A recent arrival to Athlone who is passionate about the town's potential

Brexit is such a familiar topic in the news that it is sometimes easy to tune out. But every so often there comes a reminder that the decision of voters in Britain to leave the EU ultimately affected the course of countless millions of lives.

One such story is that of Paola Bassanese, an Italian native who lived in London for many years but decided to move to Ireland, and settle in Athlone, in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum.

There was an element of economic pragmatism in Paola's decision to come to the Midlands – house prices were more favourable here than in other Irish locations she considered – but since arriving in Athlone in December 2018 she has become a part of the local community and a true believer in the town's potential.

A freelance writer with a friendly and engaging personality, Paola often shares eye-catching social media posts showing Athlone in its best light.

In addition, she has been involved in local Tidy Towns clean-ups, has helped Ukrainian arrivals with their English, and is currently fundraising in support of the Lough Ree RNLI lifeboat service.

"Athlone has a lot to offer," she says. "We talk about the 'Hidden Heartlands'. Let's forget about 'hidden' - let's make it visible!"

Trieste, a port city in the north east of Italy, is where Paola is from originally. Surprisingly, perhaps, it's a place that has a significant Irish connection. "James Joyce lived in Trieste from 1904 to 1920," she explains.

"So I'm from a town that has a very international kind of outlook. James Joyce is only one of the many artists that have been gracing our shores over the years."

After growing up in Italy, she moved to London to continue her studies and ended up pursuing a variety of career paths in the English capital.

"My career in London wasn't linear... I did a number of different jobs, and changed careers completely. I went from being an IT consultant writing about technology to working in the UK Civil Service. From there I became a massage therapist and then I became a freelance writer.

"Each experience was interlinked with the next, because you're kind of evolving as a person. You start seeing the world with a fresh pair of eyes.

"You realise you have some talents that you want to explore and therefore you try and pursue that, and I was in a very lucky position to be able to do that."

She found London to be more of a "meritocratic society" than her native country, where personal and family connections play a greater role in determining job opportunities.

"In Italy, it's about being recommended by someone in high places, so it's about who you know. The dream there is to have a permanent job for the rest of your life.

"There is high unemployment there and also a situation whereby young people, and also middle-aged people, go from temporary job to temporary job without any prospect of a permanent job.

"It is difficult to make a living unless you are already wealthy or you have connections. That's the true reality of living in Italy, which not many people are aware of."

Writing has always been part of Paola's work and she has written several books that are available to order on Amazon. One book she wrote about cooking with foraged foods proved to be ahead of its time, as it was published all of seven years ago.

"Foraging, sustainability and being self-sufficient are now very much in people's minds because the cost of living has become so high that many people can't even afford to buy food and are exploring alternatives such as growing their own food, as well as foraging.

"I published my book (The Foraging Home Cook) in 2015, on the basis of my own experience and my research, but the book didn't sell, because it was too early!"

Paola said that, following Brexit, her life in London became more unsettled and she came to the conclusion that it was time to move on.

"There was this climate of uncertainty and everything became more difficult, especially for foreigners. We didn't feel at home anymore. We didn't feel welcome anymore," she said.

"I was thinking about other EU countries that I could move to. Italy could have been an option, but if you have my mindset about exploring opportunities you don't go back on your steps.

"You try to see a new place and I thought – stupidly, I have to say! – that the transition from the UK to Ireland would be quite smooth, that they were both English-speaking countries, and islands, with a similar culture. I couldn't have been more wrong!

"The culture of Ireland is rich and completely different from the UK. Also there's an element of, I don't want to say animosity, but, you know, healthy competition between the two countries!

"In terms of the mentality and the way of living, I would say it's very much different from the UK. So there has been a period of adjustment."

Athlone: The positives and the negatives

Paola lives on the west side of urban Athlone. When asked for her overall impressions of the town she responds with a "feedback sandwich" - listing the positives, then the negatives, before finishing on a positive note again.

"First of all, I found that the people of Athlone were very welcoming, friendly and helpful. There's this lovely culture of helping one another, which is really in Irish people's DNA.

