To think that life seems better in rep of ireland?

[PunnyOliveTurtle]

ok...hear me out...My DM is Irish and she has not been home in a good few years, I haven't been over since I was 15, I'm early 40's now. So i decided to bring her over to visit her sisters as they are all getting older...late 60s/early 70's.

I had a wonderful time. I caught up with all of my cousins...and here is where I noticed the divide...they all have gorgeous homes and I mean stunning! Some in the country, some in the town, all fab new builds or gutted and updated old houses. A couple in new housing estates which were FAB!!
One of my cousins has just bought a new home...her DH is driving a 2025 car, they are off on hols next week. I asked her if she won the lotto and she laughed saying she wished, savings are now depleted and she was "broke". I know she has no credit cards because she metioned that she didn't have one when we wer talking about booking dinner somewhere and they wanted to take a deposit.

They all have great jobs...a lot of them are teachers...like i was. But they are no where near as stressed as I was. They are on holidays already and have been with a few weeks.Some are nurses but work part time in private hospitals, others work in big pharma companies, banking etc.Their dh's also have great jobs, engineers, managers in tech/pharma, one owns a construction company, one is a farmer.
All and I mean ALL of their DC who are of uni age are in university...no student loans. They have a grant scheme apparently. None of my cousins themselves have student loans...they are in 30's to mid 50's. (Can you tell we had an in depth discussion on uni and fees etc!)
Their DC aged 15+ all have summer jobs...in a local chippy, local cafe, one on a farm etc. My 18 yr old cant get a job at all!!

Everything just seemed so positive there...and im sure its not but I cant put my finger on it...it really got me.
I'm struggling most months...this trip was part on credit card. DD looking to start uni and i dont know how I'm going to help her... I know they say dont compare and I know there must be those struggling in Ireland too but there seemed to be A LOT more money being thrown around.

We have to pay for bin collections now and property tax. I really hope we don’t get a tax like the Council tax ye have over there though.

I have never lived in the uk but I live in ROI close to Northern Ireland and there are plenty of pot holes where I live. The public amenities like playgrounds and swimming pools are definitely nicer in Northern Ireland.
There are things about living here that drive me nuts. Can’t speak for teachers but I can assure you that working conditions are absolutely appalling for nurses here. I do think you may be looking at it with rose tinted glasses for sure.

As well as being weirdly aggressive, you seem to struggle with comprehension.

I hope that the experience of dublin private schools you speak of is not because you’re a teacher, otherwise that really will lay to bed the suggestion that life in Ireland is rosier.

I’m on the northern side of the boarder. Things are definitely better in the south. The businesses, streets are cleaner, newer cars. Housing is an absolute disgrace though

Ireland has rather cleverly (or cynically) taken advantage of the fact that the EU has freedom of movement of goods and people, a single currency, but no tax harmonisation.

So it has made tons of money off large U.S corporations putting their European bases there due to minimal corporation tax.

Why the rest of the EU has allowed this is an interesting question, but it has made it a rich country.

I earn 50k I don’t pay for a gp, friend of mine earns well over 60k and doesn’t pay, I’ve said it before more people are entitled to go visit cards than you would think.

It is madness, indeed, and sadly a common experience for everyone I know who grew up in a small town in rural ireland. Except the being English part, most of my friends were born Irish.

Thank you. It was a terrible time but taught me a lot about the importance of kindness and respect.

It's true that our low Corporation tax has been a huge incentive for over seas investment, but it is also due to our highly ( IT and scientificly) educated workforce, our location on the edge of Europe and of course us being a member of the E.U. with all advantages that brings, which has contributed to our booming economy.

I've never lived in the UK so can't compare but I relate to a lot of your OP. Im late 40s and live in a gorgeous area, good salary and nice lifestyle and cannot complain about anything but the weather. That is our experience right now. But things were tough when I was little growing up under the shadow of the church, working for pittance when I was young and everything from roads to houses being a bit shitty. The boom came and very radical social change happened in the 90s to early 00s. The country was unrecognisable from what I grew up in. With it came extortionate properly prices, and I got in there just in time and bought my own home, people a few years younger were priced out of the market. This was followed by an extreme crash where a whole generation got screwed over, no jobs. The current young people grew up with considerable wealth relatively but are really suffering with a housing crisis the likes of which I couldn't imagine years ago. It's been a roller coaster in 40 years.

You are looking at a snapshot. UK was so much better for so long and is at its low point now so may seem so much worse. Try to remember you grew up with free school meals and free GP care, unimaginable to an Irish person. I think you guys get dental care too? And IVF. I paid 17k ttc, then a few years ago 2 of my family had dental issues, we spent about 9k that year, all after tax. When DS was a baby it cost 55 to visit the Dr after he was 6 weeks old. Hospital is still a disaster, a friend went to emergency recently and was told it would be 17 hours before first contact with a Dr.

There are so many little things now that I'm happy with and remind myself to appreciate them. Just transport alone, I used to live on a terrible bus route when i moved to this area, now it's every 30 mins. It used to take me 4 hours in tailbacks to get home for a weekend when i was young working in a different city, the same route is 2 hrs 20 now because we got a new motorway. I remember being on trains that had no toilets and people pissing on the platforms, but now they are clean, there was a time the train station in my city didn't have a gate so it was as cold as outside if a train was delayed (as it often was). I could list 1000 other changes since I was young. This is nothing on what my parents generation endured, caning at school, freezing houses, a misogynist society, rampant poverty, racism if they worked in UK, troubles in the north or on the border, rejection from the family if pregnant or gay, mass emigration.

So yes, I am extremely positive and happy with my lot and my parents and ILs consider themselves very lucky too, this probably gives off a very positive vibe around here. I know I'm not speaking for anywhere else but my suburb.

