To wonder about moving to Ireland one day?

[ethelfleda]

DH is Irish and all his family live there still. Brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews. I love them all dearly and we go at least 4 times a year to visit.
DS is nearly two. We aren’t having any more - in the UK we only have my DM and no younger relatives.
We often toy with the idea of moving over - but I’m worried it’s a case of thinking the grass might be greener? I love the idea of being around DHs family... but what if I didn’t love it so much if it was ALL the time?

The main thing though is - would it be better for DS? His cousins are 4, 5, 7, 11, 18 and 27 (all to different siblings of course!) would he get a better education?

Job wise - I’m fairly confident that I could put in for a transfer at work. But DH would have to find a job. Houses appeal to me as you seem to get more for your money in the area his family lives in - nice sized houses on big plots and plenty of country side - but close to main towns and about an hour from Dublin.

I realise this is a decision only we can make - but has anyone got any opinions??

Although I agree that waiting lists for healthcare services are ridiculous, I certainly wouldn't agree that healthcare without private insurance is terrible. I've never had private insurance but i've (generally) had excellent experiences. I have paid for private consults the odd time I didn't feel like waiting. I certainly wouldn't put off a move due to the health system.
Gp care for under 6' s is free. An extension to under 8s and free under 6/8 (?)dental care was announced in the last budget but I don't know when that will be unrolled.
Childcare in Ireland is less formal and there's no curriculum etc for Childminders.

I moved to Ireland with DH, who's Irish, twenty years ago & have no regrets. Our DC were young when we came & settled in immediately. My English accent has absolutely never been an issue.

I'm following this with interest as have Irish DH from lovely bit of Ireland. We attempted a move over last year and came back after 6 months as I found it too tough but we didn't do it properly (moved in with in-laws and DH travelling over and back ETC) but I do think often of the good bits.
Also the person who said about no making friends easily as an adult, that was certainly not my experience at all. I made many friends at play groups and was made so welcome and part of the group. I still see them when we visit which is amazing.
In contrast, been back here for over a year and made one friend in the area. No where near as easy and very cliquey.
I would look into it thoroughly OP as it could be brilliant! Amazing place for children.
Keep us updated 😁

Sky - you see the sky everywhere you look. No high rise

I noticed this for the first time and it makes such a difference. Also roads are now great, a pleasure to drive there compared to crowded SE.

Yes @Raindrops2019 mostly you pay and reclaim. If you have a stroke or heart attack, you will be taken to the nearest public hospital and treated in the public system. If you want quicker access to consultants and private hospital care, reduced waiting times for procedures, or private/semi private rooms in public hospitals, it is (imo) worth paying for insurance. But definitely a change if you are used to the NHS.

Best thing we ever did. We moved when DS was 5 and he's 10 now and we knew no-one, no family or friends living here so it was quite a leap of faith.

School:
DS loves the rural village school that's a short walk away. The playground is surrounded by fields and there's some ancient standing stones just a couple of hundred yards away. Teachers are kind and supportive and not overworked at all. Very long summer holidays though. 10 week summer holidays for primary school, secondary is even longer. Downside is there aren't many non religious schools rurally, they're mostly Catholic and a few Protestant so if you're atheist like us, you have to just suck it up.

Healthcare:
I had an hernia OP via the public health system over here that the consultant in the NHS back in the U.K. refused to do because I wasn't in sufficient pain (!!). My GP at the time was equally appalled and said it was due to NHS budget cuts and that it would have definitely been done a few years beforehand. So I'm inclined to think that the healthcare here is actually better.
We haven't paid for private health insurance but rely on the basic system, paying for GP appts. etc. At least you can ring up the GP practice Friday morning and get a 10am appt very easily. And they're not rushing you out the door after 5 minutes.

I've made loads of friends, not just via school but by joining various activities. Huge Arts scene and foodie heaven with lots of independent cafes and restaurants. No crappy Costa or Starbucks for us.
We do live in West Cork which is stunning and in terms of housing costs, we moved from a 3 bed detached in south west UK to a modern 3k square foot detached with a bit of land surrounding it, although prices have started to climb again in the last few years.

No regrets at all.

Living in London now, but grew up in the West of Ireland

Pros:
-food tastes better there, much better quality
-the overall atmosphere is friendlier, people talk to you in shops, you say thank you to the bus driver... Very different to London

Cons:
-public transport is shite, especially trains
-£50 notes flow out like water from your hands. The good quality food I mentioned above is expensive! High cost of living
-wet weather (esp in the west which is just off the Atlantic) means a limit to the activities you can do with DC

I know I have more cons than pros, but I would move back tomorrow if I could guarantee a job in my area and if my DCs dad wasn't English and unlikely to leave!

Sorry to jump in this post late! Same situation, thinking of moving to Cork next year :-)
@Zeldasmagicwand your post was very honest and positive, thank you! Just wanted to ask how you got on without friends and family there? This is probably the thing making me nervous, if either or my DH needed help (eg riddled with flu!) we have very little help here but know we can call upon sil/bil if we literally were bed bound with the norovirus we have three young children! So how they would adapt to new schools etc makes me nervous! Yes I'm coming across as a very nervous person! I'm not usually, promise! Any advice on the kids front gratefully received x

Here, I've found people are genuinely helpful and good natured. They're not naturally critical and keen on rule following like the Brits tend to be. Just read a few threads on here to see how judgmental Brits are if you don't follow the herd.
Cork isn't called the Rebel county for nothing.

I've always made new friends fairly easily as I'm not the sort to walk into a room and wait for someone to rescue me. So, I have made plenty of friends since arriving here. Regarding being stuck, I've found that my local friends have been incredibly helpful when we've had any problems.
For instance, when it snowed heavily a couple of years ago, the electricity was off.
One of our friends is a farmer and they drove over with the tractor and trailer to check we were ok, did we need any shopping etc and to drop a load of seasoned wood for burning in our stove. Probably about €300 worth for free. They knew we were all electric with a couple of wood burning stoves which we rarely use as we have oil central heating but as the mains electricity was off the central heating pump wouldn't work.
Also, when I went into hospital recently, it's about 90 mins drive by car and my DH doesn't drive beyond the local town so one friend drove me there and another friend came to collect me. Neither would accept money for petrol so I made them something as a gift as they don't sew and I do.

Also, I've never lived near family so have never relied on any family members for support. There's a huge sense of community here but I don't know if that's replicated in the bigger towns and cities.
PM me if you want specific advice about anywhere local in West Cork.

@SuperDuperC
Are you looking at Cork city or more rural areas?
Are your children Primary or secondary age?

@SuperDuperC I wrote a longer reply immediately after your post so you might want to read earlier posts as it doesn't always show you them when you go to a thread you've been mentioned on.

@Zeldasmagicwand thanks so so much!
We have 3,4 and 6 year old DC. Again, generally I have no help from family, not complaining, I know no different so that's fine! Husband works in construction. We've fallen in love with Kinsale and surrounding areas. We have some friends /extended family in and around Cork which would be nice. We live in North London at the moment and would hopefully do well when selling our house. Lots to do/think about/decide so thank you so much for the advice and the offer for me to PM you, I may well do once we get our heads round everything and get into the nitty gritty of schools/actually moving!

Forgot to say as well we both have Irish parents so have been visiting Ireland at least 2/3 times a year since childhood!