"I felt very much welcomed by people that live near me and, especially during lockdown, people were baking cakes for each other, so you would have a little parcel appearing at your doorstep which was absolutely lovely!"

She identifies the Luan Gallery and the All Ireland Drama Festival as two real assets for the town.

One of the downsides of living here, Paola feels, is the public transport system. "We have very few buses, and the train and bus connections to Dublin and elsewhere are not enough," she says.

"The over-reliance on private cars, to me, is obsolete. We have to move on from that and really embrace a better public transport infrastructure, and alongside that, private forms of transport that don't have a huge carbon footprint, (such as) electric cars, electric bikes and push bikes.

"Related to that, the bike sharing scheme that was introduced in Athlone in April was a godsend. I have been enjoying using the service myself and it has been giving me a sense of freedom that I haven't experienced in a long while!

"But, as an area for development, public transport really needs to be addressed, especially the connections with Dublin Airport, because having a coach every two hours is not enough."

Another "pet project" she would love to see happen is the creation of a dedicated music venue in Athlone. She feels that there is an opportunity to host more concerts, either in local sports facilities when they are not in use, or in a new purpose-built venue.

"We have a lot of people going to Dublin, Galway, or Cork for different types of music, from pop to rock to jazz… It's a shame that Athlone, being in the geographic centre of Ireland, is not a (musical) destination," she says.

Paola concludes the "feedback sandwich" by talking enthusiastically about the town's foodie credentials. She is a keen cook and says the quality of restaurants in the town ought to be marketed to a wider audience.

"The food scene in Ireland is really happening, it's really alive. The food here is one of the main attractions, alongside the scenery."

She points out that there's an onus on local restaurants to get the basics right by ensuring that, for example, their opening hours on Google are kept up to date, which is something that, in her experience, isn't always the case.

Paola recently had a particularly memorable gastronomic experience when she won a competition to cook with celebrity chef Neven Maguire at his cookery school in Blacklion, Cavan.

"I went there at the end of June. Of course it was raining all day long, but Neven Maguire is such a warm, humorous and generous human being that you don't even care that it's raining outside.

"We had a laugh, we prepared delicious meals, and learned new skills. Apart from a lovely goodie bag, we also we came home equipped with new cooking techniques that we didn't know before."

She said that when she was in Neven's MacNean House restaurant she felt so welcomed that she didn't want to leave, and there may be a lesson here for restaurants locally.

"When I was there I had such a lovely time and I really thought, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I am not saying that each and every restaurant in Athlone has to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience - they only need to provide good customer service, and they will become memorable.

"Each and every restaurant has the opportunity to become memorable just on the basis of a good smile, a good meal, and people will leave happy. That's it! It's very simple," she concludes.

Paola's pizza fundraiser in aid of the RNLI

Paola Bassanese recently started fundraising in support of the Lough Ree RNLI lifeboat, and she is holding a pizza party this Sunday (July 17) in aid of the local service.

"The RNLI volunteers are doing really valuable, essential and incredible work saving people's lives," Paola states.

She was inspired to begin her fundraising when she saw a call online from the RNLI for 'homegrown heroes' who might be willing to organise their own garden party fundraiser.

"What we do as fundraisers could never match the amount of effort that the volunteers put in, but at least our fundraising contributes to equipping the teams as well as training them," she says.

She was struck by seeing a photo recently of an RNLI poster from 1988 which showed a volunteer in uniform and carried the tagline, 'His services are free, his safety isn't'.

"I think that is such a powerful message because these guys are giving up their own time to save other people. They're putting their own lives at risk, and the training is expensive, the lifeboat is expensive, the gear that they're wearing is expensive.

"I wish there would be more fundraisers. If someone who reads this article decides to organise a fundraising event themselves then it would have served a really good purpose."

People interested in Paola's pizza fundraiser on Sunday can send her a direct message on Instagram (@paolaenergya) for more details.

Also, donations to her fundraising page can be made at: royalnationallifeboatinstitution.enthuse.com/pf/paola-bassanese/