An Irish nightclub queen has temporarily swapped planning parties for A-listers in Miami for a quiet life in the Cork countryside.
Sarah Lucey has come home to Mallow after the Covid-19 crisis closed the doors on the late-night hotspots in the Sunshine State.
The 34-year-old can often be found rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Kardashian family, Leonardo Di Caprio, Calvin Harris, Beyonce, Mike Tyson, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Venus Williams.
But now she is content to be savouring the open spaces of the Rebel County with her French husband Max Moussier.
Sarah told the Irish Mirror: “We were really scared and were highly advised we were nuts to fly home.
“Flying was and still is a super high risk vessel for the virus.
“It turned out it was the last flight out of Miami to Dublin and thankfully we didn’t catch the virus.
“Mam and dad left our Jeep at Mallow train station and threw the keys at us. No embraces or cuddles.
"We quarantined for two weeks at our farm house, not seeing a soul.”
When restrictions are lifted, Lucey will return to Miami where she is the director of talent at LIV and STORY nightclubs that brought home $66 million in revenue last year.
But, for the moment, at least, she is savouring being back at home, where her family run the local butchers.
"I savor every moment in Cork having lived abroad for years and we are getting insane spring weather," she said.
“My husband is from Paris and birds, fields, and 10pm evenings of light is a treasure and very foreign to him.
“He feels like he won the lotto. It gets dark in Miami all year round at 6pm/7pm.
“Every other sentence out of his mouth is 'Jesus, this place is like something from a movie.'"
Sarah has over 200,000 followers on Instagram and recently met Ireland’s most famous fighter Conor McGregor after his victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in January.
Speaking of the Notorious one, she said: “Anytime Conor and I chat it’s always about how proud he is of being Irish, and he showers me with huge support and recognition coming from a humble butcher family from Cork.
“I didn’t spend much time with him in Miami. It was his mother’s birthday and he was with his family.
“I passed by their table and gave my best wishes. His sisters Erin and Aoife are great girls.”
Sarah’s focus since she came home has been to take things day-by-day.
While so many things have changed globally in the past two months, Sarah believes that the nightclub scene will come back strongly when it restarts.
She said: "Honestly, I think it will be pretty much the same.
“They opened the beaches in Florida last week and it was slammed.
“I do wonder though will the big boys that spend $100k a night still drop that money.
“After living in much simpler quarters and having less access to high end services, maybe they will see those big parties as a waste of money. “
Having lived in America for most of the past 10 years, Sarah says that she didn’t realise how expensive Ireland has become.
She joked: “Building walls, my garden, paint. Lord above the price of paint!
“Yes Miami is great to fund my farm house. Jobs are never ending there.
“I will go back to America when things settle down.“
Family was a major motivating factor on Sarah's return to Cork.
She explained: “My brother was having a baby. My sister was turning 40, it was my birthday all a few weeks after arriving home.
“My parents are only over the road from the farm house my husband and I bought.
“And I knew our Butchers (Luceys, Mallow, Cork) would be really busy if they needed a hand.
“Ian, my brother who runs the business, is delivering to all loyal customers who can’t make it to town.
“It’s a very tough time for the elderly and scary. Imagine being too scared to go to get your bits at the shop."
Sarah has been particularly impressed with how responsible Irish people have been with the lockdown measures.
She said: “I’m blown away with the unity, soundness and respect. That’s probably the word respect the Irish have for their people.
“Streets are empty, I’m really impressed with teenagers though.
“They are really doing us proud staying in and showing massive restraint and diligence.
“I think this generation will be something special after this."
Sarah has some very close friends that are nurses and on the frontline during the pandemic.
She added: “I’ve a few very, very close pals that are nurses.
“We have a group chat for all us school friends.
“The 16 hour days, seven days a week isn’t hurting them as much as the mental trauma. The girls are so mentally drained. We can never forget them during this time."
All going well, Sarah hopes to be back directing A-List talent in Florida as soon as the clubs re-open.
She said: "My boss is a machine, the second it’s somewhat safe all our venues will be open.
“I know I’ll be run off my feet and be on the first flight back to Miami.”
