Episode 1 Departure Diaries

Last year, nearly 25,000 people left Northern Ireland

to start a new life elsewhere.

I've never been to one of these expos before,

but this is completely crazy, isn't it?

I didn't think there was as many people looking to leave the country.

It shows you how bad things have got.

Unemployment has doubled in the past five years,

and one in five young people are out of work.

'I don't make any eye contact with anybody

'because I kind of feel embarrassed, that people are judging me

'that I'm lazy, or that I don't want to work, or I'm just a bum.'

House prices have tumbled to half what they were six years ago.

This was our dream house, but the economy is the way it is

and Rhys needs a decent job that pays well.

We've got to leave our for ever home

and look for another for ever home somewhere else.

Behind the statistics are real people with real families.

This series follows some of them in the lead up to a journey that

could change their lives for ever.

PHONE RINGS

'Hi, you're through to Rhys.'

-'Jodie.'

-'Dylan.'

-'Caolan.'

CHILD SHOUTS

-RHYS:

-'Please leave a message! Bye!'

-CHILDREN: 'Bye!'

Heather Kennedy has been looking for work for the last four months.

I went to Liverpool Hope University to do Drama and English

and then I went on to do a PGCE after,

because I wanted to be a teacher, so that's four years of my life,

I'm 24 grand in debt,

and I'm here on Jobseeker's.

Since graduating, Heather has had one temporary teaching job,

but her chances of getting something permanent are slim.

Lovely, thank you. Cheers.

Last year, fewer than one in ten newly qualified teachers got

full-time employment here.

When I was in high school, I did a thing called Team Teaching.

My drama teacher introduced it

for anybody in sixth form who wanted to add something to their CV.

I was only 16 and the kids I was teaching were 14,

so only a few years below me.

I was like, "This won't work. They're not going to want to listen to me."

And I absolutely loved it, and I left that room

and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

To be trained to be a teacher and not actually be in a position,

it's really unmotivating, and it's not that there isn't jobs out there,

it's just the competition is mental.

I'm going to have to start looking for jobs further afield.

There's no other option, to be honest. I'll have to go where the work is.

If I can use my degree to get out of the country

and get a year's worth of work, then that makes me more employable

when I come back, if I want to come back, and at least I'll be earning.

I'd rather be earning than doing this every two weeks,

because it's soul-destroying, to be honest.

Joiner Ryan Scullion and his girlfriend Sinead McCann

have decided to travel to Australia together,

but with no jobs to go to they're hoping that they might

meet some potential employers at the Working Abroad Expo in Dublin today.

That fella just behind us, he's looking to go to Canada.

He says it's better wages and stuff and just a better lifestyle,

that's what he described it as.

Hopefully, the queues are worth it.

'When I first started and left school,

'there was loads and loads of work.'

'There was houses being built every week, sites started.'

Now, just the way things are at the minute,

you have to look for your work, so you do,

so it's just not as simple as it was four years ago.

Back when the things were good, most joiners

was getting at least about £100 a day.

Now, if you get half of that,

you'd be doing more than well.

And then, to get onto the property market, again,

it's very, very tough for somebody with small wages.

'The main goal is to go over and make money and hopefully some day

'come back and buy a house or

'build a house of some description.

'That's the main target, so it is.'

For the last three months,

Sinead has been working as a community care assistant.

It's not what she hoped what she'd be doing

after three years of university.

'I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do when I started.'

I went on work experience for accountancy with my auntie

and I hated it. It was so boring.

I couldn't sit in the office, I had to be out and about.

So, I went on work experience for radiography for a couple of days

up in the Royal and I loved it, basically.

'And that's how I got into it.

'When I first started uni, things were good.

'We were hoping everybody was going to get a job out of it, basically.

'There was loads of jobs.

'Everybody that was qualifying was just getting jobs straight out.'

There were 60 in our year and we've all qualified

and I don't even think half have got jobs yet.

'I went for interviews, but there was

'maybe 100 people interviewed

'and it was just for a waiting list.

'The way things are, you can't turn jobs down.

so, fingers crossed they don't ring when I'm in Australia!

I'll have a massive dilemma then.

The boys' school projects.

The perfume from my wedding day.

10 years after moving back to Northern Ireland to settle down,

Joan and Rhys Yardley are returning to the Isle of Man,

where Rhys grew up.

The first night we met, we played that tape.

Just having a young baby

and not really knowing anybody in the Isle of Man,

and Rhys's parents and family were fantastic,

but I really just wanted to be at home, close to my family.

-Mine's bigger.

