Career Coach | MC | Keynote | Content Creator | Coaching & empowering students
County Dublin
One-On-One with Ntsoaki
Could you tell us a bit more about yourself, your job and how long you’ve lived in County Dublin?
My name is Ntsoaki Phakoe-McKevitt, originally from South Africa. I’ve lived in Ireland 19 years this year, I currently work as a Career Coach and I am also working on getting qualified to be an empowerment coach. I’ve lived in Dublin for 11 out of the 19 years that I’ve been in Ireland.
What attracted you to living and working in Dublin ?
When we moved to Ireland, my dad had a job in Dublin and I loved it. Everything was so easily accessible with Dublin bus or the DART, now it’s even better with the Luas. I moved back to Dublin when I started working in a nightclub. It was easier to rent a place in Dublin than trying to figure out how to get to Meath at 4am every weekend. Once I finished working in the night club, I stayed in Dublin 3 days out of the week and once I got a full time job after completing my studies I moved to Dublin permanently.
Can you walk us through a day in the life of living in Co. Dublin ?
I usually wake up at 4:45 am and get ready to leave the house to head to the gym in the city centre (when things were somewhat normal). Once I’m ready, I’ll hop on the 27 or 15 to Dublin City Centre for work, depending on my mood I usually get on the 27 which takes a different route at that time in the morning. The bus drops me on O’ Connell street and I’ll walk to Jervis Flyfit where I would either do a class or my own workout session. Town is quiet at this time, a few bodies are moving around and its usually dark when I enter the gym. Once my workout is done and I’m ready for the day, I’ll walk from Jervis to Aungier street, there’s times I’ll pick up a coffee from Wolfe and Spoon outside my job and sit down and have breakfast at my desk before I have to start work. The walk from Jervis to my job is different, more people are out and the sun has now set and the city is busy at this time, everyone is travelling to work, school or coming back from somewhere. I usually step out for lunch, grab some food in the Georges street area. When I finish work, I would usually attend a networking event that’s being hosted between 6 and 6:30pm. My job is ideal as I can travel to anywhere in City Centre and most networking events are located in Dublin city Centre.
How would you describe transport within Dublin ? Is it easy to get around ?
Transport in Dublin is amazing, easily accessible. My only complaint would be to make them more frequent, buses / trains / Luas fills up quickly at certain times in the day. I go to the gym near my job because I know I wont miss the bus in the morning making me late for work, events allow me to miss the bus huddle and possibly being left behind.
How fast/reliable is your home internet connection ?
My connection is pretty fast and reliable. There are times where it’s slowed down but thats due to the number of devices connected now that we are working from home.
Can you tell us about some of your favourite locations or attractions within Dublin ?
The back of Jervis Shopping Centre, where the Bull statue is located. I spent a lot of my youth there with other young South Africans that hadn’t been in the country long.
St. Stephens Green – amazing to walk around, especially on a sunny day.
Moore Street (the culture)
Grafton Street & Henry Street (retail therapy)
What advice do you have for individuals or families interested in relocating to Dublin ?
Check to see what the area has to offer before you move, especially if there are certain hobbies that you are interested in. Local business is booming with yoga class, dancing etc. Also if you like walking or the sea, research the areas to make sure that you have easy access to public transport if you don’t have a car.
Thank you very much Ntsoaki for taking the time to talk with us and thank you for representing Co. Dublin as a Rural Ireland Tech Advocate.
Rural Ireland Tech Advocates 