Moving back to Ireland from UK - who’s done it?

[ImEoinMcLove]

I’ve just discovered Craicnet!

My husband and I are looking to move back to Dublin after 12 years in London, along with our 18 month old DS. We’re both from elsewhere in Ireland but looking at Dublin for job opportunities and the buzz!

We’re pleasantly surprised at the job market and hopeful we can both get jobs that broadly match our UK salaries. We will need to sell our house here though.

Looking for advice from anyone who’s done this...

1. If you were both looking for new jobs did you go when one of you secured a good one, on the hope the other would follow suit?
2. How did you sort accommodation? We’ll have to rent for awhile regardless of the sale of our UK home but from what I heard you need to be prepared to fight to the death for a rental place at open viewings? Any tips?
3. How did you do the actual logistics with regards to moving/ storage etc? Did you drive your car over?
4. How have you found childcare and schools? (We’re looking at south dublin city for context)

Any help or advice would br so appreciated as this seems very daunting when I start thinking through all the variables!

Thanks!

This website seems good - it gives information for people moving to Ireland. I heard an interview this week on RTE with the man who set up the website.

moving2ireland.com

We did it.

It was 3 years ago now and the housing market was a lot better.

We did move in with my parents for 6 months to allow for a mortgage etc which we got and bought a house. The house is now worth €120k more than we paid for it, so that’s saying something about the market!

Schools wide-most (except educate together) take names the year before. We got our daughter into the most sought after school in the area and it’s non fee paying and not an educate together.
We shipped our belongs ahead of us. Just what we actually wanted to keep.

We then packed the car up and drove it home on the ferry. Changing the reg is relatively easy and depending on make/model- not too expensive. Car insurance is expensive though.

Childcare is pretty similar prices to London although in my experience- London is a lot better in terms of what they’d offer for the money!

The rental market is nuts at the minute. Most people who are moving home tend to go to the south side but there’s heaps of places north side!

I had secured a job ahead of moving home, and dh did freelance so worked out well for the move back. Saying that, I moved jobs very quickly as it was not an environment I could work. So there’s pro’s and cons to both!

The jobs market is buoyant but it all depends on the area you work in- same for salaries. Depending on the area you work, if it’s really niche, you can command the salary. Otherwise, most places will offer less (I worked in recruitment so can honestly say this!).

The attitude is ‘you’re moving home for a reason’. But you can be lucky.

Gp- if you can find a good gp that isn’t crazy busy, do. I can get a same day appt with my gp but we registered our daughter with another health centre when we loved first and could never get appts. Gp’s can only have so many under 5’s on their books so bare that in mind!

Basically, come home with an open mind! North or south of the river-if you’re on the dart line, it’s actually fine! You get used to the dart times😀

And in regards to schools- the north side is suffering too! We put our dd’s name down in several and she only got in to a gaelscoil as I’m fluent. All other schools were over subscribed but they are ‘old’ areas so people are using grandparents addresses (which we’ve spoken to several people about and they’ve admitted to doing it😱!)

But each school has their own enrollment policy and it’s listed on the site so check any areas you wish to move to before!

The Irish Times has a Returning to Ireland section that might be useful.

Hi, I moved back here in mid August with my two kids, 1 going to school (2nd class) my husband is still in the UK. I regret it so much. Miss London and having access to so much things. I had a romantic idea for years that coming home would be better and for the kids and family support but my family all work and busy with their own lives. I know know it’s easier with kids in London and schools are set up for working parents. I started to make really good friends in London through my sons school then the house sold and I’m here now. People saying give it a chance However I know in my heart I’ve made a mistake.

My brother lives in south london and has a rose tinted view of the old sod. I have met countless people who moved back in their old age and regretted it !! Dublin is nothing like London with opportunities for your kids and job wise for you and your husband long term i mean. Brexit will come but is it really going to be armageddon for an economy like london ????
My friend moved home to Galway with 2 children and her husband is home every weekend as he is in finance and couldnt get the same job / salary here. They sold a tiny flat when they moved which they regret. She hates been on her own 5/7 days a week and misses london too. Transport is terrible

I moved back over 20 years ago, we moved to my husband's area. I hated it for about 15 months and used to nag my husband to move back to Londonas I didn't have any friends here but once I got an introduction I made friends and I'm so glad I stayed long enough to give it a chance.

