Mags O’Brien tells Roisin Burke about her love of the sea and passion for travel.

The Echo is showcasing and investigating the broad spectrum of personality that makes up the Rebel County with a new series called The Characters of Cork. Every week The Echo will be chatting to a character about their life and seeing what makes a Cork character tick.

The Irish mantra of 'twill be grand' is a favourite of German Lara Huber, who is enjoying Cork's laidback lifestyle. 

A carefree summer in Cork helped Elena decide to stay Leeside in 2006, but the love of a Cork man helped her call it home.

A woman with two homes because 'Liberia is on my face and Irish is on the inside', Fionnuala O'Connell misses the sun but enjoys the craic in Cork

German Dominique Wehrkamp tells Roisin Burke he initially moved to Cork ‘for a year or two’ but is still here and loving life 17 years later.

Vanessa said she thinks Cork is a kind and welcoming city, where thought is given to important things.

Moving to Millstreet with his family at the age of seven, Alex said he quickly felt a part of the local community. 

Living, working and studying in Cork, Romanian Claudiu Murariu found the better life he was looking for here when he made the big move in 2013.

Australian musician and sailor Katrina Emtage travels widely, but always comes home to Cork, where she lives with her husband, she tells Roisin Burke.

From Poznan to Bandon, Polish couple Kris and Anna tell Roisin Burke why they love the West Cork town

Musical Englishman Anth decided Dublin wasn't for him and moved to Cork and he has made his mark on Leeside with panto and pints. Roisin Burke reports

Róisín Burke talks to American Heather McDougall about what first drew her to Cork and what holds her in her adopted home county. 

A three-month academic placement at UCC turned into a career, a marriage, a child, and a home for Italian academic Felicia Ciocia, writes Roisin Burke

Cork is a place of opportunity in the ever-expanding offshore renewable energy sector, the Scottish-born ecologist Gavin Arneil tells Roisin Burke

For England-born Danielle O’Donovan, the friendliness of the people is one of Cork’s best qualities — and the English Market is one of its greatest luxuries

Maëlle De Francesco may have moved to Cork just four years ago, but she tells Róisín Burke she now feels more at home here than in France.

Edilaine Simeoni Apolinário talks to Roisin Burke about her move to Ireland and how she has fallen for the magic of West Cork.

French woman Colyne Laverriere’s heart has been captured by the creativity of West Cork, she tells Roisin Burke

After five years in Cork, Croatian Sabina Krkic Bengez has found her perfect job and is enjoying life on Leeside with husband Marko

THE hills of Cork are alive with the sound of music, thanks to the skills and tutoring of one Finnish lady, who has found favour with the Corkonian way of living.

Croatian trapeze artist Lidija Sola talks to Roisin Burke about finding balance in her life in Cork

French native Valérie David-McGonnell planned to spend just a year in Cork when she first visited in 1998. She tells Roisin Burke why she stayed.

Polish engineer Michal Dymet first came to Cork 15 years ago and he tells Roisin Burke why he believes the city is a fantastic place to live

Roisin Burke talks to Kestine Ugbodu, who has lived in Cork since he was a boy and loves its rebellious, competitive nature

Roisin Burke talks to a nurse who has gone from working in a prison in the Philippines to opening a cafe and sushi bar in Cork

Head in the clouds, but with her heart in Cork, Cloud engineer Shweta Menghani loves her life in Cork city

Raphael Olympio moved from West Africa to West Cork, and then to the Cork city suburb where he found his rhythm and poetry (RAP), he tells Roisin Burke

VENEZUELAN software engineer Alfredo Haddad came to Ireland seeking a better life, and said he found what he was looking for in Cork.

Gregarious Tanusha Suvashini, who is working and studying in the hospitality sector, tells Róisín Burke she loves the Cork way of life and random chats with strangers.

Brazilian Rodrigo Francisco tells Roisin Burke why he loves living in Cork and plans to stay here for good. 

Roisin Burke speaks to Sam West, 19, who moved to Cork from Trinidad three years ago. He is studying industrial physics at MTU/UCC and working on his tennis game

FROM the USA to Ireland and from Cork city to Crosshaven, Sarah Kandrot has found her place in the world, working in her dream job with Green Rebel Marine, a company dedicated to supporting offshore energy with cutting edge geo data.

The new director of the Everyman, Sophie Motley, tells Róisín Burke that moving to Cork was an easy decision and she is overwhelmed by enthusiasm and interest for her new-found home

Dancer and visual artist Andrea Williams thought she was coming to Corkfor a few months, but tells Róisín Burke the city is now home.

Palestinian Ziad Samaro has big dreams and he wants to realise them in Cork. Roisin Burke speaks to the young entrepreneur.

Kenyan psychologist Naomi Masheti has found a friendly home in Cork but tells Roisin Burke she still hasn’t got used to the cold.

LURED to Cork by romance almost 50 years ago, Englishman Albert McCarthy says he loves Cork’s laid back approach to life, which he shares with his Kinsale wife Pat.

French sports-fanatic and microbiology expert Pierre Mehdi-Hadbi believes home is where the heart is and his heart belongs to Cork

ROAMING the countryside with her rescue dog Sam is one of Juulika’s favourite things to do in County Cork where she lives with her husband Daniel.

Michal Sikora is still processing the loss of his beloved wife, Lesil, to cancer last year, but his social enterprise and his friends are a huge help, the mental-health advocate tells Roisin Burke

ORIGINALLY from Ukraine, Alex Chernenko reluctantly followed his parents to Ireland as an 18-year-old for a summer and eighteen years later, he is now the CEO of his own company with a wife and three children, here in Cork.

LEAVING the “noisy, polluted” city of London for the solitude and beauty of West Cork was an easy decision for Londoner Claudia Kinmonth, who moved there 23 years ago with her husband Michael and young son Finbarr.

Internationally acclaimed computer scientist Mubashir Husain Rehmani, originally from Pakistan, loves his work with Cork Institute of Technology and said he hopes to stay in Cork to raise his three children with his wife Khadija.

NEIL GRANT is a Scotsman who left the highlands for the hills of West Cork, where he has been living with his wife Yvonne for the past 11 years. He met Yvonne, a Clonakilty native, in Mayo when they were both working at Ashford Castle.

WITH her family in the south of France and having spent a large part of her childhood in western Africa, Melanie Poussin says that living in Ireland the hot climate is the one thing that she misses. “The weather is cold and wet all year round.

GLASWEGIAN artist Lorna Macdonald Dunlop has been living in the County Cork countryside for the past 14 years, but doesn’t drive and doesn’t own a smartphone.

INTERNATIONALLY renowned American pianist David Syme has found himself settling in West Cork with his wife Suzanne since 2005 and said he can’t see himself living anywhere else.

THE weather can be challenging but the Cork sense of humour keeps her smiling. That’s the mantra of Sicilian Valentina Gambardella, who has been living in Cork for the past 13 years.

LONDONER Caroline Kennedy has been living in Cork for the last decade and said she looks set on staying in the Rebel County in the years to come.