crazydaisy

We are seriously contemplating moving to the West of Ireland as we don't fancy heading back to mainland England again although after being away for 8 years we would like to get back to Europe for several reasons. We know the area well and like the new developments that have taken place plus some family originated from the West coast. Dublin however on the East may be a little too hectic for us! My question is, we have read a few reports that there is a huge skills shortage in Ireland. Has anyone recently moved to the West and found it relatively easy to find work (in computer networking and finance) or is the skills shortage just talk - like in Canada for instance!

Thanks all

JAJ

The Republic of Ireland is a very different country to the UK.

A few specific points to check regarding the Republic of Ireland:

- most of the schools are Roman Catholic controlled, if this isn't what you want for your children then you need to see if you will be able to get them into one of the relatively small number of Protestant schools.
- there are specific laws regarding the Irish language which you will need to be happy with.
- cost of living (especially housing) may be higher than the UK. Motor vehicles are heavily taxed, much more so than in Britain.

Northern Ireland may be a better option if these are problems for you.

Needless to say, if you're not a Canadian citizen then you should think hard about sorting this out before you leave, as otherwise once your PR expires it may be near-impossible to come back. Which a suprising number of people want to do, after a short or long period.



Jeremy

crazydaisy

Hi there,

We would like to move to the West of Ireland but are also considering the South too but haven't really contemplated Northern Ireland or the East for various reasons. The family in Ireland originated from the West so we're looking at Shannon and Galway as first choices with a possible thought for Cork further South too. The Irish family however are retired and have little knowledge of the job market so the question is more to do with job availability. Emigration and government websites love to hype up skills shortages to encourage people to move but often it can be all talk and no real actual jobs are available beyond cabbie and truck driving! I just wanted to be sure of the job situation first or at least have a good idea from a non emigration or government person that what is in the papers/web reports is actually really true!

JAJ

Why don't you visit there to have a look for yourself?



Jeremy

crazydaisy

We visit every 2 years and have just been there for a clan gathering. On our last trip this July we were there with family both from England and Ireland and were on a whirlwind tour so couldn't stop off at any job agencies etc. and frankly didn't start talking seriously about it until we got back. I am sure that you appreciate that with living so far away from home it does make it difficult to do a lot of research, unless someone who has already made the plunge and moved to that area can advise further. I am just looking to connect with that someone and what better place to start than here?

snowqueen

Hi

I might be able to be some help, given that I live in Dublin and hubby works in IT. The job situation in Ireland is booming, but most of the jobs are in Dublin (especially in IT). However, it depends on WHAT you do - I know quite a few companies have R & D outfits in Galway/ Athlone, places like that, and there is IT work out there. However salaries will be lower (but then house prices will be too...in Dublin they are crazy).

The West of Ireland that you see on postcards is not practical for most. Very little work outside farming and tourism (and even that is taking a knock due to the high prices). A city like Galway is a better bet, and you can at least get to these lovely places at weekends. However, be warned the west is WET!!. Personally I couldn't hack it, even if it is beautiful as the weather would get me down, but then Dublin weather gets me down too!! Try visiting in February when its cold dark, wet and windy for weeks on end and see if you still want to go!!! Outside of the cities, there is also very little to do (excpet drink!) so be warned if you have kids, that they will have to get into GAA (Gaelic football) or risk not having anything to occupy them. Cities are a bit better, but there is still very poor infrastructure in the way of leisure facilities (nothing, and I mean NOTHINg like the UK). Also, bugger all public transport, so you need a car.
If you do have kids, be warned that Irish is compulsory in schools up to 18 and if they fail it at leaving, they fail, period!

You will also find the cost of living very expensive here, but you may feel that the beauty of the west and the irish way of life makes that all worth while (many do). The west of Ireland IS very special.

Try the following website to research jobs www.monster.ie
and www.myhome.ie to get an idea of house prices.

Good luck and 'Failte' if you come!!!
(I'm English, but even I have a bit of the lingo! )
Snowqueen

crazydaisy

Thanks for your help snowqueen! I noticed they are desperately encouraging Dubliners to move over to the West to get out of the rat race and lots of folks are hitting the website at http://www.lookwest.ie/ It's all very positive stuff but as you can probably tell I don't trust the hype 100% and prefer to look at real life than the rosy life that government types like to portray! Of course, I'm not putting down the great works by civil servants especially as my father was a civil servant in the UK and my sister is working in the civil service and I used to temp for local authorities and city councils too - it's just that often they don't like to dwell on the downsides, like you say with the area being mainly farming, probably lack of things to do beyond drinking and the lousy weather! I must admit that one year we stayed in August or something and we were sat shivering because the wind and rain were lashing threw the huge gaps in the door and I thought blimey, the poor families of yesteryear must really have suffered. I think that Winnipeg's minus 40 C is no match but having said that the cold here is very dry which means it doesn't send you into a shiver as much as the soggy wet stuff does in Ireland or even England for that matter. Brrr!

