What a Difference a Day Makes: Clíona Standún on moving back to Ireland to save the family business

Clíona Standún, third-generation co-owner of Co Galway-based Standún Stores, tells Helen O’Callaghan about the life-altering ultimatum she received from her dad when she was just 25 – return from her beloved life in London to manage the family business in Spiddal, or let it go.

Clíona Standún: 'It was a bleak time in Ireland. There were definitely moments when I questioned the choice I’d made'

It was August 2009, I was 25 and living in London a couple of years. I came home for a visit to Spiddal where we have a family business – my dad was the second-generation owner.

On that visit, Dad said he was looking at retiring. He had back problems and had been sick in bed for a year. He felt the business needed a change of direction – there was a recession at the time – but felt he didn’t have the energy for it.