Phil Cahill from Dublin won CurrencyFair’s incredible €30,000 relocation package so he can move home after ten years in Sydney. Phil was selected from the entries for his humorous video about the things he missed about home.
Hundreds of Irish expats submitted their stories, photos, and videos describing what home means to them in their bids to win the prize.
The competition was judged by an independent panel of well-known Irish media personalities including comedian Jarlath Regan and Irish YouTube sensation Clisare.
Phil explained what made him want to enter the competition: “The main thing driving me to come home was my family. I miss my parents, my brother, sister, and my six nieces and nephew. I’ve missed a lot of Christmases and birthdays.
“I love that feeling I get when I’m flying home or when you’re walking down the street and you hear the accent. There is such a friendliness in Irish people, a feeling of warmth. I also missed the decent pubs.”
And he won’t be making the journey home alone as he will be bringing his partner Cecilie, who he met three years ago in Australia.
CurrencyFair announced Phil as the competition winner live on the Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ One last month.
However, CurrencyFair had not told him he was the winner, instead that he was part of a shortlist, so when it was revealed that he had won the grand prize, the audience got to see the shell-shocked couple’s genuine exuberant reaction.
“The show was a bit surreal. It was more nerve-wracking than I thought! And Skype didn’t work. We were on live TV for a minute or two before it connected. Eventually, I saw a bad quality image of my mam and my brother and sister on the couch. We probably looked like we didn’t know what was going on – because we didn’t.
“After that it was amazing. We were just pacing around the apartment for an hour or two. The phone was ringing off the hook, we were getting calls non-stop from our friends in Dublin. Reality set in over a day or two.”
Phil said he would miss some things about Australia: “I will miss the close friends and work colleagues I’ve been lucky to have built up during my years here, but maybe I can start planning to entice them over to Ireland once I’ve moved back. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t also miss the sun.
“I’d like to give a huge thanks to all of my friends who helped me with the video, and to my family after making them go on TV.
“Thanks for CurrencyFair for the competition, it really is amazing and it’s going to change our lives.”