Amanda lamb inspired an unemployed woman to move to Italy, an Irish newspaper reports.
Irish expat Fionnuala McKenna was made redundant in 2008
after cuts to her arts centre saw projects fall apart just weeks before
completion. But the single mother, in her 40s, turned to A Place in the Sun for
inspiration and eventually decided to leave the country.
ââ¬ÅI was in a state of shock for a number of months,ââ¬Â McKenna
wrote in The
Irish Times this week. ââ¬ÅThe media was rife with tales of other unemployed
people emigrating in search of a better life,ââ¬Â she said, adding that America
and Australia were too far away, settling on Italy as the ideal destination.
In 2009, McKenns used her SSIA savings to buy a seven-acre
olive farm in Puglia, where she produced oil to sell to friends and family.
Despite local culture and religious clashes, McKenna is pleased that she was
inspired to move, despite the economic concerns on the continent.
ââ¬ÅMy daughter and boys are all conversing in Italian with
their friends and involved in local sports and dance and music, and I truly
believe that this is the best gift I could give them while Ireland is going
through a recession,ââ¬Â McKenna concluded.
