Moving to newry

[Poilin]

we are thinking of moving from London to newry ,any advice areas towns and public transport ,we are originally from the south of Ireland and have have lived in the uk for 35 year and plan on retiring so we don’t need to commute, reason for going to newry is the south make it very difficult for expats returning 😡

How is it difficult for Irish people returning? I genuinely had no idea about that.

I doubt there's much public transport around Newry, there are local buses but I doubt you'd want to depend on them. If you won't have a car, I'd look at Belfast before Newry.

If you have a car, I'd consider Warrenpoint or Rostrevor rather than Newry itself.

But London to Newry is quite the change of pace.

I’m from not far from newry and went to college in it. I had to get buses to newry and it was awful the last bus home was 6:20, and the rest of the buses even local ones that just go around newry itself aren’t very frequent or run very late. As for newry itself there are two shopping centres, a cinema in one of them and a college and tbh not much else. Also you’d have to be careful which area you buy/rent in some areas of newry are quite rough and I say that as someone who still has friends in the rough areas from college and used to spend time in them I would not move to them. Tbh if Northern Ireland is where you really want to retire there are lots of much better places to go to.

And I’m now living in London so I know the dramatic change between them.

How does the republic of Ireland make it hard for experts returning?

With the political situation as it is I would consider waiting at least a couple of years before moving to NI. After the UK properly leaves the EU there might be huge changes to the border and a resurgence of the Troubles. See how things pan out a little first.

On what basis is it difficult to return to the south?

“As an Irish citizen you have a range of rights including the right to enter and reside in Ireland. Being an Irish citizen means you are recognised as an Irish national and a citizen of the European Union.”

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/coming_to_live_in_ireland/irish_citizens_coming_or_returning_to_ireland.html

As you are retiring, it’s the DWP in the UK you should contact to find out if you can transfer your pension entitlements, and if this will change due to Brexit.

If you're selling a property in London then you can most likely buy a mansion in Newry . But, it would be a huge change from London. I'm also curious to know why moving back to Ireland would be so hard?

I live in Newry, moved back from London a couple of years ago. We LOVE it here, but I’m from here originally, so it wasn’t too much of a difficult adjustment.

Personally I wouldn’t move to Rostrevor/Warrenpoint, as, while they look lovely, they are small towns with not a huge amount going on, you will be in and out to Newry constantly.

Lots of my school friends have moved home and I find it really nice. We do live in a nice area though, and I agree, there are places that I would try and avoid (like anywhere).

It is not hard moving UK to Republic of Ireland at all. We did it without any problems what so ever. Absolutely nothing. Bank, no prob, buying property, no prob, registering for health, no prob, etc etc

We did a lot of research and visited banks social security office in Ireland etc it would cost us €120 a month to convert and get our pensions from the bank ,we have to take 12 driving lessons in order to drive in Ireland , would have to pay €145 for my prescriptions monthly we simply couldn’t afford to live there ,was talking to a guy on holiday from newry and he suggested moving there as it’s only across the border for me to visit family etc in the south but we can move any where in the north it doesn’t have to be newry it’s makes financial sense to move up north ,would like to be within 20 min walk into town ,I get it will take time to adjust from living in London but I’m desperate to leave ,going over in March to check it out just don’t know where to start ,thanks a million for all your replies it’s much appreciate.

The cost of living does tend to be lower in NI than ROI tbf.

No kidding when we went to the social security office to get my NI number the lady asked us were we mad even thinking of moving home she said we will be taxing you to breath soon 🤣🤣she advised us to stay in the uk ,we were all set to move to York until I met the guy on holiday he’s right in saying NI ticks the right boxes for us .

Well, anywhere in that Co Down corridor near the railway line and the a1 would make it simple to travel south. Banbridge, , Lisburn, Armagh, are all worth looking at. Even Belfast would give you the big city pluses while still being only 2 hours from Dublin.

