Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Brexit, No Deal, school holidays and staying away - WIBU?

11 replies

astoundedgoat · 03/02/2019 13:49

DH and I are not British, and we are going to my home country (EU) on the 4th of April for the Easter holidays. I'm not concerned about getting there in the event of No Deal, as I think that of all businesses, airlines will sort their shit out pretty fast.

If we're away in my home country, and we crash out of the EU badly, with food shortages, fuel problems - general medium -> worst case scenario - would we be unreasonable to stay in my home country for a few more days/weeks until it settles down?

We'd be due back on the 22nd of April, so in all likelihood things WILL have settled down by then, if anything has gone badly in the first place (which is of course by no means certain!), but we don't actually have to come back for work because of our respective jobs - we could just request to work from home and that would be fine, so it would just be school who could kick off (2 dc's in primary).

Is anybody else considering doing this? Just staying away if it all goes badly? I wonder what schools would say/do?

OP posts:
soisolated · 03/02/2019 13:58

Really wish we had a home country to escape to, don't recognise this country anymore. But I think you are totally reasonable staying away.

silvercuckoo · 03/02/2019 14:06

Do you have a current residence card (or settled status under the new scheme)? If not, I would be very concerned about crossing the border in the opposite direction - the current policy paper (from 29th Jan) states that all EU new arrivals will have to have a visa, and I cannot see how in practice they will be able to distinguish newcomers from settled people, unless presented with some documentation.

Original poster
astoundedgoat · 03/02/2019 14:12

Do you have a current residence card (or settled status under the new scheme)?

We're Irish, so we don't need it. The home office has confirmed this. Good point though for all the other EU people who might be just going home for the Easter holidays.

OP posts:
CheshireChat · 03/02/2019 18:09

I've actually said that if things get really bad, DS will be shipped off to my mum's until things settle, though I'm obviously hoping and expecting it not to be the case. It's pretty damn hard to feel particularly loyal right now as foreigners are openly viewed as second class citizens by a lot of people.

anniehm · 03/02/2019 18:54

I am a natural optimist and I think everything will be settled - nobody wants chaos, but I personally won't be travelling then as if there's hiccups it will be then. The civil disorder I'm afraid is simply scaremongering, that said I might get dh to get his Irish passport!

SubparOwl · 04/02/2019 04:53

Honestly, if I had the opportunity to leave, I would.

Decormad38 · 04/02/2019 05:09

I’m surprised you want to return to this mad house. If I had a different nationality I would be getting the hell out of here! Or if I was 20 years younger as Im a nurse.

Original poster
astoundedgoat · 04/02/2019 10:25

I don't think there will be civil disorder, but if there are food shortages and no fuel for waste collection in the immediate weeks after Brexit, well, I'd rather stay at home for an extra couple of weeks!

We do want to come back of course,, because like many non-UK EU citizens living here, we really like it! It's a bit of a shit show right now, but I like the city and community we live in. It may well be that when DH's contract comes to an end we move to a more stable country in the EU, but for now we'd like to stay put.

OP posts:
trancepants · 04/02/2019 10:58

If I still lived in the UK I'd be arranging to go home on March 28th at the very, very latest and I'd be keeping my return fairly open ended. There is no way on earth I'd deliberately return my DS to a living situation less safe and comfortable than he is in. That would be stupid in the extreme. If your work isn't at risk by you not returning, you should just mentally prepare to stay at home as long as it feels like the better option for your children. It might be on the planned day, it might be a few extra weeks. Tbh, this is such a shitshow, it might be never.

As it is, there will be food and possibly power and medication shortages in Ireland following a crash out Brexit and potentially extreme tensions with regard to the British border in Ulster. The EU will naturally be prioritising stabilising Ireland by rerouting freight and services. So be careful of experiencing the initial shock in Ireland, followed by a managed and planned for return to a reasonably normal state of affairs as an indication of what's happening in the UK.

Also be aware that the Brexiteer narrative has started to turn from that of the silly naive Irish being used by the EU to hinder Brexit. To those self-serving, shortsighted, stupid, duplicitous Irish inventing issues to spite our glorious Brexit. In the event of a crash out Brexit and the very possible civic disaster it will cause, anti-Irish sentiment could be stoked as the blame game ramps up. Taking some time out to fully assess the lie of the land post Brexit would be very wise.

Mishappening · 04/02/2019 11:00

I would just go and not worry about it. We were a long time out of the EU before we were in, and everyone survived.

Clavinova · 04/02/2019 11:33

astoundedgoat

Ireland imports all of the oil that it uses... The majority of our oil arrives already refined (petrol, diesel, home heating oil, aviation fuel), mainly from the United Kingdom

ireland2050.ie/present/oil-and-gas/?q=where-does-our-oil-supply-come-from-how-is-it-imported-or-moved-around-the-country

New posts on this thread. Refresh page