Canada Bob

Thanks for the above SQ, I'm making a list, and checking it twice :-)

Might even nip across as early as this coming week, I'll have to check the ferries from Liverpool as we intend to bring the car over.

If I go into quiet mode then you'll know where I am :-)

Canada Bob.

crazydaisy

Hi there - the ferry from Liverpool takes a gob smacking 8 hours. Holyhead in Wales is a shorter hop although it's another 90 miles down the road! (The ferry from Holyhead to Dublin takes 99 mins by fast boat or 3 hrs by slow boat).

marcecie

hi CB,
if you are coming to the west why not fly direct Liverpool to Galway car hire is not expensive at this time of year also check out Knock airport I think BMI baby is doing flights from liverpool
www.galwayairport.com
www.knockairport.com
www.shannonairport.com
we west of Ireland people are a friendly bunch
M

crazydaisy

Hi there - Ryanair are doing cheap flights too from Liverpool. To get to Knock I think you have to fly from London, Luton or Stansted (if using Ryanair) but you can get to Shannon, Dublin and Cork from Liverpool.

Miss Eck

If it is a relatively relaxed lifestle you are after, I would say avoid Sligo town! I am from Sligo, a place called Enniscrone which borders Mayo. I left there when I was 18 and then Sligo town was a lovely peaceful place. It is now full of students that are habitual drug users and it can get quite rowdy at weekends. I have been back almost every year since I have left and rarely frequent Sligo town.

I kinda understand a little bit where you are coming from with the English bashing, but Irish people tend to say alot of things as a joke but with a very serious face!! I certainly found that the older generation were a little less tolerant of the English but people in their 20'/30's/40's seem to be more tolerant, especially those that have travelled the globe. Certain towns/villages are well used to tourists and are more accepting. Maybe it these sorts of areas you need to consider if you think you will get abuse. Where I grew up we had return visitors from Germany, US, UK and various other parts of Europe and they were always welcomed.

Irish people do stick together and it is just a case of breaking into a group and I am sure once you do then, like someone else said, you will be warmly welcomed.

As for places, Donegal has some great scenery. Carrick-on-Shannon (Leitrim) is beautiful and if I were to return to Ireland that would be top of my list. I opened the Gulf News a few days ago and it was listing top cities around the globe to visit. Galway was one of them! 2 of my sisters have lived their for the last 4 or 5 years and love it.

If you do make it to Enniscrone and like a round of golf, check out the famous golf course. Hugh Grant played there last summer. I don't remember him getting any stick for being English .. well, not from the ladies anyhow!

If you are not already there, then I can highly recommend the drive down from Dublin to Sligo - you past thru some nice places and will go thru Carrick-on-Shannon as well.

Hope you have a great time.

dingodog

Hi Snowqueen - I envy you going to Canada. It's a great country for those who love the outdoors. I have a query you may be able to answer. My son is just completing his A levels here in the UK. I am thinking of relocating to the West of Ireland because I have a half-share in an old house in Roscommon (my mum and dad were Irish). The plan is to buy the cousins out and do the old place up. If my son came over, would he be eligible to go to University in Ireland? If so, what kind of costs are involved?
All the best Dingodog

BigDavyG

Check it out with your lea regarding costs - it is common for students from the UK to go to irish uni's.
That said, if you are living in Roscommon you son will prob be away in uni halls somewhere anyway, so why not just let him study in the UK and he can fly over to see you at weekends - flights are dirt cheap anyway.

dingodog

many thanks for the input - still considering options but he likes the idea of Irish Uni, particularly Galway (plus he has a couple of fancyable cousins who will also be going to Uni about the same time!)

dingodog

[QUOTE=dingodog]many thanks for the input - still considering options but he likes the idea of Irish Uni, particularly Galway (plus he has a couple of fancyable cousins who will also be going to Uni about the same time!). More seriously, I would like him to adopt some of the work ethic for study I see in Irish students. In the UK it seems that it's "cool" to do as little work as possible to barely get through exams. I was listening to Irish radio in the car a couple of Saturdays ago and was amazed to hear a forum being broadcast which advised students on techniques to tackle their Leaving Certificate. The lecturers were so enthusiastic about their subjects and the live audience of students so responsive, that I pulled over to listen - the subject was the honour maths paper, which I found incomprehensible, but the lecturer giving the advice was a natural radio personality and I found the whole thing totally uplifting. It seems in Ireland, the Leaving Certificate has retained it's credibility and is worth striving for.

BigDavyG

[QUOTE=dingodog] Leaving certs may be a more credible exam that the A-level, but only by virtue of the A-levels diminishing value which makes a place at a good uni even more important.
As for your bit about the radio show - they are hardly going to get students with no interest in exams to turn up for the audience, now are they.

john+avie

Hi,read ya thread with interst! Firstly I`m an englishman(albeit with Irish ancestry on both sides), made my mind up to emigrate to Ireland in summer,wondered how brits are recieved there???? Also Canada,although bloody cold,is making a lot of offers to certain trades(incentives,help buying homes etc.) Check it out with the Canadian Authorites as to what help,financial/ other your entiteled to,all the best,John

Canada Bob

I guess Canada is cold in winter, except for B.C. they don't get much snow there, well at least not in the Victoria & Vancouver districts. Mind you I've walked the dog when it's been -35C in Ontario & Quebec, but you get used to it, didn't seem to bother the dog :-)

What's that about financial help ? I know that Ontario would give a grant of up to 40% of the price of a house some 20 odd years ago, a non repayable thing, you won't get that in the Untidy Kingdon :-(

But I haven't heard that any of the Provinces were back at that game ?

It certainly helped thousands of folks and the building trade in Ontario years ago...

Canada Bob.

tucs

did not realise it was so cold over there.
tell the dog it barely gets below freezing over here so he wont be sticking to any lamp posts. But remind him to bring an umbrella

crazydaisy

I must admit - it seems strange commenting on walking the dog at - 35 C but I have experienced that too and you're right it doesn't seem at all bad! The dryness of the cold here makes such a difference. My dog did struggle once it got below about -25 with her paws, so she used to try and pee with 2 paws in the air - quite funny to watch! I got her some boots but they kept getting plucked off in the snow and I would have to go digging in the snow once she comes back with only 3 - bless!

Canada Bob

Dog walking at -35 is a breeze, well for a decent sized dawg, mine was a Lab Retriever, weighing in at around 80lbs, so he had lots of mass to keep him warm, he never even flinched when it got so cold that the snow creaked as you walked on it, so cold there just couldn't be any dampness, it was more like walking on salt...

As for me... I had hiking boots on, ski pants, a ski type jacket with a hood, a neoprene face mask, ski googles and ice climbers neoprene gloves.

If you didn't have the face mask on you'd freeze your face within minutes, but geared up as above we'd be out for an hour or more...

The snow was really dry, I used to leap into snow drifts to hide from Sam, and I'd be covered in snow, but when he'd found me I'd climb out and the snow would just drop right off, and you'd be dry as a bone...

Worst weather we ever went out in was -42C with a wind chill that took it to
around -50C that was BAD... we didn't stay out long in that, around 20 minutes was well enough...

Bigger the dog more they can tolerate it, think of the sled dogs, they aren't all huskies, and some of them prefer to sleep out in -40C all night, if you feed them well they can cope with it... just don't try it with a 15lb dog...

Canada Bob.