What prompted the return to Ireland?

We were planning to do two years just to see whether we liked it. I have a farm over here, so I was always going to come back to Ireland. We were struggling to settle over there. And preferred to be closer to home. Closer to family. So we decided to make the move back.

What work did you do in Australia?

I was a formwork assistant over in Australia for the 12 months I was there. Working alongside, chippies and formworkers. I was living in Sydney, so I worked in Sydney for six months and then for the remaining six months I moved to Newcastle two hours outside of Sydney and I worked a drive-in, drive-out job, on a power plant up there.

What did you like most about Australia?

The weather and the pay! The weather over there is absolutely magnificent.
It’s great when you’re not working. It’s not so good when you are. You have to get used to the heat over there. It does get very hot, but it’s unbelievable. It’s a different experience.

Top 4 things to love about Australia

1. The freedom. You’re out there. No one knows you. You can be anyone. You can do whatever you want. There are jobs and everything over there. Especially in construction, if you get your foot in the door anywhere, you’ll make money.
2. The weather over there is amazing. Even in the wintertime, you’re talking 20, 25 degrees.
3. The money you can make – if you put your head down. If you want to go out and make a few pound, go to a mine, it’s easy done. I know a good few of my friends have done it and, they’ve never looked back.
4. The lifestyle. You have a day at work, and there’s so many things to do where you’re living in especially Sydney or Newcastle, there’s always something going on. There’s always something to be at. You can live as lively as you want to live out there.

How does Sydney cost of living compare to Ireland?

It’s more expensive to live out there. Everything is very expensive over there, but you have more earning power over there, especially if you work in construction. If you’re working construction over there, you’re able to spend and save, whereas here everyone’s just trying to get by.

How did you find settling back into life at home?

The first thing I’d done was just got straight into work, and, after a while, it felt like I never left at all. Once you get back into a working environment, it’s the same as anywhere. Same as Australia, same here. So that helped me when I moved back. You just get back into a routine.

4 things to love about being home now that you’re back in Ireland

1. All my friends and family are nearby. They’re only a phone call away. It’s not like if you get bad news, you are 24 hours away.
2. The drink here is way better than it is in Australia.
3. Your sense of home. I think everyone has a feeling that they want to come home at some point and, there’s no place like home.
4. The work in construction here is really booming. There are jobs everywhere. I am working on the framework for the water network upgrade across the country. And there’s so much work. It’s the same with, broadband, infrastructure, the roads. There’s lots of work in Ireland. And so if you ever were thinking about coming back and working in construction, there will always be a job here for the upcoming next 10, 15, 20 years when everything is being upgraded. There’s so much work going on.

How did NexVentur help you find a job in Ireland?

Originally when I was leaving Australia, I heard NexVentur helps people moving home. So, I got in contact with one of the recruiters there, Conor Shanagher and said: “Help me find a job”. Literally, within one day, he rang me back, and he had three or four interviews sorted. I had my interview with my regional manager, my safety manager, and never looked back since. So thank you to Conor, fair play to him. He worked extremely hard to have four interviews sorted in the space of a day and be on the phone whenever I needed him.
Any of my friends that are thinking about coming home, from Australia, definitely get in contact with NexVentur. They’re absolutely amazing.