Can someone please tell me about the Republic of Ireland

[amillionyears]

Dont want to say too many personal details.
If someone was offered a 3 year job there,is it wise to take it bearing in mind the financial climate. Also,I am confused about which healthcare is free and which is not.
And is there anything else to consider.The person offering the job said to think carefully before accepting.
I tried looking in search as I thought this topic may have been discussed fairly recently,but I cant see where.Thanks.

[rhetorician]

school I know children like that for sure, but mostly (on my street, anyway) that's not the case. I didn't mean that children are innocent or protected (god knows there's a terrible history there) more that people don't expect them to behave like mini-adults from pre-school onwards; where I live (in the city centre) children play out of doors a good bit with fairly minimal adult oversight etc. Recession has checked some of the worst consumer excesses and I am glad (at least) that my dds weren't school-age during the Celtic Tiger years

[WhatYouLookingAt]

The outskirts of County Dublin might be an hour from the border, the city is another hour, and thats not at rush hour!

[bureni]

I can get from Strangford in the north to the city centre in 1 hour 40 minutes in the morning (around 7.30 am).

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Strangford to Dublin city centre? In 40 mins.

Jesus. How fast do you drive?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I meant 1hour40.

[bureni]

within the speed limits, no problem at all.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

It took me an hour driving from Downpatrick to Bangor at 7am. And I was not within speed limits.

[bureni]

I am not surprised, the roads around Downpatrick are barely better than mud tracks, I am not to far from Downpatrick closer to Belfast though. Its all good quiet a/b roads and motorways to Dublin mostly motorways.

[SummerRain]

My kids have ds' and wiis.... They also have no idea what glee or HSM are and spend most of their time playing outside. They don't t talk like mini teens and whilst they aren't sheltered or naive are still innocent and unaware of pop culture and brand names

[BerylStreep]

Yes, I remember in Ikea Belfast you could always spot the Dubliners a mile off. Much better dressed and turned out than us locals.

Well that and the Dublin Plates

[mathanxiety]

Mum went to the Rotunda (way back in the 60s) and amazed a neighbour who had gone to Holles St when she described the warmed blanket the nurses wrapped her in right after delivery when she was shaking from the shock and effort of it all. She was also taught exercises to tone her tummy that turned out to be postnatal yoga (my Dsis recognised them 35 years later -- mum was always very diligent about doing them every morning).

It wasn't always particularly nice to visit the North. The one and only time my Dsis went (on a trip to QUB) was the first time a big bomb went off after a year of relative calm. She found the urban scene in Belfast very tense, not surprisingly, and there were differences in little things like having to cross the street at the intersection, between the lines, as soon as the lights changed, with no dawdling. ID control was always unpleasant and driving through south Armagh you never really knew what you would end up caught in the middle of. I once took a bus that was heading from Dublin to Ballyshannon in Donegal via Omagh. Border control involved heavily armed soldiers marching onto the bus and looking at documents, staring hard at all the passengers, and there was further in-your-face security at Omagh. It's a lot nicer now but for my entire childhood and young adulthood it was a place where you could get blown up or beaten or ordered off a bus at gunpoint.

Schoolfool, there was always a contingent that lived for fashion in Dublin when I was growing up and no surprise that nothing has changed, just the numbers able to keep up with that lifestyle have grown. I went to a private all girls convent junior school in the late 60s and 70s and sometimes it was like going to school with girls from California. One of my classmates was the DD of the owner of Ireland's first Levi's emporium (he ROLFed all the way to the bank). The fast set kept its eyes firmly fixed on the US back then.

[mathanxiety]

I could tell the Irish in the US city where I lived by the crateloads of brand name stuff they hauled out of sales up and down the main drag. Plus the sunburns, and brand new and clearly not-used-much sandals on the men.

[Mollydoggerson]

And don't foget the gaggles of hairy babies Math (!)

[Ilikecakes]

Reading some of these comments open mouthed!! We're moving over in October with our two boys, aged 1 and 2, primarily because we view the education system as being far superior in Ireland to that here in the UK-and I'm saying that as a UK secondary teacher. The education system here in the UK has become a political plaything, with faddy 'enhancements' being made so often that the basics have become completely forgotten about. I have good friends here who can't spell to save their lives and who can barely punctuate simple sentences, yet who are now qualified and teaching 5 year olds how to read-terrifying!

I'm in complete awe of the Irish I know in their late 20s/30s, all of whom have good degrees, are incredibly articulate (the spoken word being an area I think we are SHOCKING at developing in UK schools), are fluent in a European language and have thriving careers. I know that they were all lucky enough to graduate just as the Celtic Tiger presented them great career opportunities, but the standard of education they received really does shine through in everyday interactions.

The comments about the cronyism in the public sector are completely valid, but can also be applied here I think, particularly in the regions.

Anyway, guess I'm trying to say that I'm positive about the move.....now if only they could just do something about the effing rain...!

[Ilikecakes]

Oh, and I'll be availing of midwife-led care if/when/if/when we go for baby no 3. Irish maternity care is far too medicalised, with gynaecologists and obstetricians involved even in normal pregnancies as standard-purely to justify a whopping bill at the end!

