Angela Scanlon has opened up about feeling homesick while living over in London.
The presenter has been living and working in the UK for many years now and says that although she loves it, every now and then missing Ireland does hit her.
“It hasn’t happened for a bit, but I do have a very clear image of a time when I was,” she told VIP Magazine.
Recalling one incident where it was particularly bad, Angela says that Saoirse Ronan’s powerful acting in Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn really set her off.
“So I had not seen Brooklyn but I heard only wonderful things about it so I watched it one day in bed on my laptop. I moved around about six times, from the bed to the couch and tried multiple locations. In the end, Roy came home and I was sobbing into my pillow in bed and he was like what’s wrong? and I just wailed ‘Saoirse Ronan is in America and she’s homesick and I completely relate!'” she said.
She added that her husband Roy Horgan helped her to put things into perspective and remind her home is never too far away.
“He was just like ‘first of all in was in the 50s, she had to get a boat and probably never spoke to her family again, second of all you have WhatsApp and there are 23 direct flights from London to Dublin every single day so dry your eyes'” she laughed.
“So that was the first time I felt a palpable pang of homesickness so I feel like I have a bit more perspective on the world these days!” she laughed.
Angela and Roy welcomed a baby girl back in February and the tv presenter says it’s a lot harder to leave when she has little Ruby with her.
“Now I travel home, and I bring my daughter with me my mam cries, and then I cry because I cry when I see other people cry. Then we both relieve the situation by saying ‘Imagine if I was going to Australia’ and that makes everyone feel better because that would be a once a year, two times a year or once every five years.
“London is across the water, it’s as easy to get there as it is to Cork!”
And while the tv presenter does occasionally get homesick, she has no plans to move back permanently.
She did, however, hint at an Irish gig in the near future.
“No, I think London is home for the time being. But Ireland is so accessible I’m definitely having conversations about different projects in Ireland.
“Like this campaign today it’s perfect when the job is right I can hop on a plane and make it work there is no need for me to decamp altogether even if it’s the right project,” she said.
“So if I can straddle the two that’s even better.”
The Meath star is an ambassador for Deep RiverRock which is aiming to celebrate some of Ireland’s quirky and wonderful community groups, and the host says she is very proud of her country.
“I did a little trip around Ireland with my family and I come home with shamrock in my eyes like a really embarrassing American tourist, I’m like oh my god it’s so green!” she said.
“I love Ireland, of everything that’s what I miss, that sense of community and familiarity and belonging to something that feels small and familiar and lovely.”
She added: “Whether you live in rural Ireland or in the city which can be equally isolating the idea of community and connecting with people is really important to me.
As part of the new Thirst for Better campaign, every Deep RiverRock label represents funding for these community groups. Now everyone can support their communities, by donating the 10c code on their Deep RiverRock to a registered group of their choice. Donations can be made by entering the unique code found on the reverse of every label of Thirst for Better via the website or by scanning the unique code through Facebook messenger.
