and Paris 2024.” she said. However, the Games did not come without controversy. Ms Killeen said she felt “genuinely sorry” that some people felt hurt by artist Thomas Jolly’s “Festivities” scene, seeing a resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Even so, Ms Killeen is “still basking in the warm glow of togetherness – from the Olympics and Paralympics”.
Finally, Belfast film-maker Maeve Murphy writes about her trip to LA and the Irish-American welcome she received there. “I had experienced the Irish-American warmth in New York, but nothing quite prepared me for this generosity of spirit.” She was attending the Silicon Beach Film Festival on the west coast. The “crowning moment came at the end when the festival announced my short film had won Best International Short”.
