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Relocating to Cork

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Mike19
  1/9/2019 13:47 EST

Hello Friends,
I need some advice / tips since I am thinking of relocating to Cork. I have two kids aged 8 and 7 and thinking about moving sometime around July / Aug 19. With your help I hope to get a fairly good picture of what to expect as a new resident.
I plan to stay in the suburbs initially (renting a furnished accommodation) until I find a suitable job and seek admission for my kids in a nearby school.
The questions that come to mind are:
a. What rent should I be looking at (approximately)? Can I stay in a one bedroom or do I have take-up a two bedroom accommodation?
b. I understand schools are free (public schools) or do I have to pay some amount initially and what would be the cost of school transportation in case needed?
c. Approximate average cost of monthly utilities such are water and electricity, groceries, phone bills, etc? Any other costs that I should know of?
d. About medical, is there any coverage for the family being a European citizen and after obtaining my P.P.S. number?
e. What about a bank account. How can I open that?
Would highly appreciate if you could please share any other information that you think might be helpful as this will really help me ensure I have everything or most of the things covered prior to my move.
Thanks in advance.

Joshuak
  1/11/2019 09:26 EST

Suggest you read some of the prior posts regarding moving to Ireland and school for children. There are some concerning Cork if you look. Good luck as there is shortage of housing, and reports that schools seemed to be filled up.

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Mellis5910
  1/11/2019 14:18 EST

Hi Mike - We relocated to Cork two years ago and it;s a great quality of life here. You can find rental apartments in the €650 range for furnished two bedrooms, one bedroom is a bit less. Currently, there isn't a water charge, electric is about €60 per month, phone is €65 for a basic landline and internet. If you shop at Lidl's or Aldi's, you'll be spending about €70 a week. I've posted links to some rentals and school information below. Check Daft,ie for rentals in the west Cork area, Bantry, Skibbereeen and Clonakilty and neighboring villages are a good bet. Primary Schools in West Cork

https://www.schooldays.ie/primary-schools-in-ireland/primary-Cork-West-County


Rentals
APARTMENTS
€650 - 2 bedroom Apartment, W. Cork https://www.daft.ie/cork/apartments-for-rent/rosscarbery/first-floor-apt-1-reenascreena-cross-rosscarbery-cork-1893561/
The closest school would be: https://www.schooldays.ie/school/sn-cill-mhic-abhaidh-rollnumber-11245R

€650 - 2 bedroom apartment, near Clonakilty and beaches: https://www.daft.ie/cork/apartments-for-rent/ownahincha/no4-ownahincha-apartments-ownahincha-cork-1904447/

€850 – Semi-detached house near Skibbereen: https://www.daft.ie/cork/houses-for-rent/drimoleague/coolbawn-drimoleague-cork-1891557/

dbarnwell
  1/14/2019 06:02 EST

Mike19

Why do you wish to live in Ireland? Are you a lover of Irish culture?

Mike19
  1/15/2019 13:00 EST

Thanks very much, Joshua. I will do needful.

Mike19
  1/15/2019 13:13 EST

Thanks very much Mellis for providing a lot of info. I will check out the websites and accordingly make a decision.

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Mike19
  1/15/2019 13:20 EST

Hi dbarnwell,

Actually I've been to Ireland a couple of times on visit and the people are friendly and hospitable. So I hope that my long terms plans also works out.

dbarnwell
  1/15/2019 18:33 EST

Maybe you shouldn't abuse their friendliness and hospitality by arriving as a settler. The country has been hit by a tsunami of foreign migrants, to such an extent that it is predicted that ethnic Irish will be in a minority within a couple decades.

Muddled
  1/15/2019 22:11 EST

@dbarnwell Are your presumptions really necessary? This is an expat forum. Contact your TD or become an Immigration Officer if this is the type of questioning you feel entitled to get answers to.
Are you even an expat in Ireland?

This forum really needs a moderator.

Muddled
  1/16/2019 05:28 EST

That rumour about the "ethnic Irish" was all over the news yesterday
https://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck-project-ireland-2040-ethnic-irish-4440742-Jan2019/?section=comment#comments

According to the Journal (meh), it's an alt-right claim that is unsubstantiated.

FlowerFairy
  1/16/2019 06:28 EST

Frankly I am not impressed with Varadkar's plan for the future. It does not take a Rhodes Scholar to work out where V's millions will be coming from,

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dbarnwell
  1/16/2019 08:19 EST

Muddled
I am an Irish citizen and I most certainly will comment on the tsunami immigration now washing onto our shores. And I will ask no one's permission to do so, least of all a foreigner.
I have been warning about impending demographic disaster for a decade now.
Please don't bother citing internet articles to me. I live in the real Ireland.

dbarnwell
  1/16/2019 08:28 EST

Flower Fairy
Ireland already has a much higher rate of Immigration than the US or Britain. It is common to be in a store or on a bus and be the only Irish person there. Already one baby in three born in Ireland is to a migrant mother. This trend will accentuate.. No other country equals such statistics, and they spell the death of Irish nationality and ethnicity within a few decades. In the light of the coming disaster I am entitled to question people who seek to come as settlers in my country. And no muddled foreign commentator will change that.

