{"id":257775,"date":"2025-12-30T09:21:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257775\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T09:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:21:08","slug":"no-one-seems-to-look-down-on-you-here-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257775\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one seems to look down on you here\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe friendliest border I have ever crossed was in Dublin Airport<\/a>,\u201d Amelia Doyle (37) says.<\/p>\n

For Doyle, who is originally from Salzburg in Austria but now lives in Dublin<\/a>, the differences between Austria and Ireland are best illustrated by how people are treated going through passport control. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I flew into Vienna a while back, I was asked, as an Austrian citizen, how long I was planning on staying in my so-called home country.\u201d Doyle says: \u201cWhen you land in Dublin, you generally have no issues going through passport control, no matter if you\u2019re a tourist or a foreigner living here on EU citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doyle believes that Irish people are the easiest to talk to out of any European country. She spent much of her childhood trying to integrate into different European countries as her mother worked for Austria\u2019s diplomatic service which meant that they had to move every few years. <\/p>\n

\u201cI spent my childhood and formative years in Moscow, Paris, Strasbourg and towards the end, Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her itinerant childhood makes answering questions about where she is from difficult. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, I see myself as European before I see myself as Austrian, or in my case half-Austrian and half-French.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father is French, but her parents split up soon after she was born. \u201cI\u2019m not really in touch with my father or any half-siblings I may or may not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doyle met her Irish-Canadian husband at a holiday dinner party hosted by mutual friends in Paris. <\/p>\n

\"AmeliaAmelia Doyle has lived in Ireland for 11 years. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband has a similar background with the embassy lifestyle, moving back and forth, this, that and the other. So, this was something we connected over early on.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time Doyle was studying law and political science at the University of Salzburg. To graduate she had to complete two internships, so she decided to do hers in Canada so she could be near her future husband. Though the couple were only months into their relationship, Doyle had no doubts about moving half-way across the world to be with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just clicked. It was our sense of humour, intelligence, those kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her now husband proposed in Canada and the couple decided that they wanted to move back to Europe to be closer to family. In the end they settled on Dublin as there were work opportunities there. <\/p>\n

\u201cBack then when we were looking, we were contacted by so many HR companies. They were looking for people in IT. They were after us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doyle\u2019s husband also doesn\u2019t speak German, so moving to Austria would have been difficult for him. Equally after living in Salzburg for university, Doyle knew that it was not her forever home. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0I miss Ireland\u2019s wildness and divilment, but after 20 years away, I know it\u2019s not for meOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cSalzburg, as gorgeous as it is, it\u2019s a bit small in the sense that people are not as open as they are here in Dublin. Yes, there is diversity, especially being a university city and everything but if you are Austrian and didn\u2019t go to school in Salzburg, people will ignore you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doyle has lived in Ireland for 11 years now, which is the longest amount of time that she has ever lived in one country. She sees herself as being here for the long-term.<\/p>\n

When she first moved here, she joined tennis, badminton and book clubs in her local area that she found online as well as taking art classes to meet people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing I always did when moving somewhere, no matter the age, was signing up to a book club. We meet once a month and finally a book club where people want to talk about the book. I tried it in Toronto and people just used it as an excuse for a night out.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also went to talks at different museums around Dublin and made friends by staying and talking to fellow attendees afterwards. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an introvert on top of everything, but I do put myself out there and I think it\u2019s very important for anyone who moves away from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AmeliaAmelia Doyle has always dreamt of being an author. Photograph Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

Doyle is in the process of changing careers. For years she\u2019s worked as a political analyst helping companies based in Germany, Switzerland and Austria to expand into the Near East and former Yugoslavia. <\/p>\n

However, she has always dreamt of being an author. Growing up, she felt that there were certain expectations about the type of career path that she should take. Most people she went to school with are today in law, accounting or finance. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0I\u2019m far from home, but the similarities between Ireland and Mexico are manyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In 2022 she found a publisher. She has since published four books in German in Austria, and so far, two of them have been translated into English. One of her novels, Two Weeks in Toronto is a finalist in the Romance category of the Canadian Book Club Awards 2025. <\/p>\n

She feels that her writing and desire to become an author is celebrated in Ireland, unlike in Austria or France.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one seems to look down on you here. But when you mention it to certain people [in Austria and France] they just look at you like, oh, this is so cute. You have a hobby. No one\u2019s taking you seriously unless you are one of the best sellers. I have a feeling that here it\u2019s actually celebrated if you put yourself out there and just go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com<\/a> <\/b>or tweet @newtotheparish<\/a><\/p>\n