We were lucky that on our last trip it was hot and sunny and I'm still in shock from that as with all our other trips it has been cold and cloudy and the poor trees were bent over from the high winds!

I agree with Galway being a good place to venture to too - we passed it on our way to Connemara from Clare and it had a good vibe about the place. Plus Galway area house prices seem to be slightly less than Clare prices and Kerry seems to be a no go area for jobs as far as I can tell. It's really cool that there are 3 airports in that area too at Shannon, Galway and Knock so pretty good for escaping to mainland Europe for a bit of sun!

When you mentioned Irish being in the schools until 18, is 18 the compulsory leaving age for all kids or just for A-level students (if they call them that in Ireland?) I'm a bit out of touch with education in the UK so it may not even be called A-level in England anymore!

Thanks for your balanced post - it's always good to see both sides.

snowqueen

Just a word of advice CrazyDaisy - referring to England (or Britain) as the "mainland" will NOT win you friends in Ireland. This is a different country and is fiercly proud of the fact that it kicked the Brits out 80 years ago.!!!

Snowqueen.

snowqueen

Hi again

Yes, it's true that the government here is pushing "the regions" and there are some Dubliners moving out west, often lured by the fact that they can cash in their overpriced home and buy a better house out west, but they tend to be people who either work for themselves (so can set up anywhere) or who have a job lined up (including civil servants!) or who are retiring. Young people with nothing to lose also might be giving it a go.

Some rich Dubliners are buying up holiday homes in the more picturesque areas and pricing the locals out (the Germans started it about 10 years ago when they were the ones with money, now the Irish are doing it!)

On top of that, there is another category of people who go under the "rural resettlement programme" which in my opinion is great. These are (often unemployed) people who swap their council house/flat in Dublin for some kind of property in the west and are encouraged to make a go of it somewhere new and swell the population in some of the more de-populated areas.

The west has traditianlly suffered from haemoraging of people, jobs etc over the years, as geographically it's not a very convenient place to do business and in this global market, that is still true - hence the governments efforts to push areas outside Dublin. But as I said earlier, the infrastructure is not great, so it's an uphill job. If you are an American company wanting an English speaking base in Europe, you are more likely to chose a hub like Dublin than some outpost on the Atlantic shoreline! That said, the government gives hefty incentives and some companies do locate in the west. Another job site you could try is the ITjob board (sorry, not sure of the correct url).

My husband corrects me in saying that there aren't many computing jobs in Athlone, it's more Galway. Limerick is another place where the IT jobs might be, but it has a reputation as being a bit of a dump. Shannon is really just the airport and a few industrial estates. You could try the likes of Ennis nearby or up in Sligo, I belive Sligo town is buzzy these days (probably no jobs, but you never know). Your best bet is to visit (hire a car and drive around) to get a real feel for the west beyond a holiday experience.

It is true what you say about the soggy weather. It is soooo damp, and with the wind etc, you never feel warm except on rare days like you were lucky enough to have. Give me the dry cold any day and proper seasons - I find Dublin weather very grey and same-ey -only about 10 degress difference (max) between winter and summer and grey all the year round! Which is why we're hoping to head for Ontario. And there you are thinking of leaving Winnipeg! Ho hum....

As far as the schools go - the "leaving certificate" is what they do at 18 and you get points for the various subjects - and University courses require a certain number of points for you to get in. Before that , at 16, they do the Junior Certificate. You can leave after that, and some do, but with third level education almost a necessity for most jobs these days, most kids go through to do the Leaving.

