In stark contrast to the
rolling green hills of the Irish countryside, the hustle and bustle of San
Francisco would be hard to swallow for most, but 23-year-old Bríd Flynn is all
smiles. Pouring me a glass of Pinot Grigio in the living room of her cozy outer
Sunset apartment she coos, “It’s just a thank you present from some friends who
stayed with us last week, sorry it’s not the good stuff.”
I assured her the Pinot was
no better than anything in my fridge, and we raised our glasses to the city.
Bríd has jokingly called herself a San Franciscan since her arrival to the U.S.
this past August. She made the journey with her close friend from home, Aoife
McGahon, 23, and the pair have had the time of their lives learning the ropes
ever since. “We love it here,” she says of the city, “six months has already
gone by so fast.”
Bríd and Aoife were able to
find jobs through the Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, an organization that
provides Irish immigrants with helpful services such as job listings, apartment
rentals, as well as useful city information and living tips. The IIPC works
directly with many Irish-owned companies around San Francisco and places Irish
immigrants in jobs working alongside or with other Irish natives. Bríd landed a
job at an Irish/American startup called Rua (Irish for red), where she does
outsourcing administrative work for small construction companies in the bay
area. “It’s not really what I want to be doing forever, but it pays the bills
for now. I was hoping when I signed on to be doing something that would relate
to my field of study, but the people who worked with me were all so lovely, I
felt bad being unsatisfied at first with my job—I should be lucky to have one
at all, to be fair.”
For someone so young, Bríd
has already known her fair share of hardship. Born February 1, 1992, Bríd grew
up during a time of great economic prosperity in Ireland, known as the Celtic
Tiger. During this period, the country experienced rapid economic growth unlike
anything recorded in previous decades. From 1995 to 2000 the Irish economy
expanded at a rate of 9.4%, and continued to grow at a rate of around 5.9% the
following decade.
“I grew up, my teen years at
least, in the Celtic Tiger, up until I was about 18. Most families weren’t
struggling—I wouldn’t say that most families were wealthy necessarily, but there
wasn’t as much of a struggle.” Bríd grew up simply, but she was still able to
spend summers going to Dublin and shopping with her friends a couple times a
month. Her parents would even giver her up to 200 euro on occasion for shopping
for going out. Although she applied for a job when she was 16, it was less out
of necessity and more for experience.
Things took a turn for the
worse in 2008 when the country’s economic climax ended and Ireland fell into a
deep recession. The country hadn’t felt such strong repercussions since the
downturn in the 1980’s, and its affects were felt nationwide. “It definitely
hit a lot of the smaller towns and villages, but it was absolutely nationwide.
Everyone felt it.” Although Bríd’s family were lucky enough to keep a roof over
their heads and food on their plates, some weren’t so lucky. Millions of people
lost their jobs and unemployment skyrocketed to a height of 15.1% in 2010. Her
father and brother, who worked for the same construction company, were both
laid off that year, losing their jobs at the same time. Her father, Martin, had
worked for the family owned construction company for over 25 years, and felt
the recession’s brutal sting as he watched the company he had dedicated most of
his life to go out of business.
“It was hard, but once the recession hit, to
be honest, I think it was kind of a positive, a good smack in the face to
everyone because it actually made us realize that we can’t continue living like
this for the rest of our lives—we have to work harder and do everything for
ourselves, and realize that we can’t be spending all this money on materialistic
things constantly.” She paused to sip her wine. “It hit us bad, but it didn’t
even hit my family as bad as it could have, and I’m grateful for that.”
Her mother, who worked as a
secretary, also lost her job during the recession. Her older sister, Olivia,
who was training to be a nurse, couldn’t find work in Ireland and was forced to
move to Australia to try her luck there. When her brother, Cathal, was laid off
with his father, he made connections in England and was able to land a job as a
site construction manager in Reading.
“My dad lost his job in 2010
and he was unemployed for 2 or 3 years. He managed to get another construction
job a couple years ago and he is still there and he’s happy,” she laughs “he’s
just so happy to be working. He didn’t know what to do when he lost his job; he
was always trying to do something in the garden or around the house to keep
himself busy.”
Bríd too felt the
repercussions of her country’s recession. After graduating from Dublin City
College in December 2013, she found herself unable to land a job that would
ever help her in her career path. “I found basic retail work at a shop in the
Dublin airport, but I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
That realization drove her
to seek out greener pastures and only added fuel to the fire of adventure. “I’d
been to Cape Cod once in 2012 on a J1 and knew I needed to come back to
America. Even if I just got another retail job there, I knew it would be a
better place to make connections and I’d have more luck here than I would have
in Ireland.”
“I love it here” she adds,
“if they would let me stay forever I would.”
Although her one-year
working visa is up in August, Bríd still has another six months to experience
life to the fullest in San Francisco. She plans on taking a trip to Lake Tahoe
next month. She smiles a full-faced grin and says jokingly, “I’m going to do as
many American things as I can before they deport me.”
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