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

boolepew, did your dh ride around Ireland specifically to get you your Tiffin bars or did he just pick them up on the way!
If just to get the bars, that is one devoted dh!

shit, s'taken me ages to read all this, now I'm near too tired to reply

And i forgot to refresh once I finished reading so will probably look all irrelevant

I wanted to say to the op, (sorry can't remember if you said how long you've been here so maybe totally wrong!!) maybe you haven't settled in yet? I moved to dublin a little over 3 years ago, and tbh it didn't feel like home until very recently.. for the first few years I missed London like mad; now I miss Dublin when I'm away
I am mostly/'technically' Irish though (or even a plastic paddy), so maybe a bit different for me. Also, Dublin is very multi-cultural and full of 'blow-ins' so it's perhaps easier to make friends and integrate than more rural areas.

I initially felt irked by some of your more scathing views of this country, but on reflection, I spent a lot of my childhood and teenage years living in a small town community in Cork, and do recall feeling quite similarly bitter at times. Looking back I'm not sure if that was more about me than the small town.

Maybe you should move to Dublin (just being flippant!)

Must add re. GAA though, DD1 plays camogie at the local club and feels welcome enough wiht her London accent and non-religiousness

Sazisi, the plastic paddy

like looking in the mirror

chips where did you get my pic?

You're known in the area, amy! Not hard to track down!

Flahavan's porridge... is that not reason enough to stay in Ireland?

lololololo

I just had a huge bowl of that for breakfst

Tis heavenly with hot milk and honey.

I just had porridge too and none of that crap "two minutes in the microwave" stuff either. Just dropped the children to their very catholic run school and had a little chat with one of my DD's friends mothers. Its a lovely school out in the country, loads of fresh air and believe it or not my DD has gaelic during PE later. Listening to Ray Darcy on the way home - sure life couldn't be better!

Ray Darcy.. philistine

Gerry Ryan all the way & I'm in the North!!

No 2 minutes in micro either.. good warm milk with raisins!

Anyway, have to go to uni now boringboringboring....

Gerry Ryan does my head in!

Oh mine too.

Do you ever listen to John Kelly in the afternoon on Lyric fM?

I followed him over to lyric - I loved his eclectic ballroom programme. He has the nicest "listen to me voice".

He has a face for radio

I really like him though.

Also love him on, The View.

I tune in and out of Lyric - a lot of the programmes are a mixture of light opera and light classical. Eamon Lawlor's programme is the most "serious" classical in the evenings. I have always enjoyed Radio One at night time too and would listen to it especially if I am driving but in the mornings the combination of Ryan Tubriddy and Pat the Plank makes me nauseous!

OK, I need some advice. I would describe myself as British and Irish, having an English Dad and an Irish mother. I was brought up in Ireland from the age of 6 and left again at 18. That was ten years ago now and I can't believe it. In the interim it seems that everything has changed. I have a dd of 12 months now, and an English partner. I keep tormenting myself with the idea that I should go back to give my daughter the kind of carefree upbringing that I had, but going back for an extended trip in the summer I started doubting that. It seems that the country has changed beyond recognition in only ten years. I used to swim in lakes and rivers, and as a teenager I used to hitch lifts with friends to go and see gigs etc. It was only after speaking to friends from the UK that I realised how privileged I was to have that experience. There is something wild and untamed and achingly beautiful about the Irish landscape in comparison to the very neat, tidy, boxed in feling you get in the South East of England where I live. BUT, you also get the most ugly monstrous houses littering the countryside in Ireland - are there any planning laws at all?! It seems that anyone with a bit of cash can build anything they want - to hell with the landscape. I am torn. Really torn. My mum and sisters and brothers are all in Ireland. My young sister goes to an Educate Together school, so I'm not so worried about the church/school thing, but I'm scared that if I go back I will be disappointed/heartbroken to learn that the Ireland I loved is gone

Sorry to hijack this with long rambling post but I need some help and advice from Irish people who have stayed and those who have returned

If you don't ever come back you will always wonder what if...

Try it.

Ireland has changed but I think essentially the heart and soul of the place still exsists.

That's what I want to hear - that Ireland hasn't lost its soul. Interestingly enough, I have to make regular trips back to Ireland to keep myself sane, otherwise I start feeling suffocated. Everything is so formal in the South of England. If your child wants to play with another child you virtually have to make an appointment. And then send a bloody thank you letter. And people like dogs more than they like children!

Having said that, I am also half English and do feel at home here to a certain extent. Tis a tricky one.

Perhaps I should try a year in Ireland and see how it goes. Having looked at the OP though, maybe that wouldn't be enough time to give it a fair go? I also have to persuade my dp to go. He has said he is open to a year in Ireland in principle....

So, is the West still the best? Or should it be a major metropolis like Dublin?

If you can see back those problems - tbh hitching anywhere in any country is dangerous. I used to hitch myself when I was younger to get home from college but think that there is enough transport now to not have to do it unless you are really stuck. I have often thought I would love to live in London but I can't imagine myself ever doing it as it wouldn't be the same. At least when I go in to my local shop, Bank, PO etc even Tesco they know me there and have time for me. Everywhere has changed since the 80's not just Ireland. Seeing as you seem to have support in having family here then that is a positive in your favour.

Xpost with our own reply. I think you should go to what you are used to. If you move to the country after living in a city or large town you might find it very isolating same if you go to a city if yuo have lived rurally or in a small town you may feel suffocated. I have lived both in Dublin and now am in the West - lots of the smaller airports now have daily links to the UK, my local airport which is only 40 mins away has links to the UK, the Continent (do they still call it that?) and the US.

Yes, Clementine, I think you are right, London would not be the same at all...in many ways it is a hard place to get by in. I envy you to some extent in that I have never had one place that was always home. I moved to Ireland when I was six and was considered the English girl until I moved back to the UK and relaised that I was more Irish, having grown up there for 12 years. Dilemma!

were you in the West when you were in Ireland?