I live near the border and we are all wondering what changes Brexit will make. Newry can be a mixed bag , some areas are very defined on a sectarian basis, so chose carefully.

On the south side of the border
We used to have to convert money too . It would be better to only do one transaction monthly to save costs. I guess you have already established that you do not qualify for Medical Cards ? And Drug Payment Scheme means that you never pay more in one month than €124 no matter what drugs you need.
Can you not just convert your UK licence anymore? If not , 12 driving lessons would not be that bad , but be careful about insurance - people are finding that their previous history count for nothing. Ideally , start a history by being named as driver on a family members policy?

Thank you stillfunny is there sectarian issues in most areas of NI we are happy to move anywhere in NI ( any suggestions) brexit is such a concern ,think we might rent for a year and see how we get on if it doesn’t work out we will move to York .

I'm southern Irish living in London and I would definitely choose York over Newry. My dad lives in a southern border town near Newry and I'm there often. Newry and NI in general is so different to southern Ireland and London. It's quite run down and bleak aside from the shopping centres!

If you want to able to easily get to Southern Ireland to visit family , you are looking at Border towns. And no , sectarianism is usually centred on a few hot spots . Outside Belfast , on the Antrim coast is very beautiful and there are direct Belfast / Dublin trains .
I think being near family can be very attractive , but York sounds like a lovely option too.

York really is beautiful but NI is more appealing as we would be nearer family ,gonna have to get my self over there and what my gut says ,the minute I went to Ennis co Clare I loved it had the same feeling in York ,Dungarvan seemed so depressing when we went there ,will spend a week driving round NI but renting is the best way to go If all fails we can go to York ,it’s just that we are going further away from family .

How about Enniskillen? I think it’s lovely around there but still near the border. We’re holidaying in Newry soon due to a wedding but not sure it’s got enough nice places for a week, so not sure I could live there. Lisburn would be a great place unless you fancied East Belfast? That would be less of a culture shock after London. Hillsborough is great but very expensive for NI. I love the north coast but would feel a bit cut off I think.

Newcastle in County Down is very beautiful.Presumably you could afford to live in a costly area of NI like Hillsborough.

I spent a very VERY drunken night in Newry once, all I remember was the Dominos pizza and walking to a petrol station on the main rd for lucozade in the morning...

London to newry would be a huge culture shock. I would suggest spending a week travelling around NI to find what kind of life you want. If you still want restaurants and theatre then you would be better near belfast. More country setting I'd go for somewhere near a train station

Public transport is dire in Newry. I speak from bitter experience.

It’s terrible throughout NI except possibly Belfast.

Belfast might be your best bet. Or somewhere like Bangor (as money will be no object if you’re selling up in London )

Full disclosure, I’m from Newry, moved out of there quick, recently returned to Dublin after 10 years in London. The move back is tough, but there’s no way I’d go back to NI.

Tax is a killer down south, but the housing situation is worse. Having said that, I think the future here is rosier than NI.

Actually, amateur theatre is bloody fantastic in Newry. And there are some decent restaurants there and in the surrounds.

Just countering with some positives.

It would be quite hard with no car... But I'd consider living outside Newry as the town itself is not very nice but the surrounding countryside (Mourne mountains, coast) is lovely.

NI citizens have the best of both worlds with Irish and British citizenship.

Are you originally from Newry ? Honestly unless I was and had family connections or some sort of tie I wouldn't move to Newry especially from the money I would imagine you will have from a house sale in London !
I live on the A1 corridor between Newry and Belfast pretty much from loughbrickland to lisburn there's Hillsborough banbridge dromore etc which are much nicer areas to live in but also with very easy commutes into Belfast and to Newry and the south it takes me under 30 minutes to reach the south and about the same to get to Belfast. The a1 corridor is also serviced by a pretty good bus service between Belfast and Newry and there's access to trains as well from lisburn.
I feel Newry still has some very rough areas and still quite a bit of religious divide so you would want to be aware of where you are buying