Moving to Ireland- help!

[TheCats4245]

Hello

I have been offered a position with a company in Ireland. I would be able to work 99% remotely, so have pretty much complete freedom of where I could live, however they would like me to be in the country.

I have looked at house prices in Ireland, and it looks like properties with land are much cheaper than in England, which would be a massive plus for us, as we can’t afford any land where we live. The position itself sounds amazing, and I feel it would be brilliant for my career.

I have a number of concerns and questions- I have never been to Ireland, so have no idea what it’s like!

My main concerns are if my partner would be able to find a job easily (building supplies trade), as we would need two incomes still.

Secondly, we have an Irish friend who tells us that in general, Ireland can be a bit anti- English. We are from the very north of England, and have strong accents, so potentially people may struggle to tell where we are from in a short conversation, but we don’t want to be uncomfortable. I’m not sure if my friend is exaggerating, but when I’ve googled this I get very conflicting views, so I though best to ask actual opinions!

Thirdly, we are from a very rural area in England, and would like to move to a similar area in Ireland if possible- however I know when new people move to our community, the older people especially are very unfriendly, and it takes years for people to be accepted. Is this similar in rural Ireland?

Finally, can anyone recommend any areas to visit? I have a week to make a decision, so we have booked the ferry and are planning on going visiting as much as we can (obviously bearing in mind restrictions!)
Luckily I have a long notice period so time to move etc.

We would like somewhere rural, but within half an hour or so to a town with shops etc, but would consider somewhere slightly more built up. If possible we would like to be near the sea. I have horses, so somewhere with a good equestrian community would be a plus, for my partner, wherever we can get the cheapest land would be best as his hobby is growing vegetables.

Any suggestions? I was not expecting to be offered the job so this has all come out of the blue!

And yes, down the country you will always be considered a 'blow in' unless your family connections to the area go back about 17 generations .

There are online calculators that will show you what deductions will be taken from your salary.

Secondly, we have an Irish friend who tells us that in general, Ireland can be a bit anti- English

That’s not true at all from my experience. However, perhaps due to small population, I do find it’s very clique and making friends as “an outsider” is tough, as people don’t seem that open to making new friends out their established from youth friendship circles. That’s been the experience of virtually all immigrants I’ve known Ireland, be they from England, Asia, elsewhere in Europe etc. Which isn’t to say “the locals” are unfriendly,
not at all. But it’s pretty clique. Obviously if your partner/relative is Irish and you have an “in” that might make that slightly easier.

There is a push to build a lot of new houses in Ireland in the next 10 years so I think your partner would find work.

Are you coming back OP!?

Need to know where your company is based and what your budget is!?
See, you haven't even moved here yet and we need to know more of your business :-p

Ferries to Scotland and Liverpool also depart from Belfast. There are airports in Mayo, Clare, Kerry and Cork so you would never be too far away from an airport on the west coast.

Wow I didn’t expect so many replies! I’ve been away from my phone as busy trying to organise! Thank you!

In response to your questions the company is based in Dublin, and I am expected to be in the office quarterly. This obviously means I can stay in a hotel etc. They want me in Ireland as they do not have offices or a payroll set up in England and do not want to do this (not sure why!)

Being fairly near an airport would definitely be a plus- our budget is about €250k, and we would definitely need at least an acre of land- I’ve seen various properties on daft.ie in this budget, but have no idea what the areas are like!

Thank you again

The cost of living is more expensive in Ireland. I had friends there who would drive 90 miles to Northern Ireland once a month and load the car up with shopping. Their version of the NHS is very different as well where I believe that you still pay to see a Doctor. You might want to check on how moving would affect your old age pension especially if you were to decide to move back to the UK after 10 or 15 years.

@BornToBeWilde

mind you it could be a 12 month wake as well

Yes, but I didn’t even think we would get this far this year!!!

Oh and DH is from Tyrone 😱

I'd recommend Co. Cork. I'm from there originally, so am a bit biased but I think it offers lots. Airport, city but lots of countryside villages and towns also. I think Clonakilty is particularly nice. There's always been lots of English people in Cork and they seem content with life there. I've never experienced anti-English sentiment other than the odd joke, but that is less acceptable these days.
Good luck, hope you can spend a long holiday in Ireland to research your new home :)!

OP, have you ever even been to Ireland? I think you would be quite mad to move to a country you don’t know at all after a week’s visit. I’m Irish and now back living in Ireland after many years in England, and I can’t emphasise that they are markedly different cultures whose differences people underestimate because of proximity and sharing a language. I have a lot of English friends who moved over here to university jobs since Brexit, and it’s been very challenging, even though they’d visited a lot beforehand.

I'm from the north of England, been in Ireland 20 years now, and can happily say I've never experienced any anti-English comments, not ever.

Someone said it above, but don't expect Ireland to be similar to the UK. It really isn't. It's great though, I love it here and it's home.

I moved to Dublin on my own in 1995 and left in 2007 (having picked up an Irish brogue along the way). Do it! It's a wonderful country and, bar the odd snarky taxi driver, I never had any problem with my English accent.

