UK native Aaron Birmingham orginally lived in Dublin for nine years, before upping sticks and moving to Laois where he said he found the perfect mix of city and country life.
Aaron has now firmly made Laois his home – setting up his family and his digital agency, Linked, here.
Aaron now considers Ireland to be his home, having lived here for the past 18 years.
When did you move to Ireland and how did you end up in Laois?
I was living in Dublin for around 9 years, and I decided to set up my own digital agency. I wanted to be central so I randomly picked Laois, and with a young family I also was attracted to being away from a busy city like Dublin. I find it much more appealing to live in a smaller town, and with clients all over the country I am perfectly positioned when I am on the road working.
What’s your favourite thing about living in Ireland?
Ireland is a beautiful country, and being from a big city like Birmingham where we don’t have much countryside it really appeals to me. I also have a lot to be thankful for living in Ireland, I have met some great people and friends, had the opportunity to work for some great companies with LinkedIn the stand out name, and now I run my own digital agency. I am pretty sure I would not have had these opportunities living in Birmingham.
Have you visited the UK much since you left?
I haven’t been to the UK for about 7 years, overall I have been home only a handful of times. I have now spent 50 percent of my life in Ireland and I don’t have may ties to the UK. It is a little crazy to think I have been here for almost 18 years and they have passed so quickly. I am planning to go home with my family this year as they have never been to the UK and I want them to see where I grew up and to experience the UK.
Have you noticed any changes since you left the UK?
I think Ireland is definitely evolving, I think the growth of multinational companies setting up there HQ’s here is fantastic. It gives great opportunities to people like myself to work with not only great companies, but also great talent that comes from all over the world. When I came to Ireland, construction was the boom and I worked as a scaffolder for 6 years so I have had quite a career change going from construction to Digital Marketing.
What have learned most since arriving in Ireland?
I can be pretty confident to say that I learned a lot about myself and what direction I want my career and life to go in. When I came to Ireland, I was 18 and I didn’t really have a plan. But as time went by, I knew I wanted to be successful and to be my own boss.
I knew it would be a long journey and one that would require me to learn the skills to succeed. I put a plan in place about six years ago where I wanted to work for a multinational company and also sharpen my skills in the industry I wanted to work in (digital). It’s been a long journey, but one that has paid off.
What do you miss most about the UK?
I don’t really miss the UK as a place, but I do miss some old friends. I think that is the biggest challenge about moving away, leaving behind people that have been apart of your journey growing up. But once I became a father, all my focus was on my children and they fill the gap and more that was there from the friends I left behind.
Will you return to live in the UK at some point in the future?
The short answer no, I am actually planning to move to Canada in the next year or two. I am opening a second office in Alberta and I am really excited about the opportunity ahead. I feel much closer to Ireland as my home, so a return the UK wouldn’t appeal to me.
What’s the biggest difference between Ireland and the UK?
I think I can only compare Ireland to Birmingham as that’s where I grew up, but for me Birmingham is very crowded and busy. I really enjoy the peace and space I have living in Laois, I regularly go for country walks where I do most of my thinking about what I want to do in the future and what plans I want to make, so this would be the biggest difference for me.
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