I love where I live and have a good life. Our children had much more freedom growing up than what they'd have had in London.

We moved back with dc 5 years ago. A lot of adjusting for the first year or so but really happy now. Could not imagine living in London again.

My friends daughter is a teacher in a Dublin primary school, and apparently a law has been passed so that schools can't discriminate on the basis of religion. The schools are in the process of updating their admissions policies.

We moved back three years ago after five years in the US and 13 in London. Absolutely no regrets and I am so glad I left London before Brexit. It killed any regrets that may have lingered for the first year!

Personally I think our kids are much better off here, more space (we could not have afforded the place we have in London), they go sailing, we live near the beach, it is more relaxed - no homework at weekends in primary, etc. Maybe rent out your house in London while you trial it?

Can't really advise on the first two questions, Dh is still working in London Mon-Thurs, he hasn't looked for a job here as is on a good contract in London (on a Brexit project, ironically!) and we were lucky in that we could stay with my father while our house was being finished. We took our car over, no bother. Put furniture in storage until our house was built.

I applied to all the schools in the area (they didn't look for proof of address), all of the school secretaries told me they were oversubscribed and apply elsewhere, but we were lucky and got a place for our 7 yr old in our preferred local C of I school last minute. I did have her down for a private school just in case and they had space for her. My eldest missed her friends at first and it was horrible to see her upset but she soon got used to it, and I do believe it was a good move for us all.

I’d love to know how you are getting on after a year or so in Ireland?? We are moving back after 10 yrs with our 2 yr old. I’m most concerned about getting place in a good crèche as our current nursery in UK is amazing. How far in advance do we need to sign up?

I just moved back a month ago!

@Lubui2019 I found my creche space about a month in advance. Depending where you go it can be really tricky though. I live in the outskirts of Limerick City, what would be considered countryside and got lucky with one close to home however there’s no way I would have got a place in town.

In terms of the quality, I had my doubts coming from a truly excellent nursery in England however my little girl settled in amazingly and absolutely loves going in, talks about ‘my new nursery’ every evening and at the weekends is a bit sad she can’t go (I try not to be offended) so all in all I can’t complain.

Can we have an update please OP?! Considering the move and would love to know some ins and outs if you've made the leap?

Me too, hoping to move home in 2020

Are you @craicmammy? Where abouts are you now and where are you thinking of moving to? Do you mind sharing? We are looking to put things in place to move in 2021 but I feel very torn. I'm English and my DH is from Galway so that's where we would be going. Moving in time for eldest DC to start school.

I’d love to move to Galway! I think we’ll be most likely Dublin, the decision will be based on where my DH can find work, he has family in the North. I’d like to move tomorrow this year if we could, but maybe 2021 is more realistic

Would you consider Meath and commute in? Or Kildare. Maynooth is lovely and has that village vibe.

Apparently, west Cork has the highest percentage of Brits in Ireland so you might want to consider that if you want to live somewhere rural but with a slightly more diverse population. (We've escaped Brexit)

Hello!
Following this with interest! For context. London based and we’re thinking of moving home to Ireland this summer (Dublin commuter counties). We’ve a LG (3 months). On the one hand I really want to go home but on the other I’m dreading leaving London! How has it worked for those of you who did it recently? TIA

Bump! Thanks!

I’ve recently moved from the north of England to the west coast of Ireland. So probably quite a different experience then you would have. To be honest for me it’s been so worth it and I’m much happier at home and so is my child. I would say though that there are a lot of things which are quite difficult, eg. If you don’t already have an Irish bank account it can be quite tricky to set one up when you first move to the country.

@Ballygowenwater thanks for your reply! Glad it’s been a positive move for you!
I think, selfishly, that DP and I will find it tough but baby will be fine! I’m just worried that we’ll move and be miserable but I know staying in our current area will mean we’re confined to a 2 bed for the foreseeable which is perfectly fine but in Ireland we could have more space and also family support. Ahh!
Anyone else made the move and regretted it?

This website also seems good - it gives information for people moving to Ireland.. they detailed post on migrating to ireland and every other thing you need to know about ireland immigration.
careergigo.com/ireland-immigration/