Emmett O'Hehir (31) returned to his native Co Waterford last year after a 10-year absence. He took up a new job as a planner/buyer with Genzyme, an international biotechnology company, which employs 330 people in Ireland.
Before returning home he had spent seven years in Dublin followed by three in Celbridge, Co Kildare, where he, and his wife Ciara (36) lived in a two-bedroom house because "prices in Dublin were too high". They've now bought a three-bedroom house off the Dunmore Road on the outskirts of Waterford city in a move he says "worked out very well financially; you get more for your money in Waterford".
A sports fan, Emmett misses proximity to Croke Park and Lansdowne Road, and friends, but overall, is very pleased with the move.
He's noticed big changes in the Waterford he left a decade ago and describes it as "a vibrant, growing city". There are "huge improvements in the infrastructure and social life is very good with lots of new restaurants and bars". He says that there is "more sense of community than in the commuter-belt town of Celbridge".
Ciara, originally from Blackrock, Co Dublin, says: "I used to sit on the M50 and dream of moving down the country." When she told people she was finally moving, she was surprised by the number who said how lucky she was and how they'd love to do it themselves.
She says that she misses family, friends and Marks & Spencer in Liffey Valley but that she is very happy: "The quality of life is a lot better." She finds that people are friendly and helpful "especially when they hear you're from Dublin" and she feels part of the community which she didn't experience in Celbridge where she didn't know her neighbours.
"People have a better sense of identity than in Dublin," she says (which she partly attributes to local newspapers and radio). Ciara appreciates the fact that her local shop, the Ardkeen Stores, sells as much local produce as possible.
"Waterford," she says, "offers the best of both worlds - all the conveniences of a city which is easy to get around but you are also close to good beaches and the countryside."
