STORIES FROM ABROAD (II): Dermot puts down roots in Memphis, ‘home of the blues'
Even after 24 years in the US, Dermot Murray still misses home – especially his family.
The Robinstown native emigrated to America in the 1990s as part of the visa lottery system. He has lived all over the States, New York, Tucson, Arizona, and now calls Memphis, Tennessee, home.
Things have changed dramatically in the intervening years, and even more recently with the onset of the Trump administration, but yet Dermot says he would never dream of moving back to Ireland, unless the right opportunity presented itself.
The 47-year-old went to St Mary’s Primary School and attended St Finian’s as a day pupil.
“I had the best of both worlds, growing up near the town of Mullingar but essentially in the countryside. Robinstown was a tight-knit community back then and I have lots of fond memories of playing football with the neighbourhood kids. We had a small farm in Robinstown and I went to my uncle’s farm near Delvin every summer as a kid so have I memories of that part of the county too.
“I also played underage hurling for Cullion and St Finian’s – and even got a run out for the county U15 team.”
When did you decide to leave home and why?
“I originally left Mullingar in 1987 to attend college in Dublin. I spent a year at Trinity before transferring to UCD, where I graduated with a BSc in Computer Science. I came back to the county for a year after graduation in 1992 and did a post-grad certificate programme at Athlone IT (or the RTC as it was known then). I emigrated to the US in 1993.
Where did you travel to and why?
“When I graduated college in the early ’90s, there weren’t a lot of job opportunities – this was just before the Celtic Tiger. I was fortunate enough to get a Morrison visa in 1993. This is part of the visa lottery programme that I and many thousands of other Irish citizens came to the US on – it’s been recently criticised by the current president of the US who said ‘they give us their worst people, they put them in a bin’.
“I originally came to Yonkers, just north of NYC, in 1993 as that’s where my brother was living at the time. After a little over a year there, I moved to Tucson, Arizona, for a couple of years, moved back to the NYC area for 16 years and finally moved to Memphis Tennessee in 2012, where I live today.”
First impressions?
“I had been to the US during summer holidays from college so already knew what it was going to be like before I emigrated. That being said, I had never been here in the winter before, and that winter of 1993 was a brutal one in NYC with multiple snow storms and bitterly cold winds – I had never felt as cold before in my life. As Kirsty MacColl said ‘The wind goes right through you’! Apart from that, Yonkers was a good place to start life in the US because there were a lot of Irish people there and there were sections with a lot of Irish pubs, restaurants and shops so it felt a little like home.”
Did you find work there, start a family, fall in love?
“Yes, I originally got a job at a Habitat home furnishings store in White Plains, New York, to pay the bills, and then managed to get a job in computer sales after a short while.
“I worked in the IT sector for the next six years – in tech support for a software company in Arizona and then in the IT department at Iona College, run by the Irish Christian Brothers, no less, in New Rochelle, NY.
“I decided to get an MBA at Columbia University in 2001 and went to work for Verizon Communications until 2012, when I left to take up a job in corporate social responsibility (sustainability) with FedEx in Memphis.
“I met my wife, Lucille, in 1993 at that Habitat store, where she also worked, and we started dating in 1994. We got married in 1997.
“She’s been back with me to Ireland on many occasions and loves the place. She keeps telling me we should retire in Dalkey – I better start playing Lotto for that to happen!”
Do you ever miss home or do you get home often?
“Even after 24 years in the US, I do still miss home – especially my family. I check the RTÉ news site every day, and the Westmeath Examiner site every week.
“And of course, I keep in touch with family regularly, especially on WhatsApp and Facebook. I try to get back to Ireland every year and a half or so – we were just home for Christmas and had a great time with the family.”
What are the main differences between home and where you are now?
Memphis is very different to Mullingar – especially the climate. It’s hot and humid in the summer, mild-ish in the winters, although it’s freezing outside as I write this! “There are people from all over the world here thanks to FedEx, and the world-renowned St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, among other employers. So it’s a great place to meet people of all backgrounds.
“It’s also a great place for live music, home of the Blues and Elvis Presley, and the arts in general.
“The cost of living here is quite good – it’s one of the cheapest big cities to live in the US. Housing in particular is affordable, especially compared to the NYC metro area and back home.
“A lot of younger Millennials are moving here because of that – which helps create some buzz in the city.
“There are some pronounced differences when it comes to cultural and political issues between here and back home. Memphis a very liberal and progressive city, but it sits in a very conservative state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
“It’s also a more diverse place to live, almost 70% of the city’s population are non-white, 63% are African American and 5% are Hispanic. There is far more inequality here than back home, with abject poverty and crime in some neighbourhoods that are located next to gated communities of mansions. The crime rate in Memphis is quite high – there were around 200 murders last year alone, in a city of 650,000 people. If Dublin had the same murder rate, there would be an outcry back home.
“Because of the outdated 2nd Amendment in the US Constitution, there are far too many guns floating around in the US and this is reflected in the gun crime rate, which is the highest of any developed country by far! Unfortunately, the conservative politicians who run this country don’t see any need to change that – and in fact they think we need more guns to protect ourselves from the ‘bad guys’.”
Do you think you’ll return one day to Ireland for good or is that out of the question?
“At this stage in my career, I’d say it’s unlikely that I’d ever return to Ireland for work. There aren’t as many opportunities in the field I work in (corporate social responsibility/sustainability) back home as there are here.
“In addition, the salary levels here are hard to match in Ireland, especially when the higher cost of living in Ireland is taken into consideration. That being said, I’m always open to the possibility, should the right opportunity ever present itself. Perhaps we might retire to Ireland one day – though not so sure about doing that in Dalkey!”
Any advice for anyone thinking of moving abroad? Advantages, pitfalls, what should they keep in mind?
“That’s a tough question – things are much different in the US now to when I emigrated here in the early ’90s.
The option of the visa lottery to come here legally isn’t open to Irish people any more and it’s getting tougher living in the shadows here, especially since Trump was elected president. There are special temporary work visas for skilled people to come here but even those are under threat by this new administration.
“So I would encourage anyone looking to emigrate to do so to countries where it’s easier to get work visas – Canada and Australia come to mind.
“I would also recommend finding out what Irish organisations are active in the countries and cities being considered, and to make contact ahead of time to get a sense of what it’s like to live there.
“I used to volunteer at the New York Irish Center and highly recommend getting in touch through their website if NYC is being considered – NYIrish.org.
“The people here in Memphis are very friendly and laid-back. They epitomise the term ‘Southern hospitality’ and are open to new people and new experiences. It didn’t take me long to make new friends – there’s a vibrant soccer community and we all meet up at an Irish pub owned by a guy from Mayo near my house, to watch English premiership matches.
“I’m currently the president of the Memphis Tottenham Hotspur fan club! I’m also the current chairman of the Memphis GAA club, which was started by a grad student in 2015.
“It’s great to see people here interested in playing both hurling and Gaelic football – sports they never even heard of before. Our website is MemphisGAA.com.
“I also started a local ‘Green Drinks’ chapter here for people who are interested in environmental sustainability issues to socialise.”