‘We joked about whether we were working from home or living at work’
BALLINCOLLIG-BASED COUPLE SPEAK ABOUT BALANCING THEIR HOME AND WORK LIVES THROUGHOUT THE COVID PANDEMIC
AS part of their contribution to marking Engineering Week 2021, Irish Water has highlighted how a married couple working for the company has managed to engineer their way around the obstacles placed in their way by the Covid restrictions.
Under normal circumstances Victoria and Tom Quigley, both of whom work in Irish Water’s Asset Management Team which is responsible for planning and designing sewer networks, would work out of the company’s Mallow office.
However, for them and indeed tens of thousands of other people across the country, these are far from normal times and instead the Quigleys have been working from their Ballincollig home for the past 12-months.
Add to this the fact they are juggling their workload alongside home-schooling Tom Jnr (9) and Kate (8) and keeping Liam (3) entertained you may be forgiven for thinking that daily life in the Quigley household can be somewhat chaotic.
For many married couples working alongside one another would be a new, and potentially trying situation.
However, as Tom and Victoria met through work back in 2002 before getting married eight years later it is something they are well used to.
However, Tom did admit that initially working from their Ballincollig home was an “unexpected and bizarre experience.”
“We joked about whether we were ‘working from home’ or living at work. While technology has made working from home a real option, we do look forward to the day we can be back in a meeting room with real people, said Tom.
“But, we don’t miss the hectic pace of life we had less than a year ago; rushing out the door in the morning, not spending enough quality time with the kids, sitting in our cars for far too long each day and spending each evening getting ready to do it all again the next day,” he added.
Both Tom and Victoria said it would be interesting to see if the pandemic would result in permanent changes to the way they and others in similar situations will work.
“The pandemic has definitely taught us to enjoy a different pace of life. Lunchtime walks to Ballincollig Regional Park are now a regular occurrence, we rarely use our cars anymore, and we have so much more time with the kids,” said Victoria.
However, she did admit that not everyday has been easy, particularly when it comes to juggling work commitments with home-schooling.
“We both know we were not born to be teachers and we dearly miss seeing our family and friends. We consider ourselves very lucky to have worked throughout the pandemic, unlike so many people across the country who are currently out of work,” said Victoria.
“We have a very supportive network of colleagues in Irish Water and most importantly, we have happiness and health,” said Victoria.