Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

G'day! We are a dual-national Australian/ UK couple (60 and 63 years old) who wish to retire to Southern Ireland in April / May 2025. For the last 14 years, we have resided in the UK. We have many questions about the process from pension entitlements, recommended relocation companies, moving with pets, good locations when buying a house, etc! Also, our 26-year-old daughter will be coming to live with us. She intends to do a Master's Degree in Marine zoology when we settle in Ireland.
To start the ball rolling:

1. Can anyone out there advise us on the Pension situation as to whether we can get a UK pension once we have moved to Ireland and is this as straightforward as we've heard?
2. A trickier question is would we be able to claim the Australian aged pension in Ireland ? We know that there is a social security agreement between Australia and Ireland

We would be most grateful for any advice or direction
with thanks
Julie and Kevin

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

Others will have more details on living in Ireland, but in the meantime, yes, you will be able to claim UK State Pension in Ireland when you get to that age, depending of course on what you have paid into the UK system.
As regards the Australian State Pension though, firstly its means-tested (unlike the UK one) and secondly I believe you need to be resident in Australia when you start to claim it. Details of the Aus one are here -
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au...?context=22526

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

You can check your UK pension forcast website, https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension .
Also, you should seriously consider toping up your UK pension by buying missing years.

Many would be moving another way around, but hey.

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

Just a little heads up...it's the Republic of Ireland, not Southern Ireland.;)

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

Thanks for all your replies.

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

I've heard "Southern Ireland" often among older people in England. I think they use Southern Ireland as opposed to Northern Ireland.

In Ireland, Southern Ireland would almost certainly refer to the South of Ireland, and be used geographically only.

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

Just call it Ireland, and FWIW the six counties are either that, or "the North".

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

So far I've heard:

Northern Ireland
The North
Ulster
The Six Occupied Counties

Re: Australian UK dual national couple moving to Southern Ireland HELP!HEL
 

OK, best I can..... how does the phrase go? "It's complicated...."
- Northern Ireland is the official name of the gerrymandered statelet created to ensure a permanent unionist majority in the six counties (that plan has failed).
- The North (with or without capital "n") is what it's called elsewhere on the island. Daft name as the most northern part (Donegal) isn't in "the North".
- Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland (the others are Munster, Leinster and Connacht). BUT, Ulster has 9 counties, only six are in "the North".
- The six counties is another term used elsewhere in Ireland to be non-political. "Occupied" suggests a republican viewpoint and isn't entirely true.

Hpefully, in time, this confusion will be amicably resolved and the whole island will once again be Ireland, a 32-county state - and we can get back to our old inter-provincial bickering without the political baggage we have at present. ;)

So, if you're moving to the current 26 county Republic, the name of the state is Ireland - and the "six counties" is a gentle way to describe the other bit.

Tá failte romhat!