Irish grandparents emigrate to Australia because they miss their children

Irish grandparents Eugene and Janet Bennis have missed their children so much they have decided to move to Australia to be with them.

The couple, who are in their fifties, have sold their home in Limerick after buying each other one-way tickets to the land Down Under. The money will now enable them to join their four children and four grandchildren in the Queensland city of Brisbane.

Eugene explained that they agreed a while back that their Christmas gifts to each other would be the tickets, adding that he would never receive a more special present as it would allow him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives with their family.

Janet, who left her job as a catering supervisor at the University of Limerick just before Christmas, admitted that it was a tough decision, noting that it really it home over the Christmas period when they realised it would be their last in Ireland. However, she confessed that living so far from her family was “unbearable”.

She went on to say that she has enjoyed a really nice life in Ireland and would take many happy memories to Australia, but that they felt empty without their children and grandchildren so would not be changing their minds. She added that all their things were in storage and there was “no turning back”.