Moving to Ireland

[Lily5012]

Hi All,

This is my first time post on any forum and Im currently feeling very guilty as Im always going to the internet for help, but never actually posting any hints myself whenever I see a question I could answer. I promise that will change from now on and am hoping the universe will be kind and offer me some help with this one!! :) x

A bit to start - my husband and I are both in our mid 30's with a 1 year old baby. My mum - who is in her 80's and suffers with MS has also recnetly come to live with us. We currently rent in south east England but are really hoping to buy somewhere. My husbands family all live in Ireland though, and with a baby we are suddently really wanting her to be close to cousins etc. Whenever we go there we love the fresh air, child tolerant cutlure and more laid back - less cut throat ambitious - approach to life. Its also just so beautiful. IN addition to this we are getting increasingly sick of England - with Brexit, funding cuts (we both work for charities), crime and the americanisation of everything.

My husband is Irish and has always thought about moving back but it always seemed impossible, with job scarcity etc. However he now has a job where he works from home 2 -3 days per week and then goes into London the remaining time. We could therefore relocate to Ireland and he could carry on working in London weekly (he could stay with family 2 nights per week) whilst he looked for a job in Ireland. I would quit my current job and look for either charity work in Ireland or possibly re train as an ESL teacher. I also want to a masters at uni, which I have some money saved for. Our budget would be around 500,000 euros. (the house would need to fit us and my mum obviously).

Are we mad to consider this?

Any suggestions on areas? We need somewhere with good schools and bit of life to it - hopefully more nice than up and coming, as I dont think my mum can do up and coming. :). We need it to be near(ish) an airport and also commutable to a city or somewhere we are likely to find work.

Any tips around jobs and the reality of how easy/ difficult it is to find them, or adapt from English working culture to Irish culture?

Are there any hidden expenses in terms of living and bringing up a family (including an older person) that Im just not considering? I know food and utilties will be a bit more, but we are fine with that and we dont really eat or drink out very much. I am nervous about how early the school day in Ireland ends and how working mums in Ireland make that work - does anyone have any idea? Is wrap around care basically the same price?

Thank you so so SO much in advance for any help you can provide.

I am in lreland and love lfe here so will try not to be too negative. But l will mention the downsides first.
Best near an airport is Dublin but house prices are horrendous. Galway is fab and does have an airport. Its a lovely city and easily accessible. Where are dhs family?
Teaching is very closed as all teachers practically must have lrish which is a pain for oversees workers.
Health stuff like prescriptions etc are not free and doctors visits cost 60 euro. But older people get medical cards which may apply to your mil.
On the positive side the job market is good at the moment. A nice place to move to would be Kilkenny city but it is one and a half hours to an airport. A lot of the jobs are in Dublin though.
Moving to be nearer family means moving to their area or otherwise you might as well be in London l think.
If you do come l hope you are happy here but there is a bit to sort first.

Galway doesn’t have a currently operational airport.

I’d look at Cork - good airport connection, great city, on the coast, and you’ll get much more for your money property wise than Dublin.

Only primary school teachers need Irish, btw, secondary school teachers only need it if Irish is one of their subjects to teach. I’m not sure how prevalent ESL teaching posts are in Ireland, so you should make sure to investigate that properly before retraining.

I’d also suggest moving this to Craicnet where you might get more responses.

Surely it totally depends where your DH's family are? I mean, if they're in Donegal then you living in Cork for instance, you might as well be in London?

Thank you both so so much for quick replies!! The healthcare is definitely something thats on my hitlist to look into properly as Im not sure how it will work with MIL having an ongoing existing condition in terms of medical care/ insurance etc.I have heard wonderful things about Galway - but the possible lack of jobs (?) and lack of airport has been a big downer. Kilkenny has some loevly properties but I was worried it wasnt that amazing a city - sounds like its one to investigate. Our issue is that MIL cant really do more than one or two trips to Ireland before we move - so the option of doing recci's all over which (which we would take if just the two of us) is sort of out. We need a hit list of about 4 places to look at properly with her. Thank you so so so much again - and will move thread over to Craicnet as well. Thank you! xox

Ah yes - his family are near Dublin and in Wexford and some in Limerick - so a bit scattered really! Totally agree on that point, but my DH finds Ireland quite easy to drive far distances over (compared to England!) and we are thinking contact more in terms of weekend visits and over the summer holidays than after school or baby sitting help as such. But no - anywhere much further north of Ireland would be a bit besides the point in some ways. :). Cork does seem like a winner on many fronts! Thank you again! x

I think you would be wise to investigate how much your MIL's treatment will cost in Ireland? As far as I know the insurance companies are not allow to refuse to cover anyone, but I don't know whether they can exclude pre-existing conditions plus I think they often have a limit on claims in the first 12 months of cover.

