Anyone moved from London to Dublin with their family?

[Skinterior]

Considering a move to Dublin for my job. DH flexible but need a new school for primary age DS.

Has anyone done it in the past couple of years? How have you found it? We both grew up in provincial cities so we are expecting it to be a little bit more like Manchester or Edinburgh, rather than London. Is that a good marker or are we off the mark?

We've got family in Waterford who think everything is fantastic in Ireland so although they're lovely, they may be a little bit bias.

How did your kids cope, how is the inflation situation over there right now, was moving back into the EU a red tape nightmare? What about for your family?

TIA 😊

Have a look at Craicnet, there are regular moving to Ireland from UK treads. But to summarise, Dublin housing is crazy expensive and very fast moving. School applications are not centralised, so you'll be calling them all and you need to buy all your books. We all used to be jealous of the NHS, but right now the HSE seems OK in comparison from what I see on Mumsnet, but you'll probably want private health insurance and will be paying to see a GP. Inflation is high, but the economy seems OK.
Pluses and minuses, and lots of small cultural differences which you'll either love or loathe.

OP if you have a look at Craicnet, you'll find a few threads along those lines. I've never lived in the UK but I'm guessing costs generally are more expensive in Ireland. As you're working, you probably won't qualify for a medical card or GP visit card, so you'll have medical costs and dental costs to consider. Children under the age of 6 are automatically entitled to a GP visit card.

There is a free movement agreement between the UK and Ireland that pre-dates the EU so there's no red tape as such.

We moved about 12 years ago before the housing situation got ridiculously difficult, that's going to be your biggest headache so if you can get any help from your employer take it.

Most primary schools are religion based, there are some that are non-denominational (called Educate Together) but they are usually over subscribed. If they have space religious schools will take children of other religions. I'm not sure how the Catholic schools work but the C of I school that my DC went to is obliged to take the children of active parishioners, however if you're new it's hard to prove that you are an active parishioner before you arrive. My DS had finished Year 1 in the UK and went into Senior Infants in Dublin which is a year lower. You can choose when your child starts in Ireland and he was summer born and had been struggling to keep up in the UK. He settled in very quickly, he had a Dublin accent by mid-October.

Company offering private health and we are in the private school system in the UK - largely because of moving around.

The housing issue worries me, will head over to craicnet.

Thanks

Daft.ie is your friend for house hunting, private schools are cheaper for secondary anyway, so that's a plus for you!

Dublin is small in size and I wouldn't compare it to Manchester really.

Irish culture is different and embracing it can make or break your integration. Plenty arrive and are shocked that Ireland isn't a small England so do please visit explore and get to know Ireland to see if it suits you and your family.

The education system is much more holistic, access to SEN support is very much dependent on location . Just to clarify Educate together are multi denominational, there is no non denominational education in Ireland primary. Private Education is much more affordable in Ireland, however wrap around care is rarer than in UK.

I work with a few ex UK residents they find significant positives for kids, occasionally they are shocked by prices but overall they all reckon they have a better life balance here.

Housing is horrendous, prices as well as availability. Please note your euro won't go as far so don't sell yourself short salary wise.

One exercise I heard people doing was popping their weekly shopping into the Supervalu/Tesco.ie website to compare weekly shop costs.

Car, health, pet insurances as well as lack of variety means general financial services are much more expensive.

Depending on your sector you may need to check out qualifications etc there has been some changes with Brexit and some temporary arrangements are ending in 2023.

Dublin housing situation is no worse than London. And its much easier to live in really nice commuterville than it is in London.
For example you could have a lovely house by the beach within an hour easy commute to central Dublin, for far less than a house an hour commute of central London.