-Yours is a wee bit bigger?

I worked for The Royal Bank Of Scotland

and I then transferred to Ulster Bank, who are part of that same group.

And then a really good opportunity came about to start

a business with my brother-in-law.

Watch you don't knock somebody out.

'The first two years we were very successful,

'there was lots of work, but that's when the recession started to

kick in and the opportunities for work started to decrease.'

We just tried to keep the business going as long as we possibly could.

What else have we got in here?

The recession hasn't hit the Isle of Man as badly as other parts of the UK

and Rhys believes there'll be many more job opportunities for him there.

You feel quite sentimental, but I'm glad I have it all, because

they're all memories and the thing is, you take your memories with you.

You take your photos, boxes and everything with you and leave behind the shell.

And that's kind of the way you have to look at it.

Otherwise, you'll be blurting, crying, which I will try not to do.

We're kind of jumping the gun a bit, sending the container on ahead

to the Isle of Man, because Rhys doesn't have a job yet.

'We don't have a home there yet.

'We don't have a school for the kids there yet.

'But, we found someone who's quite happy to rent our house

'long-term, so in order not to lose that tenant,

'we decided that we'd move out.'

So, Rhys'll have it all to unpack on the other side, now.

'I'm lucky that my father has a factory on the island,'

so I'll store all the furniture and other bits and pieces in there,

-so it will be safe and sound there.

-We're progressing.

They're torturing me. Big red eyes on them.

It's OK.

I'm a wee bit emotional myself.

I suppose the realisation's kicking in that we're leaving,

we're going away, even though it's not for another few months.

All our stuff's gone.

Oh, sorry, the chicken herb pieces!

Heather has been living with Myrtle for the past seven months.

Trying to think of a way to describe Myrtle.

'She's kind of like my mum, my best friend and my sister,

'all rolled into one.'

She'll stay there and eat that now, cos Pebbles is watching her.

'Myrtle has an absolute heart of gold.'

She is one of the most inspirational people you'll ever meet in your life.

'She'll do anything for anybody.

'I always joke to her that she has a halfway house.'

The two of us get on so well in the house and stuff

and we always have real good banter between us,

should we just be only carrying on, dancing about the floor,

-just be silly things like that, there. You know that way?

-No!

This is actually a picture of my mum.

You can see the little band.

This is the last picture taken of her.

She was in the hospice at this point. It was just for pain relief.

So, she was sitting, actually talking to one of her mates

and I just got my phone up and took a snap.

Little did I know that that would be

the last picture ever taken of her.

-MYRTLE:

-'I was devastated.'

'Known Anne over 20 years, and we'd been very close.'

-What you doing?

-What am I doing? Taking Sophie for a walk.

I used to play with her daughter

and we used to stay at each other's houses and stuff.

I don't remember a time where I didn't know Myrtle.

I'm think I've known her my whole life.

When things were bad, I would have done

the crying for the whole lot of them, like.

Heather was real strong going through that, like, so she said,

"Myrtle, we don't need to cry, cos you're doing it all for us."

Come on!

'Heather was away at university,

'but Anne wanted her to continue on with her coursework and stuff,

'so I think Heather just wanted to make her mum proud and she did.

'I'm sure Anne would have been so proud of her.'

With 8,000 other people at the RDS today

eager to find out about work overseas, it hasn't been easy

for Ryan and Sinead to find the information they're after.

-SINEAD:

-It's been a wee bit disappointing. Not too bad.

We got signed up to a few recruitment agencies.

Canada, mainly, has taken over.

There's only a few stalls on Australia.

Ryan's family have mixed feelings about his going to Australia.

Ryan text to say, "Mummy, I have booked my flight to Australia."

I text him back, "Is Sinead going?"

He text back, yeah, she was going with him.

I was kind of shocked at the time.

There's always that worry for parents that what begins as

a year away might become a permanent move to the other side of the world.

'There's so many young ones, now,'

that's all gone out, so.

Like whenever a couple of his friends said they were going,

I knew that Ryan wouldn't be too far behind.

'We probably will worry.'

'There'll be plenty of texting and probably set up Skype.

'But sometimes with boys, it's like they're are bit slow with

'picking up the phones and that.'

I think I'm going to start crying.

SHE CRIES

'He is the youngest in the house and she probably

'will be very upset when he goes.

'The way I look at it is, if they're happy,

'and they're enjoying it, well, the year will go in fast

'and hopefully they'll only stay the year and come back home again.'

With nothing on the job front in Banbridge,

Heather has been applying for teaching jobs overseas.

