Moving to Dublin

[Honnomushi]

My husband has been offered a office transfer to the Dublin branch of his office and we are trying to decide whether to accept it. We know the cost of living and housing is going to be higher but maybe the quality of life may be better?

We have 2 children 9 and 6 so our biggest concern is finding school places and which areas surrounding Dublin will be best to narrow our search. OH will be working in central Dublin so needs to be commutable. Which areas are we likely to get school places? Are there areas to avoid? We currently live in a urban suburb which is quite cosmopolitan so looking for something similar. We are a little worried the children may be subject to anti English sentiment, is that something that we need to take into account?

Thanks for any advice!

There are so many variables OP. I'm Irish. How life would be for an English family is something that I can only give my own opinion on as an Irish person. I do have a friend in Ireland married to an Irish lady (he's English) and he likes Dublin. You need to speak to English who have lived in Dublin and then narrow down your budget and what is important to you. Otherwise, we're just blathering.

More complete rubbish. I know many many people who live in and around Dublin on far far less than that.

Can people without a clue stop commenting?

If your salary is 3k above the equivalent in the UK, then you have the equivalent (better actually) to the much revered NHS with private healthcare!

CupidStunt22

Do they own a property and live in Ranelagh, Clontarf, Killiney, Dalkey, Howth, Malahide? Or do they live in areas of Dublin that have not been mentioned here apart from Blanchardstown?

Are you white British OP? My DH got a job in Dublin 12 years ago and we tried to get a rental property for 6 months and couldn't so had to turn it down. We are British Muslim, on the phone I made the appointments with estate agents to view properties (we used to come over for 3 days every fortnight) and they were great but many times we turned up at a house and when they saw us they said it was no longer for rent. One landlord denied that the house was ever for rent, despite a sign being up 🤔
We have a lot of friends in Dublin and many are moving up north across the border as apparently the housing situation is worse than ever.

@CupidStunt22 I LOVE your username!!

Seriously some people really need to stop commenting about Ireland. Between the reunification of Ireland thread and now on a Dublin thread I think it is fairly clear some posters have not got a bulls fucking notion of Ireland so claiming they are Irish is a pile of shite.

OP Dublin is lovely, Ireland is fantastic. The places you can move to can only be calculated by your husbands wages so unless we knew how much he will take home we cannot possibly tell you where you will be able to get a house. You can of course get around Dublin and Ireland in fact without a car as we are not complete imbeciles and do have trains/trams and buses. Commuter belt places like Louth, Meath and Kildare are all accessible to Dublin city centre to commute for work. Most people I know commute without issue on public transport.

I think attitudes have moved on in 12 years, my Dublin based kids work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, from a variety of countries. Six month leases have always been difficult, my son offered an extra 50 euros a month for one about 10 years ago.
Child benefit is good, free access to gp care helps, pre school years...it is finding a decent place to live is the issue.

It's also fairly fucking clear that you've never left the place.

@eggandonion I meant for 6 months we tried to get a rental and couldn't. That was coming over every fortnight to view multiple properties each time.

Lived and worked abroad for years but have come back but seriously why do you keep commenting on threads about Ireland when you have not got a clue of the place? Your biffo comment if nothing has proven that. You are not being helpful to the OP with your lack of knowledge about Ireland.

That's the case for everyone. The market is hellish!

Best to live in the commuter belt for half the price anyway

Not being able to rent for six months has been problematic for Irish staff too.
My friends dd and her dh commute from Ashbourne in Meath. Shes a senior hospital pharmacist, he has a good job in the public sector. It's much cheaper to buy in commuter towns than rent in Dublin, they can't afford to buy in Dublin. They moved into Meath about 4 years ago.

A difficult rental market is doubly difficult for outsiders. Most rental properties never even go up on Daft/MyHome as the agents have a list of potential renters waiting. For example, my DB is moving house but the new one needs extensive rebuilding so he will need to rent between the old house and the new. I thought that he might find it difficult but actually he will be fine because the agents selling his house for him will give him priority on their rental list, because if he can't find a rental then the sale might fall through and they won't get their commission. When the agents have so many potential renters they will pick the ones that suit them best and people that they don't know from another country who are more difficult to do background checks on probably get pushed down the list in favour of people who bring an additional benefit like a house sale commission or who are personally known to them.

This is where an employer should help out, if staff are moving from elsewhere.
A long term solution would be good though!

A revolution would be good.

That is simply not true. Irish private healthcare doesn't cover free GP visits and the almost free prescriptions of the UK. You haven't a clue about the NHS.

What you would consider to be a reasonable commute using public transport in Ireland would not be considered a reasonable commute in the UK.

I consider an hour or under to be a reasonable commute if that narrows it down at all.

But who wants to live in Meath? OP, unless you really want to lean into the rural lifestyle (which you might), don't do this. Sleeper town abide in the commuter belt around Dublin. Awful life.

I would not consider an hour to be a reasonable commute.

Rural? In Meath? You are aware Meath is a stones throw from Dublin. Most of my friends bought in meath as it was cheaper and I am talking the likes of East meath like Ashbourne and Laytown etc which is hardly classed as rural living. My friends all have great lives in Meath. it is hardly the back of beyond.

What do you consider reasonable? As far as I know if you were in London, an hour to anywhere would be standard or at least that is what a friend who lives there says.

Yes, Meath is rural, with a few very small town like Ashbourne. Unless the OP wants that kind of small-town life, she definitely shouldn't uproot her family. It's a different pace, and Ashbourne would definitely be in backwater territory for someone from UK!