Question About Southern Ireland..........

[Frankendooby]

Haloo.Just wanted some opinions fro people who have moved to Ireland to live and of course fom people who are Irish and have lived,do still live here.Opinions on the Politics,Laws,Education,Work etc.
I moved here from the UK and although i used to visit lots to see family I find living here extremely difficult in many ways.Just wondered how others have found it.Thanks in advance

Jesus, please expat, don't go talking about Christmas, I'm breaking out in a cold sweat, I've done sfa for Haloween, nevermind Christmas! Nite nite chick, good seeing you again.

Looks like i missed a good cosy chat last night!

Dooby, I think you might be better off moving to one of the cities if you don't want to leave Ireland altogether - I grew up in a small town and don't think i could move back to one - but love the cities (esp Cork ).

I must take you to task about the GAA thing - as my Dad points out, some of the stars of the Cork team (O Hailpin bros - can't do fadas on this pc) have a mother from Fiji and a father from Armagh (where they don't really play hurling according to Dad).

Don't really disagree with any of the things you have moaned about - but I think maybe stuff like corruption is more obvious in a small country? Remember this is a country where ever traffic accident is reported in the national news....

What would put me off moving back is the fact that Ireland has become more like the UK since it became prosperous (same shops eg) and that people are more materialistic....

Morning LADIES.Enjoyed catching up on your posts.tHINK YOU ARE RIGHT gRAPEFRUIT..EVERYTHING IS REPORTED HERE WHICH CAN MAKE THINGS SEEM MUCH WORSE.Drosophilia SAID THAT THIS COUNTRY[oops sorry re caps]is a wonderful,hellish,beguiling place to live and i agree with that.Our ds1 did go to school but he is now home edded.He has lots of friends and takes part in lots of activities.I will prob have to ge my head round the fact that we will always be blow ins and console myself with the fact that it could be worse...I could have been brought up here,left and then returned!My friend here did that and she is seen as worse than a blow in!I could get Irish citizenship through my Mothers side.My second ds was born here[public health]and the care i received was fantastic.Thanks for not shooting me down in flames i really appreciate that and it has been interesting reading others views...and whoever said about the cups of tea is spot on!

ah very glad to hear you giving us another chances esp after last nights ramblings.

the o hailpin brothers - best thing gaa has ever done was to bring them to the public eye.wouldn't any mamai be proud to call them her own.they love their mammy and her cooking. and of course are obscenely good looking.

The traitor Setanta abandoned Cork....

Oh dear Frankendooby, it's a bit worrying that returnees are worse than blow-ins. Although at least if no-one likes me they might leave me alone. Irish people who went away and didn't spend all their time pining for home are almost as bad as the ones who return for the first time after decades away and express surprise at everyone having cars and inside loos or other accoutrements of wealthy western society.

I remember a few years after I first left (about 17 years ago when people were still leaving unwillingly for economic reasons), someone in Dublin sympathised with me that I lived away from Ireland. Foolishly I said that I had chosen to leave and had turned down a job offer to do so. It all turned rather icy and accusatory.

Ireland for me is home.

I love the sound of it, the humour, the charm that exsists, the kindness often expressed, the inclement weather and the truly beautiful landscape.

I've lived in other countries and always, always felt the pull to return home.

I'm seduced by the laid-back ease with which people will meet and chat in a bar or along the street with complete strangers.

Of course there are bad things too, but ultimately for me the true undiluted essence of Ireland makes me so proud and very happy.

What I can't understand is my northern inlaws, from republican backgrounds, seem to hate 'down south' as much as any loyalist. We are constantly asked if we wouldn't like to 'go home'. To a place where dh couldn't get a permanent job, wher the eleven plus is in existence, respite care seems to be in the same disarray as it is here.... Better football team though!

TnOgu, I'm the opposite. I live in Ireland and every year, I feel an overwhelming pull in the direction of Portugal!

Think they have a cushy number more like. My southern relations kept their heads down for 50 years, and have ended up doing well. My bit of the family went north at partition - we are the poor relations. Free state chocolate is nicer, but the cake is not so good.

tnOGU - I sometimes feel exactly the same pull to go back to the UK as you do to move back to Ireland.
We recently took a trip over to the north of England and I loved it. Beautiful landscapes, lovely friendly and helpful people, good food, charming villages,etc.
tbh I think I will always feel a little home sick. I am one of those people that is naturally drawn to where I was born.
Saying all that, I have great pals here, live a short drive from countryside and love the bars and restaurants in Dublin!

How can you not like Ireland? They still sell Tiffin. yum.

caburys chocolate with biscuit and raisins in it. dh rode his bike around ireland the other month and brought me back 24 bars of it (we''re up the north)

When I was still in the north, dh had to import tiffin for me if he went down south!

I went to art college over in England and loved it.

Home is where your heart is and always a piece of your heart lies where you were born and reared.

I moved back to Dublin after college and now live in Co.Wicklow.

Big changes happened whilst I was away, the Celtic tiger swept into the country and suddenly we were very sophisticated and european

Some people have enormous wealth, we are something like the 4th richest country in europe or something like that.

Tis mad.

But sometimes when you go down the country and you walk into a bar and you are hit with the smell of turf and the friendly banter starts you realise just what life is all about.

I think that connection can happen anyway, it even happens on here, but when it happens on home ground it's extra special because it's your home and it's where you truly belong.

English chocolate has less sugar or milk ore something (I don't care what!) Irish - free state - is best! N.Ireland cake is supreme. There is a cadbury plant in Dublin.

My BIL is a sales manager for Cadbury... mmmmm

Nowhere in the world makes red lemonade like the kind you can buy 'over the border'

Off topic - well isn't it all - somebody told me they knew of a chipper so posh near Magherafelt that you got a choice of brown or white vinegar. Holy grail!

PMSL! Will have to ask my sister, she knows nearly all the chippys in Co.Derry

Co.Derry.

I'm a Co.Derry girl at heart... was dragged kicking & screaming into Co.Antrim... but an Antrim shirt would burn my back