richardbradley

Would be really for grateful for any advice in the following situation:

My wife(irish) and I (english) are looking to move to Irl in Oct - before our baby is due in Jan. Thinking of Laois area as wifes family in Thurles and my job will cover entirity of Ireland with two days a week in dublin (train prefereable to driving).

We are after the best of everything - a rural location v close to a small town, some good pubs/restaurants, decent golf course within 30 mins and decent schools.

We are looking to settle down in one place for a while and make an effort to meet new friends - it is quite daunting abandoning friends in uk and moving to an area, with a new baby, where we know no-one.

Any thoughts on possible areas much appreciated.

Miss Eck

Hi

You could try www.daft.ie - you will find lots on there re housing etc.

JAJ

Once thing to bear in mind is that your child, if born in the Republic of Ireland, will likely be a British citizen by descent and hence this may impact the status of your future grandchildren, if also born outside the United Kingdom.

If by some chance you were not born in the United Kingdom, your child may not be a British citizen automatically.

Your wife might want to think about becoming a British citizen herself, as the opportunity will close once she no longer lives in the United Kingdom.

Londonuck

My cousin lives in Laios having moved from Walkinstown in SW Dublin. She still works in Dublin. The main road is very good by all accounts. I think those commuter areas are quite popular with the housing prices in Dublin so mental. You'll have no trouble making friends im sure.

scrum

Hi, we moved to Laois from the UK 4 years ago and love it. We're in Abbeyleix which is a small town - golf course included, hotel isn't bad, supermarket delivers your groceries if you phone in order.

Two primary schools co-ed which are both excellent. Roughly 2 hrs from Cork and 1.5 hrs from Dublin.

One local bar has come in the top 10 Irish bars for the last number of years.

Not a bad place to live all in all. If you need large shops etc then Newbridge, Portlaoise, Kilkenny, Carlow, Tullamore etc all within and hours drive.

Trish

richardbradley

Thanks to all for info.

JAJ - you musn't be Irish! The fact that you think my wife as an Irish citizen would want to become a UK citizen before we leave is an interesting one. I think shw would rather register as an afghan before being a british citizen.

Don't really care what nationality the child is - looks like it will be an irish citizen with half english half irish parents.

Years ago meant being an irish citizen had the odd downside e.g. had to apply for visas etc when visiting other countries but these days i cant see any benefit, or indeed any benefit me wanting irish citizenship.

scrum

Richard the Afgan really made me giggle but I know what you mean. Both our girls and hubby were born in England but have Irish passports. No problems here if they want to get an English one but I prefer us all travelling with passports from the same country. It just makes life easier.

Trish

JAJ

Her choice obviously, but hard to see why she wanted to spend part of her life living in the United Kingdom if that's what she feels about being British.

Home Office figures show that 115 Irish citizens were registered or naturalised as British citizens in 2006:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0807.pdf (pdf)


If you are a British citizen born or naturalised in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, then the child will be a British citizen regardless of whether or not he or she is also Irish.

Same thing applies, I would have thought. If you choose to settle in the Republic of Ireland and make it your home, why would you not wish to be a citizen rather than a welcome foreigner?

adiestubbs

I am English-born and have two passports (Uk and Ireland) and my mother is Ireland-born and has two passports (Ireland and UK). Dont see why it would be a problem really, unless of course very political and nationalist/republican.

adiestubbs

Doesnt seem to be a very high take up compared to other nations though.

Plus there were nearly 700,000 people who said they were irish in the 2001 census. Admittidly some may have dual citizenship also and this may inc NI Catholics.

JAJ

If your mother was born in the Republic of Ireland and her UK passport is a "British Subject" passport, rather than a British citizen passport, then she should strongly consider applying for registration as a British citizen (if she lives in the UK).

JAJ

The same report concerns research on the tendency to take up British citizenship. According to the statistics, about 25% of Irish citizens in Britain for 20 years or more have done so. It's a low figure compared to those from almost all other nations, but it's a lot higher than zero.

There was a spike in applications for British citizenship from long-term (pre-1973) Irish residents in 1987, just before the expiry of transitional provisions allowing for registration rather than naturalisation. About 10,000 became British citizens at the time. Similar increases came from long-term residents from Commonwealth nations at the time.