Talk to me about moving to Dublin

[LucilleLeSueur]

Someone please!

We're irish, living in the UK. Moved here as youngish adults and have been here 8 years. Had our two children here. Thought we would stay here forever - we love it here.

Now DH has been offered a job in Dublin. It's not something we can turn down, it's exactly what we were aiming for when he started his career. But I am really torn - I don't know dublin at all, and I don't know how things work in Ireland.

I don't know what to do about a school for 5yo DD1. That's far as i can gather, there are no catchment areas - I should just decide on the school we want and email them to ask if she can join. Is that right?!

I work part-time in a good job here, but my career was always secondary. I will need to work but only want to work part-time, is this usual in Ireland?

I do still have friends and family in my hometown but all the mothers have given up work since having children, and all their children are sti toddlers, so I have no one to ask about this stuff!

I am fairly confident that we will be really happy in Dublin. I'm just worried about the culture shock, as the Ireland I remember from when I was growing up was a very different place to where we live now.

Any help or advice would be very gratefully received

I'm not in Ireland but have some relatives in Dublin,

Schools do have a catchment area, especially the Catholic ones, their normally the parish boundries. However if there's space the school may well take from outside the catchment area, you apply directly to the school, though. Where in Dublin? Which side? City or suburb?

What type of school? I presume your talking about National schools rather than private, but Catholic, Church of Ireland, Educate Together? Educate Together won't have Catchments, but will be difficult to get in to. This might be useful to find the school to talk to National Schools

Also something else to consider, your DD is 5, when was she born in the year, as this may affect the age of the class she's going in too, and maybe which year you ask for space in, Autumn and spring babies tend to start at 4 plus just like in the UK but many from March onwards will start Junior Infants the September after their 5th birthday. So if she's a summer child you may want her to be in junior Infants rather than Senior Infants, as she may well be the youngest in senior infants. What school year is she in here as a I realise there could be 5 year olds in Year 1 here.

You could also ask for help on MagicMum

I would move this to Chat - lots of Irish folk on MN but unlikely to consider Dublin as "living overseas" in the global sense iykim

It's my understanding that in some parts of Dublin the situation around schools is as bad as the UK just without the Ofsted reporting so it's a lot more word of mouth. It might be more helpful to state whereabouts in Dublin you plan to live/work and that might offer suggestions on what to do / not to do.

Dublin traffic is a nightmare - public transport is ok only - part time jobs to suit school age chikdren is like hens teeth to find. Address is crucial to getting into a good school here - my friends live close to castle knock but not in it iykwim and have got him a place in the C of I school in the village by pure luck . They are catholic so will have to sort communion / religion classes etcetera rents are insane ( but are the same in some parts of uk )
Sorry to be so negative - if you aren't going to be close to family you might only see them marginally more than you do now living in uk .

I'm a teacher and lived in worked in Dublin for 6 years. My sister lives and teaches in Dublin now. I'm happy for you to PM me for info re schools etc. The tram system is fab (called LUAS), depending on where your husband will be based I would rent/buy near a tram station. There is a good exchange rate at the moment so that will work in your favour if you're selling your house and planning to buy. However house prices are going up up up again in Dublin. Have a look on myhome.ie website.

I moved to Dublin from UK last year. My oldest is only starting preschool this year so no idea about starting school outside of applying for junior infants. I think you are right about applying to schools individually. Admission criteria vary a lot too some with having catchment and some just open waiting list. All except the multidenominational schools prioritise baptised children. In some parts of Dublin schools there is a huge shortage of places so you might want to find a school before deciding where to move.

It might be worth considering a phased move if your DH can find a room somewhere cheap to rent midweek [rents are not cheap in Dublin] so you can get the lay of the land before going?

This might be useful
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/living_overseas/2212471-Move-to-Dublin-Help-no-idea-of-areas