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!

[quote supermoonrising]@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.[/quote]
It would be difficult to explain to someone who hadn’t spent considerable time in both countries, but it is in part due to English people assuming Ireland is essentially the same as England — I can’t speak for Welsh and Scots in this — in a way they would never do of, say, France or Austria. Rural life in particular is vastly different.

I have travelled / lived in a few countries but Ireland had the biggest culture shock!

Bear in mind I lived there a while ago (1997-2004) and this period saw great social changes - the Euro / a lot of immigration to a v small country.

I was at the anti English feeling - I think I was v naive though and really didn't appreciate that such feelings were still v raw.

OP - have you actually visited there before? Do you have / intend to have DC? I would look into the education system and also are you sure you want to be v rural?

Also my (Irish) husband is at the suggestion of moving to Leitrim!!

Housing budget of 250k unfortunately will not get you much in Ireland. The cheapest place to buy a house in Ireland is county Loais-
Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is located in the south of the Midlands Region and in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Historically, it has also been known as County Leix. Maybe have a look at here see if any properties within budget. Wexford is reasonable too but however prices have risen alot.

Leitrim is lovely, stop it.

It's actually an extremely affordable place to live, since we are talking about that 😀

It's slagged off in Ireland all the time - I've a relative who's from there - and facts like it only got its first set of traffic lights recently cause great mirth.

But since I've visited I've eaten my words on some of my previous jokes about it.

Here is a list of the top 5 cheapest places to buy a house in ireland.

Here are Ireland's five cheapest locations to buy property within the last two years:
Laois.
Roscommon. Average Price of A Four- bedroom bungalow: €116,000 ($159,000) ...
Leitrim. Boats docked in Leitrim Village. ...
Cavan. Cavan County. ...
Donegal. Average Price of a Four-Bedroom Bungalow: €144,000

@EarringsandLipstick

Leitrim is lovely, stop it.

It's actually an extremely affordable place to live, since we are talking about that 😀

It's slagged off in Ireland all the time - I've a relative who's from there - and facts like it only got its first set of traffic lights recently cause great mirth.

But since I've visited I've eaten my words on some of my previous jokes about it.

Leitrim is gorgeous! Although, does DBC Pierre still live in Ballinamore?

I imagine it’s for tax reasons (the whole not wanting to set up a payroll in the UK thing). As the UK is no longer in the EU there are tax implications if you work for a UK company, who claims you are a UK based employee but you are in fact in another country.
There have been a number of issues around this for border workers in Ireland (the island). www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/migrants/employment-and-self-employment/what-if-i-am-cross-border-worker

Where ever you pick please please do local research? I live in a town which is rapidly expanding and people can not register with a doctor for love nor money. All the surgeries have closed their waiting lists due to the length of them. If you are eligible for a medical card (which would be unlikely if you are considering moving country for a job) then the HSE would assign you a doctor. If you aren't you have to pay the doctor €60 a visit near me bur have heard of higher and in my area if you are not registered with GP then you will not be able to see them.

Sligo has it all. Coast,good food, great beaches
Close to ireland west airport for trips home and the north for asda/ sainsbos fix .
Best of both

Beautiful house in Leitrim on over 2 acres of land for 260k

www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-finiskil-mohill-co-leitrim/3519623

It might be easier to sound out where your partner is going to get the best job and then work around his commute. I think your budget is extremely tight at €250K for sea, horses and land. If you go too rural then there might not be a building supplies opportunity for your DP, if you stay within commuting distance of a city/large town then you won't get most of what you're looking for on your budget.

Distances can be quite deceiving in rural Ireland, that's probably true in other places too, but the roads are often tiny and twisty so if you look at a map you think it won't be far but it takes at least three times as long as you expect. More if you get caught behind a tractor or if you meet oncoming traffic and one of you has to reverse to the nearest gateway to pass.

Since people are suggesting counties I would like to suggest Carlow, which isn't by the sea but is incredibly pretty, horsey and overlooked by Irish people so prices are reasonable. I'm Irish and I had never been to Carlow until about three years ago and I was blown away by how gently pretty it is, not as dramatic as some other counties but lovely rolling hills and rivers.

€250K near Graiguenamanagh www.daft.ie/for-sale/bungalow-ballykeenan-graiguenamanagh-co-carlow/3499222

If I could move anywhere on Earth, it would be to County Clare. Take a look at properties in the Burren; it's fantastic landscape and close to Galway which a fabulous city. Also its not far from Shannon airport. Fanore beach must be the most beautiful beach in the world!

