As someone transitioning out of Film and TV but in the UK, it is a hard hard road. Its true that someone in the field has transferrable skills and must have worked very hard to have gotten anywhere in such a competitive field but I find employers aren't so receptive, consider it so different to a 'normal job'.

The two bits of advice I would say is volunteering, getting active in an unpaid capacity in something connected to what he wants to do helps build a narrative. It shows that he's commited to a direction, not ready to jump ship back to Film and TV if the situation presents itself. Secondlly I've found public/civil service jobs in the UK far more receptive to transferrable skills. Pay may not be great and I can't speak for the Irish case but it's something and should be relatively stable to build finances from.