It’s about time: no regrets for Dublin family who made the move

A LIFESTYLE change that gives you more time.

That’s how Wilma Ryan sums up her move with her husband and daughter from Dublin to Limerick as part of the Revenue Commission’s decentralisation project in 1995.

The couple, in their 30s and from Dublin, decided the opportunity suited them and though it would take them away from family and friends, they would have more time to themselves.

“I’m home earlier, time is the thing I’ve gained most,” Wilma said.

In Dublin, the couple commuted for nearly an hour to work in the city centre, where Jim worked as a civil servant in the CSO. Both took up the decentralisation offer and once Jim secured a departmental transfer to Revenue, the couple sold up and moved to the Midwest.

“There were prospects for promotion as not enough people were willing to move,” Wilma explains.

But the real draw was the lifestyle change.

“We felt we didn’t have a lot of time in Dublin for hobbies and wanted to be able to make more time for family,” she said.

“There’s more to life than travelling to and from work.”

To prepare for the move, the Ryans spoke to others who were moving and rang estate agents in Limerick. They settled in a house just minutes away from work but later moved to the country.

“My first impression was ‘it’s so much smaller’, but the office is central and there’s a good university and lots of shops,” Wilma said.

The couple live with their two daughters, Ashling (12) and Moya (6), 11 miles out of Limerick city in Co Clare. They bought a detached home in a small village, just 20 minutes’ drive from work.

“Our house is across from the school, the church and the pubs,” Wilma said. Both Jim and Wilma take part in community activities and their children have settled in.

“They love it, they play soccer and badminton and do dancing and choir.

“I wouldn’t go back. Besides, the children would kill me, they both very much say ‘we’re from Clare’,” she jokes.

“It’s a very personal thing, it mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

“But people shouldn’t just say no - it could be good for you,” she added.