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Advice on moving to Ireland

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ausinireland
  2/1/2017 22:10 EST

So we are considering a move to Ireland , we are from australia husband though is British/German/Australian so we won't need any visas for him and for me it would be the visa for european spouses. But we'd like to have an idea on people's experiences of moving to Ireland good and bad although bad I would like it to be specific ie bad because of work/schools/renting.
We especially would like to hear of people's opinions on what the work would be like for a radiographer ie is there enough work.

Experiences in relation to children going to high school (we have a 15yr) what your opinions of the school system over there.

Your experiences in terms of renting how hard/easy is it, how many months in advance would a landlord/real estate be looking for from an immigrant.

Also how good is the public healthcare is would we need to go private, just more looking at dental and just general health issues ie going to a local gp.

And just any other advice people could give us.

We are hoping that the UK could be our first choice but Ireland is our second choice as we really want to experience living in Europe and be able to give our son an experience of still exploring Europe.

FlowerFairy
  2/1/2017 22:25 EST

Hi if you check out my contributions on this forum you will get my slant on our experience in Ireland but we do not have children. We were hoping to retire. We are dual British/Australian citizens. We spent 16 months in Ireland but are now back in Australia. The bottom line for us was the weather it was too aggressive (rain, rain, rain) and the dysfunctional real estate system finally defeated us. We were mainly based in South West Cork on The Sheeps Head Peninsula, the scenery was stunning and Kenmare too in Co. Kerry is a great place. Renting accommodation is difficult; be sure you check out the BER rating as utilities are expensive. We found the medical system good (Bantry Medical Centre), very caring though we are in good health for our ages. My understanding is a Medical Card is means tested. We miss a lot of aspects of Ireland and would like to be closer to Europe for holidays etc. In fact I wanted to retire in Italy but that did not work out. We returned to Australia in June 2016 and have bought a house but finding settling back Downunder quite difficult. Boring and too far away. Good Luck in your quest. Everyone's experience is different.

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mmccrane
  2/2/2017 00:47 EST

Hi FlowerFairy - I know this is a Ireland forum but would very much appreciate, as perhaps many of the readers here might as well, what your experience of trying to move to Italy was like. You noted it did not work out. Any color on the topic would be great!
My wife and I have traveled Italy and of course it is very enchanting with the culture, history and natural beauty.

Best,
Mike

FlowerFairy
  2/2/2017 03:38 EST

Mike, I have to confess that it all became too hard. We travelled through Rome, Amalfi Coast, Orvieto, Florence and surrounding areas, Verona, Venice for a month in September 2014 and was totally overawed and this confirmed my desire to live there. The food, lifestyle, language, surrounded by history was awesome. When we were in Ireland we travelled across to Ostuni and had a look at the area and a few properties. We thought the climate would suit us better than the north due to having lived in Australia for 45 years. Unfortunately this area did not inspire us as did the North. Our main problem was that due to living in Australia for so many years we did not travel over the years to Italy. Unlike many UK/Irish people who can just hop across and spend time there and after a time know where they want to live, for us it would have been like putting a pin in a map. I was tempted to do so but our ages mid and late 60s, with very limited resources, without speaking Italian it all became too overwhelming. To be honest we could not afford to make a mistake. If we had had say, another $100,000, we may have taken a chance. I have to say though that now we are back in Australia and on the surface have purchased a very nice property in a very nice area, we are going mad with boredom. We have started thinking/saying perhaps we made too rushed a decision to return Downunder. Our problem in Ireland was the cost of rental accommodation - the whole of the 16 months was spent moving between holiday accommodation (though we did manage to secure 6 months at winter rates which helped a lot) and trying to find a property to buy (I have said plenty on this forum about the dysfunctional real estate system in Ireland) but when again we were faced to move on due to the start of the high holiday season in Ireland we had to make a decision whether to keep spending our diminishing resources or return to the 'comfort' of Australia (i.e. we know the areas, know how Australia society works, etc). Case in point, we arrived back in Australia 12 June, signed a contract to purchase 27 June and took possession of our current house on 12 August. You would need a miracle to accomplish that in Ireland. The other contributing factor that tipped us over the edge was the thousands of illegals flooding into Italy and the general political situation in EU, threat of terrorism etc. Bottom line though is I feel Italy is unfinished business and until now never had a regret in my entire life but not achieving Italy will remain the one and (hopefully) the only regret I will have to live with. I am finding it difficult to resolve in my mind though. Even my husband has started looking at Italian properties again but unless someone we know lives there and we can visit and get the true lie of the land I think we are stuck here in what is often termed the 'retirement village' called Australia. Australia has given us a good life (since leaving Northern Ireland in 1971) and is in many ways a beautiful country but now in retirement we are finding it very boring. We dream of strolling through the cobblestones, surrounded by history, stopping for a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Valporicella or Prosecco surrounded by la vita bella! Here all people talk about is price of property, what type of car you own, what you did, etc etc - you get the picture. Better stop, I am depressing myself! On the surface most people would say what on earth is she complaining about - most of Ireland would change places with us - but......One last thing, Australia is just too far away and expensive to travel. One cannot just hop on a plane and head to Italy for a few nights or a week. Enough! Not sure all of that shed any light on the topic! Cheers

DebAckley
  2/3/2017 20:57 EST

I totally agree. We tried to retire there too ( I have dual citizenship), the real estate and trying to get a mortgage from the banks was impossible. They wouldn't count our pensions, etc as income. We miss Ireland, but not having a place to set our roots down, we are back in NY. We lucked out renting, but 1000 euros a month was dear....and trying to find another rental was tough in the Kenmare area. Best of luck!