The suggestion to rent first is a good one. It does seem a particularly crazy time in the irish property market and you can see what/where you like.
There are definitely cultural differences between both countries but we're more similar than different in my opinion :)

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

It might be easier to sound out where your partner is going to get the best job and then work around his commute. I think your budget is extremely tight at €250K for sea, horses and land. If you go too rural then there might not be a building supplies opportunity for your DP, if you stay within commuting distance of a city/large town then you won't get most of what you're looking for on your budget.

Distances can be quite deceiving in rural Ireland, that's probably true in other places too, but the roads are often tiny and twisty so if you look at a map you think it won't be far but it takes at least three times as long as you expect. More if you get caught behind a tractor or if you meet oncoming traffic and one of you has to reverse to the nearest gateway to pass.

Since people are suggesting counties I would like to suggest Carlow, which isn't by the sea but is incredibly pretty, horsey and overlooked by Irish people so prices are reasonable. I'm Irish and I had never been to Carlow until about three years ago and I was blown away by how gently pretty it is, not as dramatic as some other counties but lovely rolling hills and rivers.

I agree, it is very pretty and very overlooked. I had someone tell me recently that an elderly man she knew was giving advice about Irish people going on holiday in Ireland, and two of the major points if you wanted somewhere quiet were to choose somewhere with no coast and no tradition of All-Ireland success. Carlow was his top tip.

A friend was interviewing for a Bórd Fáilte job, and had to prepare a tourist sales pitch in advance — hers was Carlow. Possibly pre-‘Ireland’s Ancient East’.

I think you should have a really clear discussion with your employer about wfh & expectations. If it's 99% at home, why do they want you to be in Ireland?

There are regulatory and tax complications with working in one country and living in another. Between EU countries this isn't such a problem. But post-brexit British citizens can't easily be employed by a single-market employer but live in the UK, or vice versa.

(The Common-Travel Area removes the immigration issues between the UK and Ireland, but not the other legal difficulties.)

Thank you all so much, there is so much to consider!
This is all a bit of a whirlwind- I was approached on LinkedIn about the job, told it was 100% remote and nothing about moving to Ireland. I got the offer on Friday, with a note at the bottom of the email stating I would need to relocate! So very stressful!

I have drafted an email asking if it would be possible for me to subcontract to them from England for the first 6 months while I do some proper research into Ireland, or see if they will allow me to work my probation in England. I’ve not sent it yet as I’m not sure if it’s a good idea! I’ve also written about relocation advice, but I don’t think they will offer this.

In all honesty, there is nothing really keeping us here. We have very little family, we have been ttc for nearly 4 years now, and have decided it’s probably not going to happen.
We have both massively struggled with our mental health during lockdown, and we are both still relatively young- maybe a change will do us the world of good. Maybe we should just bite the bullet, move and rent for 6 months.

Thank you for those explaining cultural differences, and about healthcare. The company provides health insurance which I’m sure will help.

Thank you for the house links, they are both beautiful properties and exactly what we are looking for.

Can someone clarify for me- for example with the below properties- is this unlikely to be the actual price you pay then?

www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-aughafin-drumshanbo-arigna-co-roscommon/3492211

www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-oldcourt-ballylynan-co-laois/3504757

It’s all very stressful- the position sounds amazing, it would be incredible for my career- and is a much higher salary (almost 30k!! more than I’m on now) - but maybe I will need that with the cost of living!

Thank you- so much to think about

OP one thing to keep in mind is that rural areas of Ireland can be very very rural and 250k is a pretty small budget really.

I would think somewhere like Kildare or Wicklow would be good as a 1st option for you

OP on those houses the answer is .:.. it depends. Both are in very rural locations so there will not be a huge amount of interest.

Irish country towns and villages can lack the charm of English ones - a pretty poor pub, a petrol station/ shop, church and small school can be the sum of lots of small villages. Bigger ones have maybe a supermarket and chipper but not a huge amount else. Nicer towns have a huge amount in them and are full of charm- Westport and clifden were mentioned - however these are quite expensive and 250k will get you very little

My Dad firmly believes that your first offer should cause "very real offence" but that does very much depend on the market.

So portlaoise, i could live there, big enough town, you could find a book club, drama club, gaa, running club, train to heuston Houses good value. Go for it.

Roscommon. No comment.

Actually it's beside a lake. I quite like it, but check what the internet is like. My internet is fantastic no complaints but i believe there are some locations where it is less good.

Both those houses will probably actually sell for 20-30k more than the asking.
There is a property price register think you can get to it from daft with the actual sold prices of houses, so you could look at similar size in the location and see what they sold for.
Of those two I'd go for the Roscommon one, Carrick is a lovely town.

I have a colleague working from home in Roscommon at the moment and they had to pay for an extra broadband package but saying that they have better connection than me in Dublin since!