snert

Hi everyone,

I currently live in the UK with my husband and 5 kids, husband works for local water company as a waste water operator and was wondering what the chances were of him finding work doing the same thing ?

Also after a lot of research i have seen that lots of people think it's expensive (although i have been tallying it up and it seems about the same).

Would love to hear info both positive and negative about anyone's experiences who have also done this

I have done a fair amount of research and have fell in love with the idea of being there so i hope someone can help.

Many thanks

JAJ

Presume you mean the Republic of Ireland?

You might get more pointers if you say what in particular attracts you to the country and if there's any particular area you are interested in.



Jeremy

snert

Sorry (i am new to this)

yes i mean the Republic of Ireland,

we are currently looking at the outskirt of Cork or Dublin because of work also there was a job adverised in Kilkenny (sorry can't give an exact location as that's as that is all it said)

We love the idea of living there because of the countryside and the easy going pace of life and the culture.

JAJ

Presume all the family are British citizens? If so, just get British passports and you're ok in terms of visa status. If not then you may have to sort out British nationality before leaving the UK.

Others on the forum who live there will comment in more detail, however as far as I'm aware the Republic of Ireland is almost as different to the UK as countries like Australia and Canada are. In other words, despite superficial similarities, it's quite a different country with its own history, culture, financial system etc.

There are some specific issues you'll need to think about in advance. Education is important, most schools in the Republic of Ireland are controlled by the Roman Catholic church and if this isn't to your liking you'll need to work out how to get your children into one of the relatively few non-Roman Catholic schools there. On top of that, your children may well have to learn the Irish language and will get an "Irish" point of view on subjects like history and geography.

Healthcare: the Republic of Ireland doesn't have a fully comprehensive health service like the NHS in the UK, so this could well cost you more money.

Cost of Living: Check out the prices of property which I understand are quite high. Also, look at car prices, by all accounts taxes on cars are higher in the Republic of Ireland compared to the UK.


If you would like to live on the island of Ireland, but not have to deal with some of the issues involved with living in a foreign country, then you could look at Northern Ireland.


Either way, I'd suggest you take a holiday there before thinking of a move. http://www.irlgov.ie is the government portal for the Republic of Ireland, you can also look at http://www.oasis.gov.ie



Jeremy

andrew63

Hi
I did that for 9 years as my wife is Irish. I would never have thought of going there otherwise!
However, a truly great move. Absoultely adored the country, lifestyle and people.
Getting jobs can be tough but not sure about your profession.
Jeremy is right (as normal!) that schooling is far easier if you/your kids are Catholic as that is the way the country is biased. The kids get taught Irish language at School but can drop once they elect subjects later in but passing exams in the language is necessary for some jobs (police, teachers etc - but this is changing). I would say 98% of the country speak English as the first langauge but they want to retain their identity hence the schooling.
The kids at school will learn all about how the nasty English people did horrible things to them and totally ignore English history, global history etc. Just something to be wary of but no problem really.

I would say Ireland is expensive. Basic income tax rate is 46%, VAT is 21%. If you go, take your car with you as they are very expensive over there. Insurance is horrendous too as is the quality of driving. Ireland being the only country in the first world where you can drive alone with just a learners licence.
No NHS so all health care you have to pay for (or get insurance). I could never understand why my GP would charge 30 euro for seeing my 4-year old son when I pointed out he was unemployed (unemployed get free treatment).

Now living in Australia and I say Australia and Ireland are very alike in so many ways. Culture, people and expense! The only difference is the weather. Queensland has 300 days of sunshine a year, Ireland has 300 days of rain!

However, if I ever had to leave Australia, I would certainly head back to Ireland and no the UK.
It's a great place - I would say go for it!

Andrew

snowqueen

Hi Snert

I would echo a lot of what others above had said, though I think JAJ paints a somewhat gloomy picture! Kilkenny is a LOVELY city and if you could get a job there then you'd be well set up - great size (not big!), very buzzy and artsy and pretty countryside. Cork and its hinterland is also appealing.

Most of the jobs however are likley to be in the Dublin area, and this is where you will run into th most expense in terms of housing etc. It is growing (and sprawling) at an amazing rate, and with that come infrastructure problems, traffic etc. It really depends on which part of the city you need to be in as to whether or not it will a pleasurable experience for you and your family! (I should add that childcare costs here are horrendous too).

As for the cost of stuff, I go back to the UK regularly and find groceries etc much cheaper there, even taking into account the exchange rate which is not in our favour. Some other things are much the same but our VAT rate (21% as mentioned before) tends to bump up the cost of a lot of stuff and things like car tax are much more.

As for health, well there is actuallly a health service here, we're not like the US yet! and if you are critically injured and need to go to hospital it will be free-ish and you will get excellent care. However most people do have private health insurance if they can due to waiting lists etc.

