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www.celtic-connection.com
MAY 2001
Hearing the Call of the Celtic Tiger, Ex-Pat Returns to the Land of His Birth
By CATHOLINE BUTLER VANCOUVER - Brendan 0'Leary is the General Manager of Research and Development for the Irish League of Credit Unions in Dublin, Ireland. Just a year ago he was employed in Vancouver when he heard the call of the Celtic Tiger and was lured back to Dublin.
I spoke to Brendan on his recent visit to Vancouver to get some first-hand impressions on the effect of the buoyant Irish economy and what advice he might have for others considering a similar move.
He began telling me a little about his background, saying, "I grew up in Dublin and Cork and attended University College Cork (UCC) and then moved back to Dublin. I did my accountancy training there and held several different accountancy jobs in Dublin before moving to Canada in 1982.
"Unfortunately, I had to take my accountancy training all over again in Vancouver in order to qualify as an accountant in Canada. Over the years, I worked with pretty well every credit union in B.C. in one way, shape or another.
"Three years ago at Christmas, I went back to Dublin for a month visit and I connected with Ireland in a way that I hadn't connected for a long, long time... and I wanted to return home.
"So, I went out and knocked on a few doors and was eventually offered a two-year contract with the Irish League of Credit Unions in Dublin. Fortunately, my ties with the B.C. Credit Union allowed me to take advantage of this two-year contract."
One of the first challenges to confront Brendan upon his return was chronic Irish housing shortage. He said, "One of the hardest things on returning to Dublin, was finding a place to live. Luckily, I was able to stay at home unUl I got my own place. The things that you take for granted here are just more convoluted in Ireland, like for instance getting car insurance.
"The Irish ways are certainly different and not as straight-forward. I work with some Canadians over there and they can't make head or tail of how the Irish do things.
" I had the advantage of returning with an Irish background and a Canadian perspective, because my business experience was in Canada, so I had a better understanding of how business works in Ireland.
" But, I must admit that the way of doing things in Ireland are very different. It's just that everything has a story around it, there is a story around everything that needs to be done and everyone has an opinion about everything... it's different, it's great!
Brendan speaks enthusiastically about the Celtic Tiger saying, "Yes, it's certainly happening over there. I think it's a direct by-product of the peace agreement that Ireland is opening up. There are a lot of job opportunities available.
BRENDAN 0'LEARY
"For instance, there's a big need in the construction industry, lots of high-tech work and lots of openings in the service sectors, such as restaurants and pubs. It's very expensive to live in Ireland, particularly property and cars but food prices are comparable to Canada.
"If you're not originally from Ireland and moving there to work; give yourself a good three to six months to settle in. It will take that time to get appropriate accommodations; unless you're lucky enough to have something set-up for you before moving there, so there is a time factor. It's a whole different ball game for families moving back. Ireland is wonderful for families but uprooting a family is a very big change.
"One of the big things I noticed since returning is the tremendous age gap in the talent pool. For instance, all the guys I grew up with and went to university with have all left and gone to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States and Canada, and that's where the opportunity has been for me professionally.
"Actually, I'm very glad to be back in Ireland at this very interesting time of change there. I was at the stage of my life where having been away for quite awhile, I was missing out on a lot of family stuff, especially since I am the middle of five children and the only one of the family who had emigrated.
"Being back in Ireland is a real gift because it has provided an opportunity for me to re-connect with my mother and family and I'm very happy about that.
"I love Dublin, it's a great city and has it's own unique charm, but I hate the traffic there. If you want to see the real old Ireland }rou need to go down the country and the further west you go, the more real it is in terms of being untouched by change.
"Since returning, I have done a lot of travelling around Ireland, both north and south. I've been to Belfast, Donegal, Armagh and South Armagh and some of the scenery in the countryside in the North is really beautiful, absolutely spectacular and relatively unspoiled."
"If you're not originally from Ireland and moving there to work; give yourself a good three to six months to settle in."
There is a downside to the new Irish affluence according to Brendan. From an accounting point of view, he says, "There is a lot of money floating around in Ireland, but a lot of it is 'silly money', meaning borrowed money.
"All you have to do is look at the registrations on vehicles in Dublin, and you wonder how people can afford to drive these types of vehicles. They're all financed, as Ireland gets on the North American debt treadmill.
"Actually, these cars are clogging up the already too narrow and packed highways and the carnage on the roads because of carelessness and excessive speed is absolutely horrific in Ireland.
"Despite all the hype about the Celtic Tiger, there is still a lot of poverty in Ireland, there's an awful lot of social inequity especially in the inner city areas and I would like to think that with all the wealth around, that the government should be addressing some of these issues."
I asked Brendan about his plans after his two-year contract is completed in Ireland. He said, "Well, Vancouver will always be my base because I'm also involved in the credit union movement in British Columbia and internationally.
"I think I will retain very strong connections with credit unions in Ireland because some of the work I'm now doing has a much longer life than two years, actually it's
fairly big stuff that's going on in Ireland. Actually, I'm really not sure where I will be going at the end of my contract...could be Australia. Credit unions are everywhere.
"Before I took this assignment in Ireland, I was meant to go to south central China for six months with the Canadian Cooperative Association to develop a co-operative movement in south central China, which is a UNESCO designated world heritage site.
"But, Ireland came up first, so it wasn't really a decision that I had to think about too long. But my long term plans are to eventually play a role in the international credit union arena."
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