Derry City & Strabane District City Deal

A video showcasing the work life balance and the potential transformative impact of the City Deal.

Transcript

00:00I grew up here, I grew up in Bunker Anna, so being able to come home and get to spend

00:14more time with family and friends was actually a big attraction. We have a really diverse

00:20range of people working within the centre at the moment, people from all different corners

00:24of the world.

00:25I can quote the Diary Girls, everyone knows everyone. And it's actually, for me, for being

00:32an immigrant, it's actually a good thing. I know the clinical staff here, I know all

00:36the nurses here. It does facilitate one-to-one interactions and that's very important for

00:40science.

00:41I think the School of Medicine has been of such strategic importance, both to the university

01:02and to the city, for such a long time. The move, certainly in medical education, which

01:07is what I do, has been to move out of those big conurbations and establish education in

01:13communities that really need it.

01:15Around about three years in, things were really, really taken off for us for elemental and

01:19we were starting to get lots and lots of contracts with NHS organisations and housing associations.

01:25At that time, there was lots of great things happening in dairy, so there was a really

01:28big attraction for me to move home and I've never looked back since. It's just been the

01:33best decision ever.

01:34I moved to Derry about 20 years ago. If we can get people interested in coming to the

01:37North West just once, they tend to want to stay. I think that's evident of all the big

01:42FDI companies that have come to the North West. Once we get people teased into visiting

01:46the North West and spending a little bit of time there, they want to stay and that was

01:49certainly my experience.

01:50We used to live in big cities, but when you have kids, young kids, it's more challenging

01:55to have them. I mean, living in Paris, very, very stressful. So the first thing I noticed

02:01coming here, by 15, 20 minutes, you can reach the kids, you can reach your house, you can

02:05reach your work, which is extremely different than what we could have in Paris or Washington.

02:09So this is a huge, huge difference.

02:23All the various leisure facilities that we've access to, and the natural environment, all

02:26those things together are just exceptional. I could be doing an open sea swim in Danone,

02:30for example, cycling back into Derry, and then going for a run around St. Colm's Park.

02:35You can not only develop your career, but really enhance your lifestyle as well. You

02:40don't have to be in what would traditionally be seen as a kind of centre.

02:46There's lots of lovely walks that you can do. There's really great areas to go for a

02:51swim. Surfing is a huge thing here. There's just, there's a lot of outdoor activity that

02:55really help you to sort of find a balance between work and life outside of work.

02:59I would go on my scooter to work in the morning, and I would put the earphones on, and I literally

03:05cross over the Peace Bridge. It's a great energiser, and I don't have to jump in the

03:09car, and, you know, I can just get to work really easy.

03:12I love going to Brook Park, especially the top bit where you can see the whole city.

03:16There's so many spots where you can go and have a good time, especially if you have a

03:20young family, it's great.

03:29Why don't you come to us?