GP care is however as Andrew said, NOT free, and at my last visit I paid 57 euro (gone up since you left, Andrew!) plus you have to pay the pharmacy the full price for all drugs etc. It's a costly business being ill here which is why we are all stoically healthy in this family!

All stuff for you to consider. Culturallly it is different in sublte ways, but in many ways its very familiar. After all, the Brits were here opressinng the Irish for 800 years, so some of the systems etc have stuck.

Ironically in new modern independent Ireland, the Brits are once again returning in a different guise - with their River Islands, Marks and Spencers and Boots the chemists and no town in Ireland is complete these days without its Tesco and Argos! So maybe not that different afer all!

I would say come and spend a bit of time here - don't romanticise about what you think Ireland is going to be like. The last time I looked, the leprechauns had all left for America ....(wink).

Snowqueen

tucs

agree with everything said here. I am here over 16 years now and have enjoyed every minute. i am planning to move to perth in the summer and i am Sorry to say i would not miss the UK one bit. if i fall flat on my face i would be back here like a shot. great place for kids. Yes stuff is more expensive but quality of life is great. drink is an expensive hobby. Other than that i would highly recomend it.

best of luck

andrew63

Just to add too, Kilkenny is a great place and one I would consider moving too!
Took many a holiday there!
I think there are 107 pubs in Kilkenny. Most in Ireland in one square mile (something like that!)
Sure that may have changed with the no smoking law which has decimated pub trade which is a shame but a small price to pay for a healthier lifestyle.

57 euro for the GP now. Still annoying that my unemployed children had to pay!

Andrew

tucs

i wonder how many of those 107 pubs you have been into. Did you check them all while you was there? just for research pruposes of course

snert

Many thanks for the replies.

I have been looking into my husband working in the same industry and it would appear(please let me know if i'm wrong) that the council has control of the water like it used to be here before they privatised it. I'm not sure if that is going to pose a problem in regards to him gaining employment before we go or if he would be able to do something else until they were recruiting.

I don't work as childcare would work out expensive here for us, maybe we could have a role reversal if we go...lol
Lucky for us we don't get sick that often (fingers crossed it stays that way)

Maybe we should go for 6 months and take it from there, but i really don't like the thought of uprooting the kids and then having to do it again if we come back.

andrew63

Many things in Ireland are like England of old, i.e., yes, the water is run by the council. There is no rates, council tax, Nat Ins or anything like that. Just a high basic rate of 46% that the govt divvies out to the local concils as necessary.
They were starting to fit water meters in new houses when I left in 2004 but already the public are refusing to ever pay!
They did privatise the rubbish collection, about 100 - 200 euro / year - depending upon council. But again, a lot of people refuse to pay and their rubbish still gets colected.
Personally, I would be applying for the job that your hubby wants BEFORE leaving England. To go over for an interview would only take a couple of hours and no big deal.
It may look better if you had an Irish address on your application, maybe even get an Irish SIM/mobile too.

Andrew

snowqueen

Watch this. We DO have PRSI which is like national insurance and can take quite a heft chunk out of your paypacket.

SQ

Batty

Hi. Just to clear up one point - 46% tax is the HIGHEST tax band. You pay 20% UP TO €38,000 and the higher percentage over that amount. I also think it's NOT 46% - it was 42% (I'm 99% sure) when I was leaving last June.

The Children's allowance (family allowance?) is also very good and something you're entitled to as soon as you're a resident.

BTW, Kilkenny is absolutely brilliant - it's a medieval city with loads of narrow streets and wonderful architecture. Something else the nasty English left us LOL If you wanted to live in Cork, Kilkenny would be too far to drive every day. It's not the distance so much as the traffic - there's hardly a town in Ireland now that doesn't have rush hour traffic.

When you're looking for jobs - look for the "County Councils". Every county has a website and you'll usually get a link from there.

Good luck.

crazydaisy

Hi there - the link for tax rates is http://www.revenue.ie/budget/budget2006/income_06.htm#2 (for 2006)

Schools are becoming more geared up for pupils from other countries and religions and you can also opt out of Irish language studies under certain rules. http://www.oasis.gov.ie/education/pr...rom_irish.html

Also it's good fun checking out houses for rent and buy to see what sort of income you'd need as housing is often the most expensive monthly outgoing. My personal fave. is www.daft.ie and I love the email option where you can let them know what you're looking for, where and how much and they'll email you when something comes up. Cool!

snert

thanks again for the reply's i have looked at the tax rate and hubby has been applying for work (haven't heard anything back as yet). We are now looking into him applying for security jobs as he used to do them here and was also in the British Army, hoping it helps there as much as it does here when it comes to security work. Any input would be a great help.

The international schools that have been mentioned, do you have to pay for those ? I know that you can ask for permission to opt out of Irish but not sure if that is a good idea either.

We are planning on going over in a couple of months to have a look round, maybe if we are lucky we can get a couple of job interviews set up for the same time.

Also how would we be able to open a bank account when we got there, do they ask for a previous address and does it matter that the previous address was in the UK?