FlowerFairy
  1/16/2019 08:44 EST

My mother was Irish (Limerick). I was born in the UK but moved to Belfast when I was 11. My husband and I relocated to Australia in 1971 (for obvious reasons). In 2015/2016 we sold everything and moved to the south west of Ireland hoping to find our retirement home; unfortunately that did not work out and we returned to Australia and started all over again. I completely agree with you regarding the changing face of Ireland (it is happening everywhere; Australia is not immune). I have recently pondered on the fact that certain sections in Irish politics worry about Northern Ireland not being part of Ireland but totally ignore the influx of people who do not integrate and have irreversibly changed the face and culture of Ireland. I am amazed Varadkar is still in office, We are finding it difficult to settle back in Australia but are hesitant in returning to Ireland due to the changing culture.

Joshuak
  1/17/2019 16:54 EST

Muddled: What you are saying is you wish to have a "moderator" that only agrees with your position. Usually that is not the way it works. If you don't care for what I or dbarnwell, or anyone else says, then you have the option of staying quiet or express your own opinion. Remember, people are entitled to their own opinions, but not entitled to their own Facts. The facts matter.

DebAckley
  1/17/2019 20:04 EST

JoshuaK....I just want to let both you and dbarnwell know I appreciate your honest views of living in IE. We had hoped to live/retire there ( I'm dual), but it didn't work. Between a wee bit of homesickness, concerns about health insurance and the insane inability to get a small mortgage from the Irish banks...we came back to the States. So now we go over every year or two. I think so many folks think...I'll just move to IE...without researching. Thank you for the facts...and if I ever hit the lottery ( when I played it)...I may go back...when I'm there it's home. Cheers!
deb

Joshuak
  1/17/2019 21:05 EST

Yes Deb, I am big advocate of long visits but keep your home where you were born and grew up. There are too many family connections in the US now. So go long and often as one can afford and physically stand as we age. As I mentioned before, Ireland had one important export, People !. Back then every Irish mother cranked out 8 or 10 children and off they went when they got old enough to travel alone. The Irish had huge influences throughout the world and especially in the US.
Now that has all changed. One of my Sons and my Daughter are getting their Dual status, but have no intention of permanently living there. Of the seven children that came over to the US with my grandparents , my Mother being one of them, but the whole group only produced 16 children, I being one of them. As far as I know , not one of them has moved to Ireland. Many visit and still do. Best wishes ............. J

dbarnwell
  1/17/2019 22:41 EST

I don't seek to turn this into a discussion on immigration policy. It's for the Irish to decide on that. And I certainly don't want to make the original poster Mike feel bad.
But I do think that people moving to a country need to consider not just the obvious fact that the move will have an effect on the expat. The move will also have an effect on the host country. We seem to be conscious of that in some cases. Take Tahiti. I suspect few people would want the indigenous people of Polynesia to be swamped by an influx of French and others. But those same people wouldn't give a thought to the same process happening in Ireland.
I guess it's about respect for diversity.

Muddled
  1/18/2019 07:58 EST

A moderator is needed here so the posters stay on topic. I am an expat in Ireland and I came here to share a forum with other ex-pats or folks who are considering moving to my host country. In the past couple of years there have been posters on here who make it more about their political ideals than anything expat-related. I frequently ignore posts I don't agree with, but as of late some of the comments are SO off topic and the tone so negative and nasty it is quite disheartening, and an abuse of the forum I believe. Please don't presume you know why I feel a moderator is necessary as you are quite incorrect in your assumption. I am on several forum and expat sites and this appears to be the only one without a moderator.

dbarnwell
  1/18/2019 13:01 EST

Muddled
The only poster I see here with a negative and bitter tone is YOU.

It is quite extraordinary, indeed downright rude to your host country, that you think ex pats should not be conscious of the opinions of citizens of the host country. That's colonialism. So far all I have seen from your posts is that bullying tone. Have some respect for what people in your host country think.

The Irish are open, easygoing and hospitable. Don't abuse that. And be careful about what you wish for as regards a moderator. I suspect you'd be the first poster a moderator would ban!

dbarnwell
  1/18/2019 13:11 EST

Deb
Sorry it didn't work out for you.
You sound like you would have been a valuable addition to Ireland.
I don't know if this is relevant to you, but any middle-aged (however defined?!) person should be aware that Irish banks operate strict limits as regards the age by which you must pay off a mortgage. I think it's 65 for most, some might go to 70.
So anyone in their 50s will find it hard to get a loan. I knew a lady in her 70s who got a mortgage in the USA.!

