To want to move to the UK? And if not, what part to move to?

Oi! Birmingham is Brill. Hull on the other hand….

For where to live look at the train lines and which ones are fast. National rail enquiries 08457 484950 are brilliant if you need help to plan a route and will tell you what platform to get on etc. So maybe one of you can commute if you running two cars is too much to start with and you want to live by the coast but work inland. Annual train tickets are the cheapest cost per use but obviously expensive to purchase and you only want that for a permanent job. Carer going to people's homes you'd be using your own car, so factor in business use car insurance because of travelling to multiple places of work per day. Ordinary car insurance only covers you for commuting to one place of work per day and not having clients in the car.

Your job is in demand, especially if you're actually good! Your husband if he's in construction you probably sign up for employment agencies get temporary work (you can do this for carers too), get known as a hard worker, the agency puts more effort into finding you work if you're reliable, the more you say yes the more they'll ask you first before anyone else.

Care company may call itself an agency but that's meaning the client can book a few hours here and there. For the staff you're the agency employee which could be temporary or permanent dependant on if it's an employment agency or a care provider company. Hope that makes sense. The difference is employment agency you've less rights but more autonomy, between placements you can decide you are having a week's holiday (unpaid usually, the "holiday pay" would form part of your hourly wage and paid in with that). Care company where you're permanent employee you'd have to ask for annual leave (paid) and it's at employer's discretion when because the entire staff can't all have Christmas off.

These employment agencies do permanent roles too just tell them to sign you up for both and provide CV. There's temporary (via the agency as your employer and the work placement as their client who they invoice) that's a few weeks or days here and there upto to ongoing with no end date depending on client's wishes, useful if you're not sure about staying in a particular area of UK because you can leave when you like with short notice period (and they can get rid of you quite easily too, so they're happier to take a chance on an unknown). Short term permanent contract of 3/6/9/12 months where the client is your employer or standard permanent job with no end date. Employer pays employment agency a finders fee for permanent roles, so agency puts effort into selling the product (which is you).

I’m half Irish, my DP is Irish and I also think you’re crazy, Ireland is so much nicer 🤣. The education system here leaves a lot to be desired, yes there’s more to do but there’s not the same kind of community that you get in Ireland. Life for kids is definitely a lot more wholesome in Ireland!

Anyhow, if you’re determined to do it, I’d say you’re massively underestimating what your DH could earn in construction here. My DP and his siblings are construction workers and earn a lot more than £35k. If you want to PM me I can suggest a company he can contact for work, that seems to pretty much only have Irish people on their books, and they pay well.

It's the wrong people. You're not a social worker, if I read your post correctly, you're a carer/support worker/outreach worker. It's care agencies/homes you need to speak to about your qualifications.

Social worker is the ones carrying out care act assessments to decide how much help someone is entitled to, removing children from abusive parents, organising old people to go into residential care homes, helping mentally ill people get their lives back together and helping decide who gets sectioned (hospitalised) etc.

Support worker is the one goes to homes to help disabled people access the community and it's services if they can't do that alone, carers do personal care like showering in clients home or working in a care home, outreach worker can range between like any other support worker to things like going out looking for homeless and checking they're ok.

the work you do is everywhere in the uk so you could easily move to somewhere like Northumberland which has a beautiful if wild coastline, Newcastle is a great city but small towns and villages are available for affordable accommodation because much of it is ex mining. I’ve always found people so friendly though do your homework as there’s pockets of great deprivation. You could also look at County Durham and Teeside.

if you actually fancy the south look at Somerset, there’s a lot of social care and building work available, prices higher than the north but away from Bristol and Bath it’s more affordable than much of the south.

Honestly, don't listen to all the doom mongers, saying what a dump the uk is. Those saying this have literally never lived in a truly bad country.

I d say with those salaries, nowhere south of the peak district
Your salaries won't go very far in the south, but they will in the north.

Cheshire? Close to wales and the coast and liverpool for a big city. Chester is lovely or for a cheaper town, Northwich.

There's not a lot of work in Spain..

Ireland is suffering a brain drain of people in their 20s not seen since the late 80s - mostly to Australia, but also Canada and the UK.

I'd be the last person to argue that the UK is anything but a shit show right now, but unless you are well established, the work opportunities are a lot better than Ireland.

Suffolk coast- beautiful, safe, affordable and lots of good construction roles available given the various energy infrastructure projects there.

I was about to say Northern Ireland but you’re already in Ireland!
I’m Irish living in England - don’t do it, OP. Just don’t. Use that EU passport and head off to France or Spain or Italy.

I'd say Northumberland/County Durham would be a good shout. Cheap properties but some lovely villages/small towns and close enough to Newcastle or Sunderland to commute for work.

I like living here, it’s pretty good! I’m sure you’ll find somewhere that suits you.

Well they usually say ‘the grass is always greener….etc’. But in this case it’s absolutely not both figuratively and literally. If you really can’t be swayed from this decision then Northern Ireland might be a good choice

I know several people who live in Sheffield pretty happily. I live in England but keen on Scotland too.
Would it be a possibility to spend some more time in the UK during your maternity leave ? Spend a longer holiday in one of the places you're keen on with a view to getting settled? Researching job prospects etc
I love Ireland but my home town has very few amenities.
Could another option be the North of Ireland?

I think people have given really good suggestions on locations @Applecrumble9 I’m Irish and live in London. I get what you say about small town mindset but think that can exist in England too. Cost of living, particularly food and eating out is higher in Ireland but wages reflect that. With a higher population there’s more to do here in England and better transport generally but do check this before deciding on location.

I would say for your child that education is generally better in Ireland. Kids start at 4 over here and investment per child is lower in England than Ireland. And that’s with books and materials being provided in England, unlike Ireland. So the amount getting spent on pupils is markedly higher in Ireland.

Teachers aren’t as burnt out as less admin and as a profession it’s more respected in Ireland too. There are some fantastic schools in England but choose the area wisely as it’s not the norm where most schools are good unlike the case in Ireland.

I do think that it’s more downbeat here though and would likely make the move back to Ireland if jobs and situation allowed. And highly likely to be a far right government in the next five years. Which is much less likely in Ireland because of the electoral system.

Much to recommend living here though. The craic isn’t the same, but if you hate it you could always move back!

North Wales? You've got access to the sea, it's reasonably affordable (outside of Abersoch) and you wouldn't be far from Holyhead ferry port if you wanted to head back for the weekend to see family.

Sheffield area and the Peak District would probably suit you. If you want access to lovely countryside you have massive choice there and access to larger cities like Manchester, Nottingham etc. Bear in mind getting to the ferries from the East coast is a very long drag.

I’d recommend East Anglia, so north Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk (excluding Cambridgeshire as that can be pricey in parts and no coastline). Beautiful countryside and beaches. If you stick to north Essex/parts of Suffolk you will have good access to London for work and leisure. Even Norwich has good connections to London. People will often mention living in the north for affordability but I think the East Anglia is great value.

Christ don’t go to Birmingham! Absolute shit hole. If you want dirt cheap and aren’t bothered about it being all that nice, Hull. You can get a massive house with garden there for under £300k

You want to be up north, Northumberland ideally. Countryside, beaches and not the daft prices of the south