where's a good place to live in Northern Ireland Please? moving from England.

[Nickster414]

hi,
ive lived in England all my life but due to all our relatives now living in NI me and my family are looking to move there to this year and i have no idea what is a good place to live as we are looking for somewhere quiet and safe as it can get for our kids, and anywhere is going to be better than living in Manchester as we are totally sick of this place and the constant bad areas. any advice would be great no matter how little :)
thanks

Killinchy, Co Down?
I obviously don't know where your relatives live or where you would be working. Nice school there though.

If I was moving over I’d go for Hillsborough, but if you’re from a city you might prefer East Belfast. I’d avoid anywhere small as small in NI is very small.

I wouldn't. But then I couldn't get out of the place fast enough! I guess it depends where your relatives live?

Depends on your budget and what you need. What about schools, where will you be working?

Working on the most likely scenario that you're working in Belfast and will at some stage want access to secondary schools, I'd say Holywood. It takes no time to get into Belfast on the train, you've got walks by the sea and some nice local shops and restaurants.

If all your relatives live there, they must have firsthand information to help advise you? I hope everything works out for you and good luck 🌺

Rostrevor and Warrenpoint are beautiful. Very safe, very family orientated. Volts of outdoors activities.

Donegal but it is part of Eire, in the North.

@JesusWeptLady

Donegal but it is part of Eire, in the North.

It’s in the Republic of Ireland. Not “Eire”

And it’s not in the north. It’s in the republic.

@Nickster414 if you do choose to move to NI, I recommend educating yourself so you don’t make ignorant comments. It’s not that difficult to read up and gain knowledge.

We need more details! Where in NI are your relatives? Will you be working, and if so, where? Do you need access to schools?

What do you like - beaches, rural, city, mountains, village?

Glengormley. And it's not too far from Belfast.

I was born there, but now settled and married and living near London with Dh and 5 kids

@OhCaptain. Please look at a map. Donegal is in the north.

Where are your relatives?

Where are you/ partner going to be working?

What field do you/partner work in?

What is your budget? Buying/renting?

How much of a commute are you happy with?

Where do you live currently? Village/large town/city?

Ages of DC?

Donegal is in the north. But not in the North

You would be much worse off living in Donegal as it is in the Republic of Ireland and you would have to pay for healthcare and education. I would go for somewhere like Holywood or Hillsborough, nice towns easily accessible to Belfast.

[quote JesusWeptLady]@OhCaptain. Please look at a map. Donegal is in the north.[/quote]
Don’t be disingenuous. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then educate yourself.

I don’t need to look at a map I’m from there. 🙄

sorry ive not been able to get back to this for a while. Thanks very much for all the input it gives me alot to go by.
we have relatives in coleraine so i was looking around there about 5-10 miles around and we have 3 kids so was hoping for 3-4 bed house and hopefully somewhere nice and quiet but i did see some large homes with crazy low prices compared to here in manchester but they was very far out it seamed like 1 i was looking at in Garvagh i think it was called. and some close to the coast north of coleraine.

Coleraine has a reasonable number of facilities, shops etc plus it is on the train line and has part of the University of Ulster so has a few things going on in usual times. You will probably need to look carefully at different places nearby as some may have more overt links to one community or another if that makes sense. Limavady also seems a reasonable place with some facilities but Coleraine would have more.

thanks for that i will check out Limavady on street view and google it a lil.

I’m originally from Limavady and absolutely love it- would move back in a heartbeat if I could. Transport can be an issue if not in the town- when I go home I hire a car as rural buses are not great/non existent unless for school. Coleraine is better connected with a train station and amenities like a cinema, more shops, bowling alley etc (The Jet center). Also closer to the coast. We do go to Derry/Coleraine a lot when I’m home but it’s only a 15-20 minute drive. If you are working in Coleraine and commuting from limavady the roads (and all those roundabouts) can get busy at peak times- but probably nothing like Manchester! City of Derry airport during normal times had some good flights to England. Not sure about now with the Ryanair situation. Im happy to answer any questions if you want to pm me.

all these flags see in different towns! if im from england which is a flag to avoid of an area as im so not experienced in this NI & Ireland thing and i dont want to move to an area where we are not welcome because we come from england?

It depends. What community would your relatives be from/ identify with? Would you identify with that community or not?

There are many places where there aren't flags and more mixed communities but schooling is often linked to one community or another, if not in theory but in practice. There are some integrated schools but not everywhere so that might also be a factor in location.

@OhCaptain Article 4 of the Constitution gives Ireland it's 2 official names. Éire (as Gaeilge / in Gaelic) & Ireland (as Bearla / in English).
@JesusWeptLady is correct. Donegal is the northernmost county in Ireland/Éire.

While Ireland is a republic, it is not the country's name.
And if a poster is unfamiliar with the Irish constitution, I think 'ignorant' is a bit OTT.