Muddled
  1/18/2019 13:58 EST

I am also an Irish citizen. Thank you

Mellis5910
  1/18/2019 14:00 EST

I agree with Muddled. I think it would be good to have a moderator to keep things focused and tidy on this site. Keeping things linear and positive isn't a bad thing. The personal attacks and rudeness on here aren't helpful at all. It's fine to warn people of the culture shock they may experience, yadda,yadda,yadda, but it has lost the friendly tone it had for years...which is a such a damn shame.

Mellis5910
  1/18/2019 14:00 EST

I agree with Muddled. I think it would be good to have a moderator to keep things focused and tidy on this site. Keeping things linear and positive isn't a bad thing. The personal attacks and rudeness on here aren't helpful at all. It's fine to warn people of the culture shock they may experience, yadda,yadda,yadda, but it has lost the friendly tone it had for years...which is a such a damn shame.

Muddled
  1/19/2019 06:27 EST

@Meliss5910 - Well said, as were the estimates you gave Mike (OP) of costs of living. Outside Cork city rents have increased like everywhere else, but if one can go a good bit out (I live in west Cork) rents are a bit more manageable.
And when the sun shines it's like heaven!!

dbarnwell
  1/19/2019 16:02 EST

Mellis
Did someone warn about 'culture shocks they may experience"?

What post was that? I saw no such thing recently, Could you direct me to it?

Mellis5910
  1/19/2019 18:49 EST

@Muddled -Yes, West Cork was absolutely gorgeous today! The sun was an unexpected gift, so I drove to the beach to enjoy it and do a little photography. Wish we could post photos here to share. There's a lot to be said for living in rural Ireland, not only are living expenses cheaper but it has some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.

FlowerFairy
  1/19/2019 19:18 EST

Can't argue with that! If the sun had shone a little more we would still be there. The 16 months we were there we were told time and time again that the weather was the wettest in years! Wish we had been there summer of 2018!

Mellis5910
  1/20/2019 06:35 EST

@Flower Fairy - 2018 was an incredible summer with so little rain there were actually water restrictions. By all accounts, 2019 will be similar. It is so great to just drive around, enjoying the natural world and the incredible beauty found around every bend in the road. Why not give it another shot, Flower?

dbarnwell
  1/20/2019 08:49 EST

Muddled "I am also an Irish citizen".

Yes, the Irish naturalisation system is the laxest in Europe.
No test of knowledge of Ireland, its history, constitution or culture. No requirement to show profiency in either English or Irish.
No medical exam. Short residence requirement--5 years, 3 in some cases.

The government regularly puts on Moonie-style Mass Naturalisation ceremonies, at which thousands of migrants are given Irish Citizenship.

Muddled
  1/20/2019 09:22 EST

Oh dear......who said I was naturalised? You know what they say about assumptions, but, carry on, you appear to be enjoying yourself and giving quite a show.

Mellis5910
  1/20/2019 11:10 EST

This website was created to be a way of HELPING those who seek information about living in a foreign country. If you can't be courteous and helpful, why be here? Ego? This isn't a personal blogging opprtunity nor a place to repeatedly posture and badger other posters.

A little banter back and forth is fun, when it gets ugly it is quite counter productive. And before anyone gets accusatory, yes, I'm an Irish citizen. I've been active here for many, many years.

Here's a quote from Expat Exchange about the thesis behind the website: 'Our site was founded upon the belief that Expats are their own greatest resource." Our community of expats has grown from thousands to hundreds of thousands. It is the expats themselves who are to thank for our successful growth. We are grateful for each expat who reaches out to help another expat or someone preparing to make the move. Whether you recommend a local school, offer advice about apartment hunting or support someone facing culture shock, we sincerely thank you for your efforts.'

FlowerFairy
  1/20/2019 14:32 EST

House on the market; thinking about it.

dbarnwell
  1/20/2019 19:29 EST

Muddled....
"Who said I was naturalised?"

Don't know.

Who said you were naturalised?

Pretty dumb thing to say about you, since we know nothing about you.

Muddled
  1/21/2019 08:15 EST

@Mike19 A TV licence is another expense to be aware of. I pay mine monthly, which is easy to set up with An Post https://www.tvlicence.ie/Homepage.aspx

Also while I can highly recommend west Cork as a good place to live, there are far fewer job opportunities than in an urban area such as Cork; I highly recommend Cork !! It has come on leaps and bounds since I moved here many years ago. Some say it's Ireland's second city.

I wish you well.

Mike19
  2/2/2019 14:50 EST

Hi Muddled,

Thanks so much for you response and the best wishes. I really appreciate it!

Best Regards,

Mario.

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