To think about moving to uk from ireland

[Acorncat1]

Hi all
Please be gentle! Myself and my (English) husband have been talking about moving back to North of England. He works in It and we have two primary school age kids. We both love England and spend a good bit of time there. Think it would offer alot of the things we're in walking, climbing, outdoor stuff. But.... BREXIT And all the uncertainty. Due to ages of kids we'd have to move in summer as son would start secondary then..
Mad or not?? Pros and cons??

Would you be able to go back to Ireland and back into the sane jobs, if Brexit fucks up the UK? The thing to keep in mind is that if things go bad in the UK, there may be a few people looking to move to Ireland and competing for the job your husband and you are currently in. There may be no practical way back to Ireland for you.

I've made that move in both directions. Purely because of Brexit I wouldn't do it.at the minute. Why can't you walk/climb/etc. in Ireland? But YMMV, I made a huge move just because I fancied it and it was absolutely the right decision.

We’re Irish, living longterm in the UK and moving in the opposite direction, OP. It’s not a great time to arrive, to put it mildly.

What’s your work situation? What will you do with your home in Ireland?

As an Irish person living in Ireland after living in the uk for 8 years!...I wouldn’t go back! There are numerous reasons why but especially now because of Brexit.

What do you think is going to happen? Do
You/husband have jobs that you can easily relocate with? What are your concerns? I mean - brexit is a such a broad term, and I get it, but what are the actual concerns? Husband might lose his job etc? Is it in jeopardy now with brexit?

Thanks for your replies. Is it the uncertainty around brexit that would put you off?
Yes, you can walk/climb here but walking access and public rights of way are amazing in uk. Also, diversity of culture/food, arts etc

I wouldn’t do it. I’ve always thought my school experience in Ireland was so much more positive than what I see/hear school kids in the U.K. experiencing, although I know there’s plenty of that the other way around too, I can only speak for myself.

Brexit will be bad for the U.K., stay in Ireland if you can. My DP (English) and I tried to move to Ireland earlier this year but couldn’t find the right jobs outside of Dublin. Biding our time now. Don’t give it up if you have it!

Outdoors wise, Ireland has so much undiscovered wilderness! Maybe try exploring some of the islands for something new?

He works in IT, which seems fairly stable. The city we're looking at has is an It hub. I work as a forest school leader.
I'm worried about schools and possible economic/social fall out from brexit I suppose!

What part of Ireland are you in OP?? I have never experienced problems with diversity of culture or food here? (And I am not in Dublin)

North Cork. 45 mins to Cork City. In the sticks.

I agree about public access and rights of way, OP. It’s one of the comparatively few things I’m really going to miss on an everyday basis. But I do actually use field paths daily, as I live in the country.

Can you move within Ireland?
I don't think England is going to be a good place to be for a good few years.

Fánlights, can I ask why you're moving back?
Fast living - can you explain more what do you think will happen in uk to make it bad to live in?
And yes, relocating within irl is also on cards.

Partly to be closer to elderly parents, as we’ve been out of Ireland (not only in the UK, but mostly) since the mid-90s, and also I want DS to spend some time in Ireland, but partly I don’t like what’s happening politically here, I think Brexit is a colossal act of socio-economic stupidity, and recently, I feel less welcome. I also prefer the Irish education system.

I know North Cork well, my husband's family are from there. Wouldn't you consider relocating within Ireland? I lived in Cork City for 9 years and really liked it, but West Cork is even nicer. I'm guessing you're in Fermoy or maybe Mitchelstown, yeah my husband got out of there asap too.

Fánlights - you've felt less welcome recently? Can you expand?

OP, I’m Irish living in England for 5 years, with my two school-age kids.

My story is - I tried to move back to Ireland last year - my job was transferable (IT) but the housing and rental market, and trying to find a day care place for the youngest, all while trying to nab a rental while a mortgage cane through just became an impossible nightmare and I gave up.

But I actually love it here. I’m in Cambridgeshire. Things work. I’m in the countryside but Cambridge is ok my door step. The village school is wonderful. I commute to London for work a coupe of days a week; I WFH other days.

Life in the UK is good. I’ll buy a house here soon.

The cons... family. Some of my family are getting ill and it’s horrible not being home to help as much as I’d like but... England/Ireland are close enough and stansted isn’t far away.

I like it here, life is much easier.

Brexit..... I mean.... once you get yourself set up what is important is what goes on behind your front door, not Westminster .... that shitstorm will play out for years

I should say that it was never or virtually never an issue in London, where I lived for years, but now I'm in strongly Brexiteer-Tory rural England, and there's always been, from a minority of older white people, an undercurrent of anti-Irish feeling, expressing itself mostly in microaggressions. I wouldn't take much notice of individual remarks, but they do build up cumulatively (and also included things like a couple of men I used to see regularly on a committee who always brought the conversation around to army recruitment, which I found baffling, until I realised it always culminated in them referring to the local army recruitment office, which was bombed by the IRA over 30 years ago, when I was still at school in Ireland, and saying 'Your lot did that'. It must have happened on at least five occasions. It was as if they couldn't not say it.)

Since the referendum, or more specifically since the spate of media concentration on what it insists on calling 'the Irish border' issue 'blocking' Brexit, those microaggressions have stepped up noticeably.

I'm pretty much stuck here, but most of my family who had been living in the UK have either moved back to Ireland,care looking for jobs in Ireland so they move back, or have made bed to other countries.

I love the part of England where I left be, and my children are happy here. But it feels as though while Ireland is becoming increasingly liberal and forward looking, England is moving back to a sort of Victorian society with more and more social exclusion. My sister in law is Serbian, and she's faced a lot of abuse and harassment since Brexit, and she and my brother want to move to Ireland before starting a family.

I have lived Southern England for 30 years.
I have never wanted to move back to Ireland.
I actually like NOT being close to family. Same with my H.
We have a good social life and strong group of friends.
Our kids are old-ish now and love coming home for Christmas, Easter etc.
I have no serious issue with my extended family, just prefer not having the obligation to see them often!

I would look at schools first and foremost, and make your decisions around there. Let's say you sell up in i.e. Fermoy, and move to Manchester.

What part of Manchester could you buy in with your money from Fermoy, and what schools would you be in the catchment for? Remember that England has this iniquitous catchment system, so you HAVE to go to one of the local schools, and that heavenly house that's bang on budget might only be in catchment for some horrific school in special measures with a knife problem, or it might be in catchment for a lovely secondary with an outstanding Ofsted and everyone has a brilliant time. So I would start with schools and fan out from there.

You can start from a site like this - www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase&region=352&geographic=la&phase=secondary

Then look up the catchment of your top schools and cross reference on Rightmove (all houses on rightmove list the schools too).

We're Irish living in England love it. I have a keen sense of history, shall we say, but honestly I would struggle to move back. It's good here, and if you get the schools sorted out, everything falls into place, I think.

I would hesitate to pull a child out of the Irish system and move to the English system unless I was confident that I had found a great school with good attainment and strong A-level results with a great pastoral element. You'll get lots of niche schools advice on here - Mumsnet has been a Godsend to a foreigner like me!

I do think that the north of England is going to suffer economically even more over the next 10 years though. One the one hand OMG property prices! But on the other, well, jobs.

Brexit is a load of old arse, just do it if you want to. Can always go back.

In my experience Ireland is a more expensive place to live. You should really factor that in imo.

I think the timing is odd OP. I struggle to see why you'd make that move now.

We moved in the other direction and primary education was a top priority. The UK system struck me as so stressful and appalling, teachers leaving in droves. Primary education in Ireland is so much more relaxed and child friendly.

And then there's brexit.