[IShallPracticeMyCurtsey]

Probably a fair comment, cakes, but more and more women here are wising up to the benefits of sticking with the midwives. I think if you're in any way unsure or feeling bamboozled about your options, then the system will default you down the medicalised route. If you're firm and knowledgeable about what you want (e.g. as little intervention as possible, breastfeeding etc.), you'll do fine.

Very best of luck with your move. Here's hoping for a cold, dry, sunny winter!

[BlazerOfGlory]

There is no "whopping bill at the end" for most of us, if you choose to go private, thats up to you. If you choose to go private and then complain about too many drs being involved, what do you think you are paying for ?

Public maternity care is entirely free and you can choose midwife led unless you are high risk. Gynaecologists and obstetricians are NOT involved in standard pregnancies unless you either choose them or need them.

More bullshit. . And your first post was so different.

[IShallPracticeMyCurtsey]

Blazer

My pregnancy was totally low risk, and I went public. But only found out towards the very end that there was a midwife-led clinic in my hospital, and that I could have gone with that!

My appointments all along were with the obs. Granted, it was a different one each time, and granted, it was a 5-minute flick-over...but I didn't either choose or need them. I just got defaulted to them. If there's ever a next time, I'll know better. Apart from anything else there seemed to be so much less waiting around for midwife-led.

I think the pp meant the whopping bill was from the consultants to the HSE - no?

[OnTheBottomWithAWoodenLeg]

I live in Wickla and am from south county Dublin (jackeen to culchie) but still work in Dublin. The commute was a bastard at first but then they upgraded the N11 and 40 mins on the train (as part of it) is v relaxing.

Private secondary schools are much, much cheaper than the UK (similar cost per year to cost per term), and I don't think there is as much of a debate about public vs private schools (so I don't feel guilty about sending DD to a fee paying school!).

Huge educational expectations/aspirations - so peer pressure round going to uni - in a good way - DD is competing with her friends over grades.

Community - I really want to get back to where I'm originally from (can't at moment, negative equity) as I have no school or employment ties where I am so haven't really got involved locally. However I could if I wanted so that's more on me than on the community itself.

Work - no pay rises since 2007, have just been given another full time job on top of my own with no extra money or time to do it (that's another thread). We are all expected to do more with less (but I suppose that's universal in the current recession).

I've heard horror stories across the years about Holles St, including 2 women booked in for D&C after MC who had scans before the procedure (one because her notes were missing and one who insisted as she still felt pregnant) and both now have healthy children.... But also have a friend who had a very very sick baby who was in Holles St for a couple of months and the baby is now absolutely fine, and he can't praise them enough. All anecdotal so please don't rely on it!

I gave birth in the Coombe and had a great experience and have heard nothing but praise for there. Friend who is a midwife says that atm all the maternity hospitals are struggling with the influx of immigrants who are turning up in labour, with no notes, who don't speak English, and some have had no antenatal care at all.

Housing is relatively cheap at the moment since the bust, but mortgages are difficult to get compared to 5 years ago.

Oh, my cousin was so hairy that the midwives put a ribbon in her hair in the labour ward! 10 years later I was in after having my DD, and my aunt and cousin visited. The midwife recognised my aunt and my cousin - first Q - "Hi C, were you the hairy baby?"

[IShallPracticeMyCurtsey]

Should say though my actual labour was entirely midwife-led, thank jeebus.

[Ilikecakes]

Yikes Blazer!! The 'whopping bill' comment came from having spoken to all of the Irish mummies I know, every one of whom had doctors throughout their pregnancies, even though the majority of them were low-risk, and this was true of those who went private or public. One of them recently told me about a 'brand new' public scheme which allowed midwife-led care throughout, so clearly more needs to be done to raise awareness that this even exists!

And yes, thanks Curtsey, I had actually meant a 'whopping bill' either for the private 'patient' (because pregnancy is a terrible sickness!!) or for the HSE in the case of public care.

In any case, very excited to get over there now!

Ps wondering if baby no 3 will be hairier than the other two :-)

[rhetorician]

as it happens with dd1 DP never saw a doctor at all and the midwife we saw all the way through was lovely (and rang us at home after dd1 was born because we left before her shift started); with dd2 the only reason we saw a consultant was because DP had cvs due to less than encouraging nuchal fold results. Nuchal fold you pay for privately, but interestingly they never charged us for it - presumably because the ones who get bad news they can afford to write off. Didn't pay for the cvs either - we have health insurance, but it has never been notified that a claim was made. I did appreciate this greatly at a time of massive stress - unlike Holles St who rather insensitively (in my view) presented us with a bill to pay for the scan which proved that the baby didn't have a heartbeat. No doctor came near or by for either labour.

The point that has always been made to me is that if you are unfortunate enough to NEED consultant/obs you will get this on the public health system - IMHO it's a waste of their time to be looking at healthy women expecting healthy babies. First time round we did pay for semi-private room; second we didn't bother, although post-natal ward was a bit choice...

[IShallPracticeMyCurtsey]

Well my midwife went to school with my DP! Cue lots of 'OMG can't believe it how are you doing how's so-and-so are you still living there and what are you up to these days'

between the two of them while I wept quietly in the loo.

[BlazerOfGlory]

MLU's have been around for years now and are not new.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

My DH was born in the Coombe. I am told this every time we go past it. Every. Time. For 17 years. Then, when my SIL told us she was pregnant, she told DH to 'save X date because we're going to the Coombe'. DH thought they were talking about a wedding venue. Sigh.