To seriously recommend Ireland

[Ionablue]

Before I start I completely get that it can be expensive, the weather is bad and many Irish residents are emigrating for accommodation & opportunities. But....
A very very large proportion of the Irish people seem put on earth specifically to restore visitors faith in human nature. Genuine and warm, great sense of humour
Many women in particular supposedly find Ireland blissfully relaxing, not just because it is a laidback culture but because the general male culture seems to revolve less around making women feel uncomfortable than in other countries.

Some of the countryside and heritage is literally heavenly. Co. Waterford, especially its western extremities eg Dungarvan. Ardmore, Lismore, is an undiscovered gem.

Yes its not cheap but the food can be exceptional.

Most ordinary people seem exceptionally well disposed to foreign visitors and many have relatives abroad.

In rural Ireland you can drive for miles without seeing a car.

The music is brilliant and the people seem enormously invested in live music.

Well, that's my tuppence.

Absolutely love life here and wouldn't go anywhere else. The weather doesn't bother me. BUT you guys have no idea how unbelievably privileged you are with NHS. It's about €60 upwards to see a GP. Children under 7 ( I think) are free now but that's relatively new, when ds was born he cost the same as an adult from 6 weeks old. My family had a lot of dental issues and at one point our dental bills were second to our mortgage, literally 1000s every year. We pay about 3k a year for private health insurance, but that doesn't include consultant fees which could be 250 for a first visit. There is of course the public health system option but you could be waiting literally years for surgery if something goes wrong. My one and only experience of the public system was a visit to A&E after a fall and I was told a Dr would see me in 13 hours to decide if I needed to get an X ray, which would put me back of the X ray queue. After 8 hours of pain I left and went to a private clinic the next day for a 150 or so. I can afford this but many can't. That's just a snap shot of reality of life as opposed to a holiday.

From a cultural perspective I love it. The scumbags/ pervs/ racists exist as they do everywhere, but I believe in a smaller proportion to most places I've been. It's a friendly place and if you have enough money a wonderful place to raise a family.

My cousin who’s from Ireland but lives in the UK now says this is very true (thankfully imho 😅)

It’s just a country. I’m from there. It’s no better or worse than anywhere else but there is a culture that is a bit different. Say from England or wherever.

some parts of Ireland are now ranked the most dangerous place to be a woman in Europe due to the high rates of homicide against women.

What?
Where?

Northern Ireland I think, so the UK.

Where was it very clean? I live in Ireland so I’m just curious what part you considered to be very clean?

But doesn’t New Zealand have better weather?

But Belfast is a different country! It’s not Ireland!

Galway is in the West of Ireland! Or the Republic of Ireland.

You’re right. I’ve been a few times now and I always said the people even in Dublin are so lovely and helpful and have a great sense of humour.

Something’s changed though in Dublin. I was there last week and something has definitely changed it reminded me of London.

Dublin reminded me of London. I didnt enjoy my time there as much as I thought I would.

Northern Ireland was beautiful, would go back in a heartbeat.

It is not a different country. 🫣 It is very much considered as stolen land on the island of Ireland in the north of Ireland. Most people will never accept it is a different country, they’d look sideways at you for saying that. Belfast is up the north. Many dream of a united Ireland.

I’m sure most people realise it’s not a coast to coast tourist trap.
I’m from the area of town where the riots happened. There’s more to my community than that one off event.

I’m Irish and much as we may or may not want Belfast to be in the same country as us, it’s not currently the same country as us.

Yes. I don’t know those women either. Especially not around my area, they’re usually flinging a shoe at someone.

I don’t know how many?

Anyway the fact here is that it’s the UK government, not the Irish government, that needs to address this point a pp made —
“some parts of Ireland are now ranked the most dangerous place to be a woman in Europe due to the high rates of homicide against women.”

🙉 noooo. Only joking. I personally don’t mind, it saves income taxpayers a few euros.
My family up there don’t mind. The nhs is their baby.

I love this post, my family live in Dungarvan and its one of the most beautiful places iv ever been! Xxx

It is horrendous both sides of the border. There has been countless women killed and a huge increase in family domestic murders, 36 children have been murdered in domestic violence since 2020, that is only in the republic. It’s an absolute disgrace, as I said drugs are rampant, social problems are huge, there is no mental health services, we have the worse social services in Europe in my opinion Tusla, they are the bane of society and where involved in most of the above children’s lives prior to their murder. So sorry for the derail. The government control is very poor. Plus our prison spaces are at double capacity.
it is great fun.

Agree mental health services very, very poor. I’ve personal experience of that in the family. My family member has been left without any MH support because they have another disability. You couldn’t make it up.
(Agree with the rest if your post too, but I’ve personal experience of the above.)

We don't really want you here to be honest. Too many people sell a house in SE England and come over to buy in Ireland, treating us like some kind of quaint tourist village here for their enjoyment. They drive prices up beyond what local people can afford, especially holiday home owners or people who may grace us with their presence in retirement putting more strain on health services.

Someone needs to give @Lavender14 a geography lesson.

Is that figure for women murdered or children since 2020 in domestic violence?

I must say I don't recognize the Ireland you are talking about it that post but we all have our own experiences.

I've lived in Ireland for 20 years and I've met some absolutely vile gobshites.