Moving to Northern Ireland : Antrim/Coleraine/Ballycastle

[Greenelandahoy]

Hello folks.
I’m considering a move from the East of England to NI. My partner works and lives in NI. The areas considered are mentioned specifically in the title.
I am well versed in the history between the two countries and the current politics (for a variety of reasons) and this awareness makes me feel sensitive to the people and how I or my family may be viewed. I myself am sensitive towards the issues not at all ignorant.

My concerns are as follows:
Is there an anti British sentiment in the areas I’ve mentioned and how much of this would be played out towards my family and myself. You know, cutting remarks or being ignored or basically outcast! We were in Donegal (I know it’s a different place but my son was taunted in the bar and called a Tan. He isn’t a Tan, he’s early 20s!)

I am not religious but I note most schools seem to be much focussed on P or C rather than integrated. Would this be a negative by either camp or prevent integration into the communities?

Is the health service as bad as people say? I’ve been to the A&E dept twice now and it’s way more efficient than my experiences in England!

Is there any right to roam at all ? I can’t quite get my head around not being able to walk across the countryside like in England.

Also, the flags scare me. How significant are the flags. Are they warnings to folks?

Any feedback, advice, straightforward comments massively appreciated.

Reasons for wanting to move are :
Beautiful landscape.
The Sea!
So far, mostly very very friendly people who seem overwhelmingly helpful and kind, except for man in Donegal.
Good education system (from what I hear)
Smaller population
Not frantic like England.
Just really like it and it makes me sad to leave.
I don’t want to move somewhere and end up ostracised and hated and make a massive mistake that could be costly in so many ways.
Cheers.

I would suggest you get this moved to Craicnet, where there are lots of NI posters. I’m from the opposite end of the island, so no NI insights, but think that if encountering occasional, unpredictable anti-Englishness is going to be difficult for you, then it’s not a move you should be contemplating, to either side of the border.

Is your partner English or Northern Irish?

The flags are quite seasonal generally, peaking round 12th July. You'll get used to them. You'll have to develop a thicker skin for jokey comment about being English/British in some areas.
Schools are mostly segregated with some integrated ones. Its a Grammar system which has its pluses and minuses. NI has worse hospitals than the Republic these days, but they seem better than what I hear about NHS Wales from the inlaws. So it may depend on your local Trust.

Do you have a job to go ?

That’s not what I asked about - I was clear about anti Britishness in terms of being ostracised not occasional flippant comments and how far would this go and the religious aspect.

I will indeed seek out the forum you suggested so thank you.

Jokey comments are totally fine-that’s a part of life for anyone encountering the ‘other’.
I wouldn’t have a job initially, no.
I was told the flags tell outsiders where ‘not’ to go.
Are you from NI?

I think if flags scare you, you might not be ready for a move over there.

I’ve got strong connections with the north coast of NI and go there often, but it does feel very far from the rest of the UK. It would only suit a particular sort of person, unless you were born and bred there.

Yes, but you referenced your son being called a Tan in a Donegal bar in the context of ‘cutting remarks’. It’s not clear where you ranked that in terms of whether unpredictable recurrences were going to significantly impact your life.

I’m not unsympathetic, as I lived for 25 years in various parts of England with anti-Irish comments and attitudes (from a minority of people, but unpleasant, and often when least expected). I would have said I coped with it fine, but I only realised how much of a burden it was when I moved back to Ireland five years ago and stopped having to anticipate it. I’m not in NI, obviously, so the context is different, but I have a lot of English friends who’ve moved to Ireland to work since Brexit. They’ve all settled, but some of them find the remarks more upsetting than others.

The reason I asked about where your partner is from is because, assuming he’s from NI or has worked there for a while, he will be best placed to answer some of your questions.

I can't answer your NI questions but, just so you know, we don't have the right to roam in England (it came as a surprise to me too a few years ago). Scotland has the right to roam but not England.

Public footpaths/bridleways/open land to camp on. That’s right to roam. It was made legal in the 70s.

How long have you been with your partner? It’s a much bigger move to make than relocating to any other part of the UK. I’m not from NI, but my lovely neighbours are. They were delighted to move their children away to England! If your children are happy and settled here, I wouldn’t uproot them to be with a newish partner in NI.

@Greenelandahoy Im just over the border in Louth. But have friends and family in the north.
It will be a massive culture shift from England, everything is different really, especially in the towns you list. There is a rural, small town mindset and religion plays a big role across all communities. There would be little anti Brit sentiment in real life, but in pubs round the border counties and in republican areas, the jokes will be pointed.
I mentioned work as the public sector is by far the biggest employer in NI, there are few big corporates there. Given the number of NI cars on the roads here, I think commuting to Dublin is significantly increasing.

Edit to add, no right to roam. But loads of parks and NT places.

I’m from the north coast, but with English parents (UUC imports when it first opened), as were many of my peers in the Triangle area growing up in the 70s and 80s. I left in the late 90s but went back often to visit my family until recently.

I don’t think there’s a huge amount of very obvious anti-British sentiment in Coleraine, which I know well. It is hard to be fully accepted though, and although I was born and grew up there I never really felt that I truly belonged in the eyes of the people around me. That was mainly during the troubles, though so attitudes may well have changed and I certainly had no shortage of friends and still do.

I would imagine there’s more anti-British sentiment in Ballycastle, which has more of an Irish identity than Coleraine and didn’t have the huge influx of English academics and students that the Triangle did (and does).

