Forward thinking Calnan hits jackpot after making splash in fashion world

Dave Calnan had no grand plan of where he wanted his education or even his employment to take him, but he had a fair idea where he didn’t want it to go.

The 43-year-old from Innishannon, Co. Cork always had a thirst for adventure and a life abroad, so when he married a French girl he met while studying for a Masters in Dublin, a door opened and he found himself in Paris.

But it wasn’t what he hoped it might be. He struggled to find a job, the language took some getting used to, and before he knew it, he was back home on the family farm, supplementing his income by working for a local builder, his other half still in the French capital.