‘I feel lucky to have done my dream job already in my career'

Cork interior designer Shirley O’Neill discusses what it was like working on the 16 townhouses at Arbutus Montenotte 

A living space in a house at Arbutus Montenotte, Cork.

What’s your background?

I worked in Cash’s and Brown Thomas for 13 years. I took redundancy after my third child was born and later returned to college for two years to do a diploma in interior design by night. I had such a passion for it, and I started my own business. That was in 2009 during the recession, which allowed me to take a soft gradual approach to building my business up. I love my job. I find it very rewarding.