The biggest change that Miren-Maialen McDonald has observed since moving to Dublin 26 years ago? Transport.
“All these years that I have been in Dublin I have never had a driving licence and I never will, so I’ve always been cycling or taking public transport,” McDonald says.
Having moved to Dublin from Hamburg, Germany, McDonald says the contrast between the two cities’ public transport infrastructure was stark.
“When I came there was no Luas. The buses did not have a timetable at the bus stops that you could see.”
READ MORE
Though she is originally from San Sebastián in the Spanish Basque Country, also known as Donostia in Basque, McDonald moved to Ireland from Hamburg, where she was working at the time, and brought her bike with her.
“The bike got stolen,” she says. “I have had three bikes stolen in Dublin. When I arrived the infrastructure for cyclists was poorer than it is right now. Things have changed but I still think things need to improve more.”
Over the past few years, McDonald believes that Dublin is slowly becoming more like her home city.
“Some of the streets have been pedestrianised, which is very similar to Donostia.”
[ ‘The more I read about Italy, the more I don’t want to go back’Opens in new window ]
As a child, McDonald attended German school and went on to university in Hamburg. After leaving university she worked as a translator in Hamburg before being transferred to Dublin.
“I never imagined that I was going to end up living in Ireland because I completed my education in a German school.”
McDonald didn’t know anyone in Ireland and couldn’t speak English when she arrived. Despite this, she doesn’t remember having any trepidation about the move.
“I always loved Irish music. I love Sinéad O’Connor and The Corrs. I remember that back in Germany, I went to a concert of The Corrs. So, I was very excited about the move.”
When she received news of her transfer, her parents encouraged her to accept the move as her brother, Pedro, had begun his career as a chef in Galway. The encouragement and welcome that Pedro received there led McDonald’s parents to believe that Ireland was a good place for someone starting out in their career.
“Pedro has worked in many countries since, Japan, Malaysia, among other places, but he remembers Galway as the place where it all started. I am very close to my brother.”
Despite her high expectations of life in Ireland, she was initially unsure about whether Dublin was the place for her.
“I think meeting my husband was a turning point for me to make my life here.”
Soon after arriving in Ireland, McDonald signed herself up to a German-language exchange programme at the Ilac Shopping Centre. The programme organised a trip to Glendalough, and McDonald met her husband, Gerard, on that trip.
A week later he got in touch and asked to take her dancing.
“We’ve been dancing ever since . . . I do believe that it’s something that keeps me alive, this dancing.”
Shortly after Gerard graduated, the couple moved to Sao Paulo for her work.
“We were part of the Irish diaspora there. It was interesting because I remember there was a place in a small town called Paraty and, would you believe it, they had a street called James Joyce?”
McDonald is a passionate fan of Joyce’s writings and for the past 10 years and has taken Bloomsday, June 16th, off work. Each year McDonald and her friend, Fabio, make a pilgrimage to the James Joyce Tower in Sandycove to listen to the readings that are organised for the day.
Alongside having a rich literary heritage, McDonald believes Irish people are very curious about different cultures. She often finds that when she tells people where she is from, they have either been themselves or know something about the city and its culture.
Over the years, McDonald and her husband have both made an effort to learn each other’s languages.
“He loves speaking Basque and he has learned some words. I love speaking in Irish, like I love the phrase: anáil na beatha an t-arthrú, change is the breath of life.”
The pair married in 2021, though they had to postpone the wedding twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We were extremely lucky because the week we got married some of the restrictions were lifted and we were able to have live Celtic music. We had traditional music from different bands perform.”
McDonald helped to start a group that cycles around community gardens in Dublin and around the country.
She helps people who have just moved to Dublin to find community by introducing them to the clubs and groups she is a part of.
“Sometimes people can be lonely when they come to the country and they don’t know what to do or where to start.”
For McDonald, Donostia will always be her home but having built a life she loves in Dublin, she thinks of it as her home for now.
We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com or send us two lines about yourself using the form below.
