Melbourne was recently ranked fourth highest in the Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Index, an annual survey that rates 173 global cities across 30 indicators. It is no surprise, then, that it is a top destination for young Irish people seeking adventure, opportunity and a better climate.
While for many, a short working stay there is a rite of passage, for Killarney native Paul Clifford and his partner, Emily, Australia offers a more permanent alternative to life in Ireland, with its professional opportunities and attractive outdoor lifestyle.
Two years into their stay, the couple have successfully navigated the visa system and have no intention of returning to Ireland in the foreseeable future.
Clifford, who was working as a public relations consultant with Drury Communications in Dublin, always had a hankering for travel and felt that if he didn’t make the move in his late 20s, he never would. Arriving in the southern Australian city in 2023, he spent his first month having coffee with the principals of PR agencies before meeting the bosses of his current employers, Six O’Clock Advisory.
RM Block
Hiring Clifford was a leap into the unknown for the corporate PR firm, he says, as every other member of the 10-strong outfit is an Australian native.
“We had three meetings, and the more time I spent in discussion with them, the more I wanted to work for them,” he says. “If you have someone from Australia in the running for a job, they are going to have an advantage over someone who doesn’t have a strong understanding of the local media market or the corporate and political landscape, but thankfully we clicked, and it has worked out.”
It was also fortunate for Clifford that PR is on a list of qualifying skills that now entitles him to a visa, allowing him to work and live in Australia permanently.
His diverse group of clients work in areas including insurance, cryptocurrency and the healthcare sector, and Clifford notes that although the agency is relatively small, “it stacks up well against all of our peers or anything I saw in Ireland”.
The cliches about Australians being rough, tough and very direct in their communication style have not been borne out in his experience. “Before I came out here, someone who had worked here in this industry 10 years ago said to me, ‘There will be blood on the floor during meetings, but people will shake hands at the end’. That’s not my experience. I have not seen any of that tough stereotyped behaviour. I see similar senses of humour and similar levels of respect.”
What he has noticed, however, is a great emphasis on work-life balance.
“In Dublin, if you have a run of two weeks of good weather in the summer, everyone is saying how can we organise our work and get it finished so we’re out of here before 5pm. That’s the thinking here most days, eight or nine months of the year, and that feeds into a certain mindset.”
In common with the many Irish now living and working in the city, the couple enjoy its relaxed, cosmopolitan vibe.
“Life is good here. Melbourne is a very vibrant, attractive and liberal city, with great infrastructure. I find it quite funny because one of the things that I find amazing is the quality of the public transport system here, which is so much better than Dublin, but you find locals complaining about it, so everything is relative I guess.”
As a keen runner and sports enthusiast, he enjoys Melbourne’s ample parks and green spaces as well as its rich spectator sports scene. “It’s a sports-mad city, which suits me down to the ground,” he says.
The couple rent an apartment on a commuter train line about 20 minutes from the city centre, and Clifford says they have both adjusted well to the working world in Australia, with Emily securing work in hospitality and social media.
There are some aspects of life in Ireland that he misses.
“The only complaint I would have is the bars here wouldn’t be a patch on an Irish pub. They don’t have much character. In Ireland, the pub is a place where people have always met and connected whereas in Australia, that is more likely to be at a barbecue in the back garden.”
Clifford keeps up with family at home with a regular call to his parents every Sunday night. “Technology such as Zoom and FaceTime mean that you can stay quite connected. I will always miss Killarney and the national park, and I’m counting down the days until we go home at Christmas, but at the same time we’re blessed to have settled in so well here.”