Could you rent a while first OP, you could even take the chance to move around the country a bit and see what suited you before putting down roots.

payroll set up in England

Why would that matter? (I know not the point of the thread but ...)

My BIL works mostly from home, in Ireland. But had been employed by companies based in Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands. He has a very senior role & travels a lot.

I can't see why there'd be any requirement to 'set up a payroll in Ireland'

Honestly I think you need to check the details much more. If they really only need to see you quarterly, there's no reason to move. I can't see any reason for there needing to an office or payroll system in the UK for you to work there.

It's possibly more that they don't want other workers hightailing it to other parts of the world if they find out you are working like this.

Also I agree with a pp. you need to visit Ireland, and asking for recommendations of where to live across the whole country is mad, everyone can sell you any part of the country really.

@PallasStrand
and I can’t emphasise that they are markedly different cultures whose differences people underestimate because of proximity and sharing a language. I have a lot of English friends who moved over here to university jobs since Brexit, and it’s been very challenging, even though they’d visited a lot beforehand

I sometimes see this written, but am genuinely curious. What kind of differences? My experience has been that the two cultures (broadly speaking, British and Irish or even English/Irish) are strikingly similar, with some subtle differences, often historical in nature, which have little impact on day to day interactions. I accept this may be slightly different if you live in a village/countryside far from any urban centres, but then again this is also true internally in any country.

Perhaps among the older generations, differences are more pronounced. But among, say, 20-40 year olds, I don’t find there’s any more difference between a “typical” Irish person/English person than there is between a typical English person/Scottish/Welsh person. Certainly far less than when comparing to mainland Europe. I guess big difference is all relative, and having spent much time in Asia, I find those are “big” differences, while those among European neighbours, particularly among nations in the British/Irish isles are hugely overstated.

My experience has been that the two cultures (broadly speaking, British and Irish or even English/Irish) are strikingly similar,

They're really not! Even reading MN would tell you this surely.

While this is of course generalising, there are differences in sense of humour, chatting to strangers & general sociability, dealing with death & loss, the concept of 'messing' & the way in which we are often not direct in what we say / do in Ireland & reading between the lines is required.

Honestly baffled that you think a house with land is cheaper here than in the UK. That has not been our experience at all.

@Chikapu

Honestly baffled that you think a house with land is cheaper here than in the UK. That has not been our experience at all.

I wondered about this too. I don't know the UK situation but for many people buying a house with land has been impossible (either to get needed PP) or cost.

Buying a house with land would be an option but buying land and building (unless it already has planning permission) will NOT be an option for you OP. There are several rules around this. And also if you see a house for €250k you are more than likely not going to get it for that price. It will be more, there will be a bidding war. Buying houses in Ireland is not like in the U.K. at all. It will take a LONG time to complete!! Much longer than you will anticipate, that's my experience anyway.

If you are flexible 99% from working from home, where is the company based if you have to go in 1% of the time, if the company is in Dublin and you decide to buy a house in kerry for example, its a 4 hour drive from kerry to Dublin.

Properties close to bigger cities are usually more expensive if you are considering country living, wexford, Waterford, Leitrim, roscommon, donegal is very close to the boarder as its the North of the County. Best of luck with the job. It will be an exciting new adventure for you.

Just like quality girl stated about buying a house in Ireland is crazy at the minute, the shortage of houses is driving up the cost, the prices you see advertised as guide prices, im currently house hunting at the minutes and have made offers of 35k over asking and I'm still outbid. Its difficult at the minute. However you might be lucky.

I'd be asking the company that have offered you the job to pay for relocation advice - I don't think you'd have to move to Ireland, but you need to know the ins and outs of doing so. I've had a look on daft.ie at two areas I'm familiar with - we have family in Co Cork - and €250k won't get you much.

I can't help with house prices as where I live in Ireland they are far more exclusive than anywhere I ever lived in the UK. As for the anti English sentiment , I returned home to Ireland this summer to live with my English partner and nobody has batted an eye lid or expressed any kind of opinion like that, in fact I faced far more anti Irish crap when I lived in the UK. I'm not saying you'll never experienced it but there definitely isn't a huge issue with the English here at all.

the way in which we are often not direct in what we say / do in Ireland & reading between the lines is required

Amen to that! Unless "I'll do it now in a minute" has crossed the Irish sea, perhaps?

I agree with the posters saying 250k won't get you far OP. For that money, I'd look at Donegal where house prices are cheaper. Buy near Donegal airport and you've a handy way to get down to Dublin and the office when you need to. I don't consider this a good time to buy in Ireland in all honesty.

Really though, this is an entire country you're talking about here! If you're serious about making a move, you need to look properly into areas - in person, imo - and find where suits you best.

Irish person here, I live in the U.K.

Go for CORK. I’m a Dub myself, but if your want to settle and you’re an outsider, go to where there are other outsiders (same rule applies to Irish people moving from city life to rural) - look into West Cork too. It’s the villages that have no blow-ins that take forever to crack.

Do not move to Leitrim