‘I love Ireland but it’s become such a rat race’ – why I swapped Dublin for Dubrovnik

After falling in love with a Croatian woman, Mathew Grealis (37) left Dublin for Dubrovnik in 2019. A few years later, a fortuitous encounter led to him taking over a wine and tapas bar in the city’s old town

Mathew Grealis has been in Croatia since 2019

Mathew Grealis

‘Back in 2018, I had just returned to Dublin after living in England for over a year. I was managing a company that was responsible for the layout of fibre-optic cable across the south of London. I got to live on a beautiful farm in the countryside but it was really hard work, often with 18-hour days.

I was probably a little bit burnt out when I came home. And having worked so hard, I was thinking more about my work-life balance.