u/Fiadh_101

I work in HR for a small company in Ireland, and one thing I didn’t really appreciate before taking the role was how different HR can be in an SME compared with what you hear about larger companies.

There’s no big HR team to ask for a second opinion, so you end up dealing with everything from recruitment and employee issues to policies, payroll queries and sometimes even things that probably shouldn’t be HR’s problem. The part I find hardest is knowing when to be flexible and when you have to stick firmly to policy. In a small company, everyone knows everyone, so even fairly straightforward HR decisions can sometimes feel quite personal.

For those working in HR in Ireland, what do you find is the most difficult workplace issue to handle when you’re working in a small company?

I recently learned about the 1798 rebellion, the Flight of the Wild Geese, and the fact that Ireland once had a parliament sitting in Dublin that was effectively abolished through the Act of Union. Then there are all the strange little stories that seem to get lost between the major events.

So I'm curious, what’s the most ridiculous, surprising or downright unbelievable piece of Irish history you know that is actually true?