Positivity re moving to ireland from Uk

[Midwifemoving]

Hello everyone. My husband has to relocate to ireland for work. He works in medicine. We have a comfortable and happy life here in England but no job security for him and neither of us enjoy working in the nhs.

I have a 6 year old and soon to be 4 year old and another on the way.

Whilst I can see moving is necessary I am very upset about moving, leaving my home and garden and our life here for who knows how long. Possibly permenantly depending on the job situation. Im worried we won't settle in, or we won't find a house/school etc and other things I've heard about. We are Muslim not Catholic if that makes any difference with schools...

I expect if it goes ahead we will be moving for the next academic year with hubby moving a few months prior.

Are there any positive stories for anyone who has moved to ireland to help me feel a bit better about it all? Need help reframing.. I've heard lots of good and bad and just need some words of positivity.

I'm a midwife but most likely won't manage to renew my registration next year as not enough hours.

Thank you

Hey. I moved back to Ireland last year, after 30 years in the UK. It's been tough in many ways, and I still miss my neighbours and friends and the whole support network I'd built up over decades. You do have to put in the work, building new friendships with other adults (easier for kids, for sure). It's like the UK but not like the UK, so there can be a bit of a culture shock. Don't underestimate the need for having new mates. I've finally tracked down a book group that will have me and I feel a lot more welcome now!

But the primary schools are less obsessed with e.g. SATS tests, and to my surprise, my teenage daughter, who has massive anxiety issues, is far happier here. Less pressure. Well. Less constant pressure.

If you're outdoorsy at all, Ireland is fab. Coast, mountains, greenways, hillwalking... We're the most food secure nation in Europe now, good quality local produce, farmers markets (same as the UK - pricy but good for a mooch at the weekends.) Social life can a bit pub-dependent but less so than it was.

Will you get any help with relocation costs or logistics from your husband's new employer when moving? Finding a place to rent, and a place to buy, is an absolute nightmare. We found one rental (admittedly a lovely rental) in over 2 months of looking. Buying.. eek.

Catholic-ethos schools are the default, but there are some non catholic primary schools if that's important to you- Educate Together, for example, or the schools that teach with Irish as the main language (gaelscoileanna). Your kids can still go to a catholic school, if you'd be comfortable with that.

If you are over 35 and you plan to take out private healthcare, do it ASAP, within 7 months of arriving or you get caught with age-based huge surcharges. (Learn from my mistake...)

Do you know anyone else who's moved here? Or do your friends/ friends of friends in the UK know anyone?

Can you get any advice / signposting from the Islamic Centre in Clonskeagh?

Moving somewhere you don't want to be can be stressful - our move was the right decision for us and very much what we all wanted but I still found it stressful. Good luck.

I too returned after 30 years in England. Our kids went to the bog standard Catholic ethos schools but didn't do RE. Not a big deal. Ireland is quite multicultural now. The health sector even more so. The weather is crap and the scenery gorgeous.
The biggest problem as @MellyDelly said is renting/ mortgages. If your kids are already bilingual they'll probably do OK at Irish. An Iranian girl was the star linguist at our kids' school for example .

Where are you moving to?
I left Ireland some years ago, it was not as multicultural then as it is now.
There's a Muslim school in Clonskeagh (mentioned above) but people of all faith would be welcome in most schools - you could probably get more specific advice if you had more specific questions.

I wouldn't worry about being Muslim my DDs school has over 40 different nationalities attending (and this is no where near Dublin) and hers is a catholic ethos school but actually is near a hospital and industrial estate so the area is multicultural. Housing will absolutely be an issue for you

Thank you everyone so much for the responses. We don't know where we will be going yet. We currently live in a very rural part of England and we are not city people. We like walks, bike rides, pub lunches, parks gardens etc. So we would hope to go somewhere similar within reason.. as long as there is a soft play within driving distance 😆. I think husband has applied for a job North of Dublin although this sounds very difficult in terms of housing.

Husband is hoping the work will help him to sort out accommodation as that's what has happened with a colleague who moved there, and then we will probably buy if we decide its a permenant move.

That's really good to hear about us still fitting in with the schools. I was worried it wouldn't work so well in the catholic schools.

Sort of excited, I'll just be sad to leave things behind here that's all, and with a new baby too. I don't know anyone living in Ireland and don't know anyone from there either. Husband knows lots of people and lots of colleagues who have moved there for better work opportunities. He has visited lots of times and says I'll love it.

We hope to visit in the spring, as I've never actually been!! Any places you recommend we look at? I've heard skerries and Malahide in that particular area but should we look elsewhere? I'm literally clueless.

Can anyone advise re schools... would we have to apply now, and therefore do we need to decide location fairly quickly or are we OK to leave it a few months?

Thank you all x

Maybe some of us should start a thread about longtime UK residents moving home?

OP, we moved back just pre-Covid. DS attends an Educate Together (secular) primary — more children in his class are Muslim than made their first communion. We are near two hospitals and a university and the school is very diverse. There are English, Rwandan, Canadian, Spanish, Polish, Nigerian, Croat and Finnish children in his class.

You say your husband ‘has’ to move for work, it from what you say he’s still applying for jobs? Before you know where he will be working I don’t think there’s any point in thinking about schools. One positive difference compared to the UK is that Irish people are far less anxious about ‘good schools’ than Brits, which I found a real relief. Most kids just go to somewhere close by, and there’s far less educational hysteria, and schools are generally much of a muchness. Private schools are rare. DS was almost eight when he arrived and picked up Irish no problem.

Housing will be your problem, but again, not something there’s any point worrying about until you know where you need to be geographically.

For me, it’s a country in a far better state than the UK currently. Having said that, there’s no way I’d agree to move somewhere I’d never been — is this someth8ngbyoure actually obliged to do? Rural Ireland is very different to rural England in my experience, and superficial similarities between the two cultures hide big differences in general.

Hard agree about the schools. Multimillionaires send their kids to the same school as everyone else in my town. Of course they spend money on "grinds " at exam time.

It is hard to get into Gaelscoils and Educate Together , very oversubscribed. But the Catholic ethos schools are pretty secular de facto. You'll have your choice of beaches. And golf courses. I hate the wretched things - but if that's your bag?

Food wise , recently there's been a growth of interest in middle Eastern cuisine, things like falafel. No end of Indian / Malay restaurants of course.

Hi OP. There's a big mosque in Clonskeagh in Dublin. It might be worth contacting them for advice or help. There are lots of Muslims in Ireland.

https://islamireland.ie/

My experience is probably too ancient to be helpful, but I moved to Ireland from the UK as a teen and I thought I died and went to heaven. I couldn’t have loved it more if I tried. Unfortunately I then left for the US and I’d still rather be in Ireland!!

My husbands cousin moved from London to a very rural part of Ireland a few years ago. They had 3 small children. They said they’d give it a year to see how it’d go and knew after 2 weeks that they were staying forever. Their kids were like me! In heaven!

Good luck!