Shane Cox – 29, Rathowen, Co Westmeath

After studying Mechanical Engineering at GMIT, Shane Cox joined the McHale team. Starting on the assembly line, Shane worked his way up through the company before getting himself into the R&D department.

During the six years Shane spent with McHale, he travelled all over Europe and even visited New Zealand a number of times. After spending some time in New Zealand and getting a feel for the country, he decided that he would love to make a go of it down under.

Soon after, Shane applied for and secured a sales and grass equipment specialist role with Power Farming to cover the North Island. This suited Shane down to the ground as he was happy he still got a chance to work with the McHale products. Now going into his third year in New Zealand, Shane is in charge of looking after the full range of McHale and Kverneland grassland equipment. As he works on the importer side of things, he normally deals with dealerships on a day-to-day basis.

Shane said: “Over here in New Zealand, farmers and contractors aren’t constantly fighting the weather like they are at home. As a result, if a machine breaks down, the attitude is that there’s always tomorrow. There’s also a better lifestyle over here. Where I’m based in Morrinsville, I’m an hour from a beach or three hours from ski slopes.

“There’s also loads of outdoor activities really close. In saying that, I do miss the craic at home. I came out here at the age of 27 with the intention to stay for good, but we’ll see how things go over the next few years.”