When you say Antrim, do you mean the county or the town? They’re very different - Co. Antrim stretches along the coast from Portrush to Larne and is absolutely stunning, where the town isn’t so much 😬

re the right to roam - you definitely can’t just go tramping across the countryside and will encounter some very angry farmers if you try! But there are so many beautiful walks on stunning beaches, mountsandel forest, downhill, the giants causeway and so on and on, that I really don’t think you’ll feel the lack!

That’s sad that you experienced that. I have worked for several Irish bosses and known a few Irish people in my local area and I didn’t realise that there was this negative view nowadays. I’ve never given it a thought. My village in rural England flys the Irish flag on St Patrick’s Day. I understand the negatively towards the British government completely but not the other way around. Can’t quite see how anyone can be against a nation that was subjugated for 1000 years!
With the rise of Reform though perhaps I’m ignorant of peoples attitudes.

There are pros and cons. I am very familiar with the area. It may take a while to integrate depending on where you are. Religion is a much larger feature of life than it is in England and people tend to have their church and family and don’t really need to invite new people into their circle.

There is a grammar school system which serves some well and others terribly.

A major plus is the housing market. You’ll be amazed at what you can afford. Look on PropertyPal for inspo!

The weather is shite- a lot worse than the east of England ( although as things continue to warm up that may be a bonus).

It is quieter and slower. The roads are quiet ( outside bank holiday weekends on the coast) but you will need to drive everywhere as public transport is useless.

I don’t think the anti English thing is much to worry about. You will find that people just assume that English people are inferior which is irritating at worst.

I would say Ballycastle is much nicer than Coleraine (prettier) and no flags really. A little unfair for pp to tell you that if you’re afraid of flags not to move to NI, you were correctly informed that their presence is a good indicator of where not to go! Weather is crap as pp said though. What do you intend to do for a job? I wouldn’t think you would get a lot of anti English comments but couldn’t say that for sure as mightn’t notice them. I think you actually might get more anti English comments in the rest of Ireland (like Donegal, as you’ve mentioned).

Yes, @Puppalicious Ballycastle is beautiful. Initially I wouldn’t be working - i am currently a secondary school teacher. I would want to support my families integration and being visible at the school gate and so on I am assuming this is one of the ways to meet other parents and to get involved.
The reason I mentioned the flags is because I realise it’s a statement -all flags are a statement - but how much? If I’m not P or C do they apply to me or is it more British Vs Irish? And is it really ‘stay away or else’ as I have been told too. And how is this going to impact the migration that is happening to NI from other communities now?
@ThisUsernameIsAvailabl Is the church the only communities that exist? No clubs for adults? Gyms? Walking groups? Gardening groups? Wild swimming? Dog walking groups? Book clubs?
Surely people have other interest other than religion ?!

Are you both Brits or locals?

I’m a friendly, relatively outgoing person - I’ll happily chat to anyone and offer help or be happy to be involved.

My partner thinks I am overthinking it but I think - like others have said- NI is different to the rest of the UK (rightly so and understandable, I guess) and it would be pointless moving somewhere that had a lot of anti British sentiment.

There isn't much immigration to the areas you are looking at. And Belfast has a growing racism issue. There was a spike in problems last year- https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2024/0829/1467302-northern-ireland-race/

There always something on to go and see - https://www.visitcausewaycoastandglens.com/whats-on

But it's a very non mobile population and people are probably still hanging out with their school friends. Google tells me there are just under 6000 people living in Ballycastle. That's very small.

Well I live in NI - not a million miles away from the areas you’re considering, and there isn’t one flag in my development.

It just isn’t a thing in middle class areas.

Obviously in the working class council estates, you’ll have flags - but they are not a guaranteed sight. I wouldn’t have my children raised around the flags.

My husband and I are both English and moved to Ballycastle three years ago with our child, now have two! We have encountered nothing but kindness. The community here is wonderful and we’ve all made friends. There is a wonderful integrated primary school and there are a lot of people moving here from all over. The flags in Bushmills are a lot but we’ve never felt uncomfortable

Thank you- that sounds lovely. Are you both religious? How have you integrated? I know the latter might sound like a dumb question.

Op I moved from east of England with my English dh and dc several years ago. My dh loves it and encounters a lot of English people (closer to Belfast though). He’s never had any bother, a few jokes about being a ‘posh boy’ etc

there is loads to do in terms of clubs you can join that are non- religious, and most people don’t care what religion you are.

quality of life is so much better here. I love ballycastle. Not keen on Coleraine but Antrim town has improved lots over the years.

@Greenelandahoy neither of us are religious and our children are not being raised in a faith. It did take a long time to make real friendships, probably a couple of years. Most people have family here and school friends so are not actively looking to make new ones. Luckily, I had my second child so joined a lot of the baby groups and have made friends there as well as a couple of others through my eldest child. My husband has met people through sports. As the previous poster has said, the quality of life here is so much better, especially for children. The services are incomparable to what we had become used to in England, we have an NHS dentist and a family doctor who we know well. Public areas are beautifully maintained and even little things like modern clean public toilets everywhere suprised us when we first moved. It really made us realise what shabby public and council services we had become accustomed to in England

Thanks all for your insights. It’s been much appreciated.

@Greenelandahoy

Did the move go ahead?

Bit late but I'd like to add that a wee knowledge of Ulster Scot & Presbyterian history would not go amiss.

Also re flags. The 12th July for near half the population of NI is a cultural celebration that mostly passes peacefully - certainly in my home area (Bangor, 'Ards & Donaghadee).

Good Luck.