Canada opens doors to Irish while other countries close theirs
When Siobhán Young was told after nine years in Sydney that she had just 28 days to leave Australia, it was, as she calls it, “the worst moment of my life”.
After multiple attempts to secure employer sponsorship, including a lengthy appeals process, Young had to make alternative plans. She had burned thousands of dollars on legal fees in an ultimately fruitless attempt to prove she was worthy of permanent settlement in Australia.
“My whole world was turned upside-down,” the Tipperary woman explains.
A stopover in North America on the way home ended with a trip to Vancouver. The coastal city, tucked into a mild corner of British Columbia sheltered by the 460-kilometre-long Vancouver Island, made an immediate impression.
A few months later, Young was heading back with a a two-year open work permit under the International Experience Canada (IEC) initiative. Within months she had established a business, BC Bia, distributing Irish snacks to bars and shops in the city. Running her own business was a dream she couldn’t fulfil in Australia, under restrictions of her visa. Read more…