Pros and cons of relocating from Scotland to Northern Ireland with baby

[YourDeepLemonLemur]

me my partner and 4 month old baby currently live in Scotland however he has been offered a promotion in work however this requires re-location to Northern Ireland can anyone give me some pros and cons of moving to Northern Ireland

Do you know where his job is located?

It is located in Belfast

Political divide

Think you'd do much better asking on the Irish board here OP.

Craicnet or something....

I grew up there.

Lovely country, great people, beautiful nature. pity about the politics

Gorgeous coastline, great countryside, friendly people, best education in UK for your little one.

I’m from here but lived in London for 15 years before moving home with my English dh and dc. I would say Scotland is more similar to NI compared to London, but we have never regretted the move. We live 10 minutes outside Belfast in a town by the coast. Value for money in terms of housing and better schools are the biggest pluses. The people are friendly, tons of sports and other activities available. Beautiful coastline and countryside.

yea the politics is shit but tbh it’s shit in every part of the uk. My dh has no interest in politics so doesn’t watch the news or read papers and he’s oblivious largely!

my dc is doing incredibly well at school (a grammar) and loves going to school.

As PP above, I am from here, but spent over 20 years away in Scotland, England and USA. We moved back (from Scotland) mainly for educational purposes for our DC and wouldn’t be anywhere else. All our DC (all older teens or adults now) have said it’s the best decision we have ever made.

We had a great life when we lived in different places before, and especially during an ex-pat role in the US, but this feels like home for all of us despite me being the only one actually from here. We’re now in the last few years of having DC in schools, with the eldest both away at uni, but they have every intention of returning here and raising their own families here because they see how good it is. As with the poster above, they have all genuinely loved their schools and the quality of education is second to none. It is equivalent or better than private education in Scotland in terms of quality (better) and resources/facilities/extra curriculars (equivalent).

Yes, the politics are same old-same old, and the NHS here is a mess, but I’d take the nonsense here over the SNP’s destruction of Scotland any day, and while the NHS here is definitely an issue, I am not convinced that other home nations aren’t heading the same way in the next few years anyway.

People are far friendlier and more accepting here of ‘outsiders’ than we ever found in Scotland. (DH assimilated and was accepted in Scotland but I never was - it seems my NI accent was a step too far for a lot of people - where we lived there were a lot of English people so perhaps that’s why DH was more accepted than I was)

It’s also just accessible - nowhere in the country is more than 2hrs drive away and you can get to Scotland/England/Wales easily on ferry or plane. Going abroad you have the option of Belfast or Dublin (also only 2hrs drive from us) to fly in and out of, and for us, getting to the US is now easier than it was in Scotland as we fly out of Dub and clear US customs before we leave.

One of our DC is also at uni in Dublin and that is a much easier option if you live here than if you are in Scotland as you are entitled to student loans for studying in the ROI if you’re from the north, whereas in Scotland/England/Wales you have to be self-funded.