DebAckley
  2/3/2017 21:00 EST

Would have moving to NI have been any different.? My grandfather was born in Belfast until he left for the States in 1912. We loved the West and we really wanted to be there....Co Kerry especially....we are back in NY and will be here and go back to traveling when we can afford it.

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ausinireland
  2/3/2017 21:09 EST

Thanks....it doesn't seem like there's a lot of different advice out there so it's kind of hard to decide cos our situation isn't because of retirement because my husband will be working and so will I if I can get a job.

I'm thinking if things fall through with the UK we could try it for 12mths and see how we go and then maybe re try later for the UK....We'd consider Germany if we spoke the language

FlowerFairy
  2/4/2017 00:37 EST

We left Belfast, NI in 1971, went back once 1975/76 and not again until we had a quick visit when in Ireland in 2016....hated it. We found it very depressing though not sure if that was due to the associations we had before we left, etc. But then on the other hand, friends we know who went to Canada a couple of years after we left for Australia, have just sold up and are looking for a place to buy in Belfast so, each person's experience is different. But there is no doubt the people of the North and South are different. We very much liked Kenmare/ Glengarriff as places to live.

FlowerFairy
  2/4/2017 00:42 EST

If you can manage (afford) to go for 12 months that would be excellent. It would be a great experience and as everyone finds life different, only you can decide if it works for you. The one thing you must try and avoid is regret. Even though our plan did not work out we have no regrets whatsoever as we can say we tried and we managed some travel while in that part of the world (Israel, Altea, Barcelona, Prague, Cuba, Ostuni). We also had great enjoyment taking in a few Irish festivals (eg Baltimore Fiddle Fare). All you have in old age are memories and there is nothing worse than thinking "what if?" so go for it!

ausinireland
  2/4/2017 00:47 EST

That's true and it would definitely be something I would avoid. I'd be looking to ensure we get to know people in the community. And to make the most of our time while in Ireland.

Meachair54
  2/5/2017 07:59 EST

Hello Ausinireland , wish you the best of luck in your families new endeavor . If I were you I would go to Education.ie for info on schooling if that doesn't help in all your queries there's a section to ask a query, still not satisfied there's blogs on Ire. education system. As far as moving to Ire. go to the INIS.gov.ie for info on getting the proper entry stamp into the country. To find out about rentals and buying you can get a broad feel of real estate costs, of course there are other sites also . There is nothing like making the trip to get a feel for where you want to reside. Your employment background is highly sought after I know, II was in that field in the U.S. look to see if you can be sponsored by the company who employs you now if not go back to the INIS site for more info. As far a getting info from this site a majority of the folks here are of retirement age and most are cynical of Ire. either because they couldn't get residency in Ire. Or if they did , they were turned away by banks attempting to secure mortgages , they couldn't because of age, plus pensions , investments and social security does not qualify. Also I believe by age 66 the mortgage must be satisfied. These situations tend to change most folks opinions and find all the negatives. About the country, if that isn't enough, they blame the weather! So I can't emphasize enough to do your due diligence on the subject yourself, good luck!

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Meachair54
  2/5/2017 08:05 EST

Hello Ausinireland , wish you the best of luck in your families new endeavor . If I were you I would go to Education.ie for info on schooling if that doesn't help in all your queries there's a section to ask a query, still not satisfied there's blogs on Ire. education system. As far as moving to Ire. go to the INIS.gov.ie for info on getting the proper entry stamp into the country. To find out about rentals and buying you can get a broad feel of real estate costs, of course there are other sites also . There is nothing like making the trip to get a feel for where you want to reside. Your employment background is highly sought after I know, II was in that field in the U.S. look to see if you can be sponsored by the company who employs you now if not go back to the INIS site for more info. As far a getting info from this site a majority of the folks here are of retirement age and most are cynical of Ire. either because they couldn't get residency in Ire. Or if they did , they were turned away by banks attempting to secure mortgages , they couldn't because of age, plus pensions , investments and social security does not qualify. Also I believe by age 66 the mortgage must be satisfied. These situations tend to change most folks opinions and find all the negatives. About the country, if that isn't enough, they blame the weather! So I can't emphasize enough to do your due diligence on the subject yourself, good luck!

Meachair54
  2/5/2017 08:10 EST

Ausinireland , excuse me I mistakenly omitted the real estate sites I used , Daft.ie and MyHome.ie of course there are others but I found these most helpful, once again good luck !!!!

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