My name is Seamus McConville. I live in Belfast, I am married to Marina and have 2 children, Jamie and Monica. I have worked in I.T. for almost 20 years.


I have always been passionate about France. My wife and I have visited many times and drove through the north on our honeymoon. I have always dreamed of owning a place in France and have spent countless hours surfing through French property sites. When I stumbled upon the leaseback scheme I knew I could eventually realise my dream.

My name is Manda McConville. My passion for France and all things French has a long history and occupies a very large proportion of my time. As a child I enjoyed many long holidays and residential stays with French families, which enhanced my fluency in the language. In 1991 I graduated with an Honours degree in French and German from the University of Cambridge and in 1992 was awarded a Masters in Textual and Visual studies jointly by the Université 7 (Jussieu), Paris and Trinity College Dublin. I spent half of this year studying in Paris, complementing my by now lengthy periods of work in France. As a full-time Summer Volunteer for a French charity working with the elderly I co-ran residential holidays for the elderly in the North of France, Lyon and Rolles in Switzerland. Since 1993 I worked as a French teacher in a Grammar school in Belfast and, for three years, in a private school in Oxford.

I am married to John, a Neurologist, who shares my passion for France, and have spoken French to our three children, Keela, Sean and Ita from birth. We travel to France at least once and often twice a year, seeking out family-orientated holiday accommodation, with a firm priority devoted to the French language, in which the children enjoy communicating with the French children they meet. Satellite television and other technology keeps our connection with France very much alive during term time in Belfast.