I think this depends where you are from. We went to Ireland last year and it felt like we were stepping back in time. Everything was so old fashioned, and I loved it because of that. Love the Irish too - such a lovely nation.

My mum is Irish and I've spent a lot of time there, however I couldn't live there.
Outside of Dublin there is very little to do unless your life revolves around the GAA and going to the pub.
There is still a lot of anti British sentiment, especially outside of Dublin and there is a marked rise in overt xenophobia. Racism has also been a big problem forever and this used to be covert, but with the rise of the right it's now more in the open..
Dublin itself is expensive for housing, but not too the extent some have made out, my best friend bought a big 4 bed semi a couple of years ago for under 500k, admittedly in Finglas, but the area is a lot better than it used to be!
There are lots of positives too, but it's not the utopia some make it out to be. Roads might have less potholes in the center of towns and villages, but travel out of those free roads and you'll be dealing with potholes but enough to snap the axel on a standard car!

Teaching is “easier “ in Ireland but despite the media’s reporting (which is very Dublin centric ) it’s hard to get a job teaching. I know people will say the opposite but my school had hundreds of applicants for a job recently, the main advertising for education jobs has about 4 currently advertised for my county which is huge . Nepotism is still absolutely rife.
Do the families who have the large houses live on land that was owned by their parents /grandparents?
Generational wealth is definitely becoming a thing now in Ireland ( if your family have property , land it’s worth its weight in gold now ). If they don’t you are in awhile different economic situation. Irish people often won’t tell you that they were given land /money etc like everywhere.
Student grants are for people on a lower income , how the hell are your friends kids getting student grants for their kids if on a large salary?
We are way way way too dependent on pharma here and judging by recent developments that will soon burst.
The cost of living is insane , absolutely mental , car insurance, road tax , mortgages , eating out etc etc . I bought a takeaway coffee €5….I had a tiny job done in my house -hundreds (plumber ) .
Ireland is a country where family support is essential, we have absolutely none and trying to work with our education system is extremely difficult (and speaking as a teacher ). 3 months off secondary . Primary finishes at 13.30 for first two years of primary school (they start at 6years generally ) and then 14.30 for the rest of the classes. In many schools theres no afterschool. My sons camp today (summer camp ) is 3 hours long. I’m not saying it’s bad , it’s actually probably better for kids but the vast majority of people from the uk do not know this. It’s assumed one parent is at home or your extended family are all around and happy to help .
GP visit is €60 euro anytime I have to go …
I love Ireland , the scenery is absolutely stunning but it isn’t at all that easy for the majority. You might be meeting people who are living on family land , with support and with inflated pharma salaries (I’m surrounded by them) but it’s the minority.

I’m happy with Ireland’s tax arrangements with the big-tech/pharma companies- it has meant our gdp/capita looks exceptionally high - though everyone living here knows it’s like comparing apples and oranges and not reflective of what’s happening on the ground so to speak. The downside is the effect on house prices (along with all the other reasons for high prices). We live in one of the more expensive areas and honestly I think my children will be living with us for ever. To buy a house in our area almost everyone needs financial support from family/inheritance. We bought in 2012 and our house has now doubled in price were we to sell. We do live in a beautiful area near the sea, good public transport into the city, lots of amenities locally and close to good schools/universities. We don’t have fancy cars because I don’t value cars particularly- I am amazed at the number of new cars around and suspect they are either work cars or some form of hp/pcp. We pay a lot for health insurance each year. Going to the gp in my area means €70, I get 50% back from insurance and I can claim 20% back (of the balance) from Revenue. Likewise you only pay up to a certain amount/month for prescriptions and can claim 20% back. HRT is now completely free! I can get a gp appointment for the same day in my area, it’s not like that everywhere.
if you get cancer etc you will most likely end up in the public system where treatment etc is free - it’s not like the US model of healthcare.
Private schools are getting more expensive- probably in the range of €8k/year. I would imagine that this is still not expensive compared to the UK.
My dd is starting in university this year - €3k/year. We won’t qualify for grants and she will have to live at home. This is quite normal for anyone from Dublin.
ive been on mumsnet for close to 20 years now and have been taken aback by how much ‘the UK’ appears to be going downhill - based purely on the type of things people have been posting. Having said that there has been increasing anti-immigrant sentiment here also and I don’t think this would be the case if everyone was happy and feeling like they were doing well. Ireland like the UK has people that are doing well, others that are happy enough and people that are really struggling.

No go is a bit strong but it's not far off it.
I would have always defended the city centre but I can't anymore. It's grim.

'We went to Ireland last year and it felt like we were stepping back in time. Everything was so old fashioned, and I loved it because of that. Love the Irish too - such a lovely nation.'

Which part of Ireland did you go to? I'm glad you had a nice time, but Irish people are just like everywhere else - some are fine, some are awful.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Well done.

Er this is bollocks eating out costs a fortune

To be fair, it costs a fortune in the UK too!

Very insightful and accurate.

Yes a total dump now sadly.

That's a good point, that support for working parents is very ropy in Ireland. We are ridiculously lucky to have a great, reasonably priced afterschool that keeps kids until 5.30. But that's very rare where I am.

Not compared to Ireland

Other things that cost a fortune - healthcare (you pay to go to a&e unless on benefits), bin collections (private outside the city), transport (no public transport so you need a car).

Me too
It's fascinating the difference

I used to sometimes fly out of belfast for work overseas
Now I fly from Dublin
What a difference In roads, airports etc
Quine stark really

Irelands economy is dependent on good relations with the US and the EU and we are not in favour with either at this time.
The EU are pissed at Irelands low corporation tax and Trump is threatening to increase tariffs on pharmaceuticals imports from Ireland to encourage the US pharmaceuticals to relocate back to the states.
Without the EU or the US in our corner we’re kinda fucked.