We just going to go off to the school I used to

work for in my maternity cover last year.

It's in Lurgan, so I have a few things to drop off.

It's a good excuse to call in and see how everybody's

doing before I go and just tell them where I'm going.

Until something comes up,

she's booked a flight to visit her brother in America.

'Plan is, I stay there for three months.

'I've got a nanny job from my brother.'

While I'm there I'll still be doing application forms.

I've just sent off an application for South Korea. I'm very excited.

While she's at the school, Heather pops in to see some of her old pupils.

-We've got Miss Kennedy here.

-Hi.

-Surprise, surprise.

-PUPILS:

-Hello, Miss!

-Are you all happy to see her?

-Yes!

Why is it you're going to another part of the world to get a job?

Why can you not just get one in Ireland?

I've been waiting by the phone every single morning from September

for a subbing job, and I've had nothing,

so I just have to kind of go where the work is.

I don't really have a choice.

-TEACHER:

-'I've heard numerous reports that'

young teachers, young doctors,

young nurses have had to leave the UK to seek employment.

'But, unfortunately, with the recession,

'they obviously just have to go further afield.'

So, are you going to have to teach them English over there?

If I get the job, basically,

my role is to work with another Korean teacher and we team teach.

But my main job is to just speak English,

if I get the job - touch wood.

Like, if that was me, in your place, I'd be so scared.

Like, so nervous having to leave.

I'm just worried what's going to happen when it's us in a few years.

Are you going to miss us?

Of course I will. Right, ladies!

-Behave yourselves!

-PUPILS:

-Bye!

TEACHER: 'Looking on the positive side of things,

'I'm sure she will succeed wherever she goes in the world.'

Safe journey, bon voyage, and do keep in touch now, OK?

-I will do, promise.

-All right, see you, bye!

That was really nice. I love coming back and seeing the girls.

I think that's when you realise how much you loved it at the time

and how much you'd give anything to be back into it.

So, as much as I've been talking myself into,

"I want to leave and go out and I have to do this to get a job and it'll be an amazing experience,"

I think if somebody offered me a job in the morning, I'd probably say, "Yeah."

It's never an easy decision to move away from a place where

you've put down roots, especially when it involves children.

-JOAN:

-'I think my biggest wrench

'leaving Northern Ireland is going to be leaving that school,'

because it's just fabulous.

'The teachers are brilliant, they're very approachable,

'they're very knowledgeable.'

I'm on the Board of Governors at the school,

so I've been heavily involved with everything going on at the school

'and I really feel like that's my place, my place in the community.

'It'll be tough for me to establish myself again

'the way that I'm established here.'

-RHYS:

-'It feels like a great shame, cos we've been here for a while.'

Everyone here's just amazing. They can't do enough for you.

Sometimes I'll come home from work to find my grass cut.

That's how brilliant some of the people are.

In a community like our own, we need to be getting people

like yourselves into it, rather than losing you.

I'm sure you will, cos you're a very welcoming community.

And I will be sad to go, there's no doubt about it.

It's been a very positive step for us, moving here.

-The good thing is the children are young enough to make a change.

-That's it. I hope it doesn't...

Make new friends and that and that's important.

-They're very much a part here...

-They are.

-..in the community and school and all that.

That's all they've known.

The boys themselves, they have loads of activities during the week.

There's Irish dancing, swimming, gymnastics.

-They've got Irish dancing again...

-Trampolining.

-Trampolining.

It's tough to leave that, so it wasn't an easy decision to make.

Two days before she flies to America,

Heather has a Skype interview

for the job teaching English in South Korea.

I'm all dressed up in my kitchen, looking at a computer,

so it's a wee bit strange.

I don't know, I feel sick.

Oh, my goodness.

I'm actually shaking.

-'Hello!'

-Hi, how are you?

'Hi, I'm doing well, my name's Heather.'

My name's also Heather, nice to meet you.

I just hope it all goes well with her, that she gets the job, like.

I think that would be a big step for her now.

And I think she will be very excited about it.

I'll do exactly the same in Korea. I had to do it...

I can hear her chit-chatting away there, so...!

I was only 16, so I literally... He got me a bike...

She seems to be doing quite well.

That's one thing - she can talk, like! I'll give her that, like!

Well?

Oh, my goodness, that was really weird.

-You can talk!

-Did you hear me?!

Whoa! I'm still shaking, I need to breathe!

Did you really feel nervous?

You didn't come across as if you were nervous,

cos you were just chit-chatting.

-Actually shaking. Look at my hand.

-You are!