It could work out very expensive, for instance GP visits are not free here, my GP costs €60 per visit, plus a prescription charge plus I pay for prescriptions. There is a scheme that limits prescription charges to €135 per family per month, but that still adds up. For example, I have a chronic health condition, I pay for two gp visits a year (€60 each), two six month prescriptions (€10 each), €135 a month for drugs and I pay over €3K for insurance for the family. That adds up about €5K a year, when I lived in London I only paid for a monthly prescription, which was far, far less.

Sorry, it's your Mum not your MIL who has MS. I misread.

You might want to consider the Limerick / Shannon area too. Flights from Shannon to London for the commute in the meantime. There's a lot of investment going on, with associated jobs, in that area. Although obviously depends what sort of jobs you're looking at.
I'm half-looking at jobs in Ireland, and keeping an eye on house prices via daft.ie (Rightmove for Ireland!) .... massive difference in prices between Dublin and Limerick (although I'd live County Clare villages around Ennis, the drive to Limerick I'd be ok with).

"Hidden charges" for things like rubbish / recycling collection ..... it's a private service, not the local council. So you find the best deal for you ..... downside is your neighbours will chose a different supplier so you can no longer use the reliable method of checking which bin your neighbours put out as a reminder to yourself!

well I did not notice any "job scarcity" when I was there. In fact I got offered two or three jobs in one day.

I do live in West Wales though - everywhere else is rocking and rolling in comparison.
Rents seemed a bit scary though tbh.

I do have a friend who is from Ireland , was in London 20 plus years, went back and found the health service didn't meet his very specific needs, so returned to London.
So that is something to consider seriously.

Re childcare, it is the same as the UK. People use crèche's, childminders or nannies. No tax credits for these but there is 15 hours per week preschool for 1.5 to 2 years before a child starts school, depending on when their birthday is.

Kilkenny is a fabulous city. All its lacking is the sea. And its near Wexford.
Sorry l never knew Galway airport is gone.
I would definitely stay out of Dublin.
Really the big decision is around your dms health as it seems that is one area that UK totally surpasses us.

Bear in mind that EVERYTHING is more expensive. Health care, utilities, food shopping, school ( you pay for every item the kids use at school - school books alone were €300 for 2 primary school kids for me this year).

Depending on the industry some salaries are better, but despite this we are still much worse off.

Ireland is a nice place to live and provided you live near the airport, London is easily reached.

Issues to consider;
Cost of getting in and out of London.
Unless you fly into Stansted flights are not cheap. For work I regularly pay 200-300 to get in and out of Heathrow.

Cost of houses.
€500,000 will get you a small semi d in a very very nice seaside village close to the airport www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/12-seabury-lane-malahide-dublin/4276390. This would also be on the commuter line into dublin and is in the catchment for great free schools.
or
A larger house in a non seaside but still nice large town www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/21-estuary-court-seatown-road-swords-co-dublin/4273584
or
430,000 for a new house in a nice seaside town north of the airport but further from the city.
www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/kingsland-development-donabate-county-dublin/4226913

Regarding healthcare.
Your MIL will be covered by the public health system but I have no idea how this compares to the NHS.
Doctors cost 55 a visit but as an OAP your MIL will be free.

I've been away a long time but lots of friends have moved back happily, particularly those who have moved families from London to the country (loads seem to end up in Cork, lots commute to the UK). However, another family member with a long term illness was staggered at the difference in care she got when she moved from Ireland to the UK. She wasn't entitled to a medical card at home and paying for GP visits meant that she just struggled through bad times whereas she has excellent, free, care under the NHS.

You could try this series from the Irish Times which focuses on returning emigrants and how they found moving back
www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/generation-emigration

Would you consider moving to Northern Ireland? That way you have the nhs and you can drive all over the island.

I was about to suggest NI as well. Perhaps somewhere quite far south, like Newry?

In ROI, you have to pay for everything. Getting bins collected, for example. You have to pay for rental of your electric and gas meters before you've used a single unit (called a standing charge). And then there's the government PSO levy, which I think is €104.75.
Property can be a bit expensive in ROI - you'd get a lot more for your money in NI (which, by the way, is actually a peaceful place now).