I don't think I've ever shook for an interview before in my entire life!

You can take your glad rags off you now. That's you.

Christmas is only a few weeks away.

It won't be long before Sinead and Ryan are heading off to Australia.

Sinead's mum is dreading losing her eldest daughter.

It's harder when it's the first,

and it's probably harder when it's a girl, as well.

They will be very close.

The two wee girls are like late additions to the family,

so she was a great help in that respect.

She would help out, doing school runs and that whenever she was off,

so I've no doubt they will miss each other,

but with technology now, they'll still be able to keep in touch.

My aunt got me a contact in Australia for my line of work,

which I'd love to do, in radiography.

She was talking to a girl and she's got me her phone number

and is getting me her email address.

She has a chain of radiography services throughout Sydney,

so I'd love to get into there and maybe do radiography assistant

or in somehow, just in the same line of work

that I've been trained to do.

Hopefully everything'll work out.

Over the last two years, Sinead and I have probably come very close,

and obviously this step of going to Australia is a big step for them.

Hopefully... I don't know if it'll make or break them.

I maybe shouldn't be saying this, but hopefully it won't, hopefully

it'll make them and they'll stay together and come home even stronger,

because they're very good together.

We're getting excited now. The weeks are flying in at the minute.

We're just sort of working away, and Christmas and stuff coming up,

there's a lot of distractions, you just don't see the time going in.

We're counting down the days, basically, now.

We've a few wee things to get sorted and stuff, but I think after

Christmas it'll just fly in, so we're looking forward to it now.

I feel happy that she's going with him

rather than going with a bunch of girls, cos it's maybe...

It's maybe being selfish for me, but I think

I feel safer that she's with a fella than going with a bunch of girls.

I don't know if that's right or wrong,

but I hope I'm right and he does keep her safe!

So, you need to click on my name.

-Now?

-Yeah, you click on my name.

And then it comes up...

Before she leave for America tomorrow,

Heather is showing Myrtle how they can use the computer

to stay in touch.

Oh, you're ringing me! Two seconds.

Ooh!

Can you see me?

Why can you not see me?

-Oh, it's...

-Oh, squished.

There you are! Look!

Hiya!

I can only see your forehead!

I don't want you to see my face. Is that better?

Right, that's it now. Yeah.

Oh, imagine, I'm going to see this wee pretty face! Hiya!

Yeah, the next time you see it, it might not be so pretty,

cos it'll be, like, three in the morning. I'll be like, "Rar!"

I'm going to hang up on you now and just come and talk to you!

Talk to you soon, love you, bye!

"Talk to you soon!"

# We're all going to Granny's

# We're all going to Granny's... #

The Isle of Man isn't the other side of the world,

but for a close-knit family like Joan's,

it still feels very far away.

Don't open the gate now.

Did the weans say anything yesterday about moving away or anything?

No, just... You know what I'd said the day before, a couple of days ago.

He says, "Granny." I said to him, "What?"

He says, "Could you not move your house and come to the Isle of Man?"

But I says, "No, I can't move this house."

I says, "I have to "stay here." And then Caolan says,

"But sure, Granny'll be coming over to see us,

"and we'll be coming to see Granny."

-So they were happy enough? They weren't fretting?

-No.

-That's good.

It's sad for us, that you're going.

It's sad for us, too.

It's hard to take the weans away from their granny,

and me away from me mammy.

But I think we'll have a life as a family, Rhys and I, over there,

whereas now he's not home till half seven at night,

doesn't get any time to spend with the kids,

he's working all the hours, he's not getting paid any extra.

That's the main factor for us.

You know yourself, there's no job prospects here.

Just look at how many cousins and nieces and nephews are working

in the likes of McDonald's and have got degrees and all sorts.

I know that.

I think it's because, whenever you get older...

you feel more like you're going away.

Your dad, he'd say, "Well...

"..I could be dead next time that I see you."

-I'm only 20 minutes on the plane.

-I know.

I'm not in New Zealand or Australia. 20 minutes.

Even though there is still no word about the job in South Korea,

Heather is leaving for America anyway.

It's coming to the crunch.

I'm going on up to work now this morning, so...

The airport will be the worst part for me.

Have a nice day! Oh! Don't work too hard.

Tell Esther I said thanks for the message, by the way.

I didn't get chance to text her back.

OK? Stop it!

Go, I'll see you later.

I'm away.

Bye, darling.

See you later. I love you, too.

Here you go.

With only a matter of days left before he goes to Australia,

it's beginning to dawn on Ryan just what he's leaving behind.

No dirty laundry, she's cleaning all the time and washing up

and cleaning out the bathroom after me and making the bed.

Things like that that I'll miss.

She'll not miss them! She'll get space!

-You're going to miss me!

-I will, surely.

Everybody has to go their own way.

You can't be holding Mummy and Daddy's hands all the time.

It'll probably be worst the first three...

Maybe up to six months will be hard,

but you soon get into your routine and stuff.

And you can keep contact, phone calls and Skype, Facebook.

It's a whole lot handier now than it ever was,

back in the years with maybe just letters and stuff.

So, and again, if - maybe a big if -

if I start earning good money, I'll treat Mum and Dad

to a flight out to Australia.

We'll worry about that when the time comes!

-How many bags?

-Just the one, please.

Heather's younger brother

and best friend have brought her to the airport.

Heather left me a little magnet for my fridge, and a lovely letter.

I'll read you just a wee bit from it.

I was told not to cry.

But...she just thanked me for...

..for all I'd... I can't read it.

-Have a good time.

-I'm going to try.

Look after yourself and tell me when you get there.

Make sure you let me know.

Oh!

Just how much that she'll miss me...

..and that I've made her so happy.

Possibly the happiest she's been since she's been gone.

And I know I'm a crazy rascal, and that's it!

That's awful.

-See you later.

-OK, bye.

-Bye.

-OK.

-Keep in contact, all right?

-You too.

We'll be glad to see you. Look after yourself.

Now that it's time for Ryan to leave for Australia,

friends and family have gathered to say their farewells.

It's not too bad at the minute.

My mum and dad are coming down here to the airport.

I think Daddy's going to miss me, like, cos me and him

would have done more together and stuff, you know?

It's only for a year. Well, a year at the minute, we'll see.

See you later.

-Hey. See you.

-Enjoy it.

-Aye.

-Enjoy it.

-Bye, then.

-See you later.

Saying goodbye is just as hard for Sinead's family.

Come and say bye-bye to Sinead.

Come on down and say bye-bye.

Go on down to the door to Sinead and say bye-bye.

-Look after her, Ryan.

-I will, surely, Sheila.

Say bye-bye.

-Right, go.

-Right?

See you later.

-RYAN:

-So it's all sorted?

-Weans are breaking my heart.

-It's OK. It's OK.

It's all right.

Myrtle gets a Skype call from Heather in America

about the job she'd applied for in South Korea.

Well, how have you been?

All right. Not too bad.

Well, what about the job?

No, I didn't get it.

And I asked how many people didn't get through.

It's over 50% this year.

That sort of made me feel a little bit better.

How do you feel now?

I feel like I don't know what to do with my life!

That's what I feel like!

I've now started just to look up jobs

in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji,

cos I don't really have much option, to be honest.

And you just don't want to come home?

-To what, Myrtle?

-To me!

To you, and my £56 a week and my boredom?

Yeah!

THEY LAUGH

-No.

-Woman!

I don't blame you. I don't blame you.

-I can't wait to get on this plane.

-I know. That's it.

-Just lay back and relax.

-I know.

We've had our party, last week, and said our goodbyes and stuff,

and all just family and close friends the other day.

-That's the hardest bit of it.

-Other than that, it's...

We're going to the sunshine! We're going to enjoy ourselves, so we are!

Maybe at the end of the year we'll come back for a holiday

and the by that stage we'll know if we like it or we don't like it,

and if we like it, we'll go back.

-Have a good one. Have a good one.

-All right.

-Right, Sinead.

-See you.

I'll miss you.

'It's just the ones you're leaving behind.'

They're going to miss us coming home in the evenings.

-Annoying them.

-Annoying them and stuff.

'But they're the wee things that you miss, so they are.'

'Aye, they'll cope, so they will.'

-Bye, Sinead. Take care.

-We'll be home!

Right, let's go. See you later.

-Give us a text.

-Oh, aye! See you later.

Bye!

-You all right?

-Yeah.

Heather kept applying for work

and has since got a teaching post in South Korea.

Next time on Departure Diaries, the Yardleys' move is in jeopardy.

I have no home to go to, and everything is packed.

It has gone from being fairly straightforward

to an absolute nightmare!

The young people leaving the recession-hit Glens of Antrim

for life under the Australian sun.

If we don't do it now, we'll never do it.

If you don't do it now,

you'll not do it when you're in your 50s or 60s.

And those leaving all that they love behind

in the hope of a better life elsewhere.

To me, that's just home.

Sea, mountains around it. You've got everything.

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