Good luck with whatever you decide. BTW, why are you leaving Canada?
Snowqueen

crazydaisy

Hi, why are we leaving Canada? It's a long and complicated story! We have lived in Switzerland for 2 years and the U.S. for 4 years. Was a little frustrated in the U.S. that I couldn't work on my spousal visa and hubby was seriously ripped off at the American company so when the time came to renew the H1B visas we decided we didn't want to bother and came to Canada instead. My grandmother was born here near Winnipeg so she provided the inspiration to come here and Manitoba nominated us for the visas. For me life is good here, started a Brit meetup group in Winnipeg and a new forum for expats and got a good job but poor ol' hubby couldn't get a job for 8 months. The situation in Winnipeg is that companies just don't like to recruit managers and experienced staff as they prefer to recruit at level entry (this has been mentioned many times by company bosses who admit they only come to Winnipeg for cheap labour and their managers are brought over from other provinces). His main industry is in the film sound recording industry and we felt that Winnipeg would be good for that as many films are recorded here but it's the same deal where most of the post sound recording is done back in the States or wherever and they just do the physical filming here using cheap local labour and benefitting from tax cuts. We can move province of course and hubby has been applying for other jobs in other provinces to no avail so he is now working in IT as a contractor on crazy 12 hour shifts, some nights, some days, often weekends and bank hols. Of course it's money coming in so we're not complaining at all but I think on our last trip that hubby got thinking that he would like to establish base in Ireland to be closer to family (his side is the Irish part, mine are English), firstly getting work in the IT field and gradually getting work back in his own industry as he is pretty well known in Europe (just not at all in Canada!) so can get some contacts going and being close to a few airports on the west he has easy access to flights. We're trying to avoid Dublin as I'm not much for busy crowded places, I hate London and sorry to say I hated Toronto too! I'm more of a happy bunny in towny places but with a country feel and Winnipeg does quite well in that respect being a small city with farming and prairie land all around, so the West will probably be ideal.

I apologise for my previous comment on referring to mainland England but I wanted to explain a bit more about that. My previous post was in the 'Moving back to the UK' section, as in my mind we are kind of moving back but I knew that Ireland (Eire) isn't part of the mainland England or even the UK so I wanted to reiterate that I was trying to seperate mainland England to the island of Ireland (yes, of course I know it is independant!) However, I was told that my post did not belong in the 'Moving back to the UK' section as it is in fact Republic of Ireland so I moved the post to the Europe section and forgot to take out the mainland England bit as there no longer a need to differentiate. I kind of know what I mean but probably explained it in crazy way, well, I am known as crazy daisy after all.

snowqueen

Hi

No need to apologise! I'm English myslef anyway, so certinaly not to me ; I just know how sensitive Irish people are to such things....

If your hubby is into film sound recording, then I'm sure with a bit of networking he'd get an "in" here in Ireland. As I'm sure you know. there is a thriving film industry here, at least till quite recently, due to tax breaks for productions companies to film here. The likes of Ardmore studios in Wicklow have really reaped the benefits of all that, though I fear it might be drying up a bit now. Maybe he could try contacting them and getting some advice/contacts /people to sound out. I work in t.v. myself and even though when I first came here, work was pretty thin on the ground, I found people immensly helpful if you take the effort (aka have the nerve!) to call them and ask for advice.

Just a thought..
Good luck
Snowqueen

Just a though.

crazydaisy

Thanks, your inputs have been very useful. Any help I can give on Canada just let me know!!

Daisy

JAJ

I don't believe the term "Eire" is in common usage in the Republic of Ireland when English is spoken.

And without wishing to be pedantic (although probably being so), one part of the "island of Ireland" (Northern Ireland) is part of the UK and not 'independent' in any way.


Jeremy

crazydaisy

Absolutely, I bow to your superior intelligence, basking safe in the knowledge that I don't have any.

crazydaisy

Hi Snowqueen - I was getting a little scared when I read that a student would need to do Irish as a compulsory subject before gaining their Leaving Certificate so I did some digging around. It looks like certain individuals can be exempted from Irish language studies (or should I say Republic of Irish language studies) :

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/education/pr...rom_irish.html

The Department of Education and Science allows students in Ireland to apply to be excused from studying Irish in post-primary school.

Rules

These are the categories of student who may apply to be exempted from the study of Irish:

* Students whose primary education up to 11 years of age was received in Northern Ireland or outside Ireland
* Students who were enrolled in a primary or post-primary school and who are now enrolling again after having been abroad. The student must have been abroad for at least three years. The student must be at least 11 years of age when re-enrolling.
* Students who function at an average or above-average level of ability, but who have a specific learning difficulty that is so severe that they cannot reach expected levels of attainment in their mother tongue.
* Students who have a general learning disability due to a serious intellectual impairment and who are not acquiring basic language skills in their mother tongue.
* Students who have a general learning disability on account of a serious sensory impairment, and who are not learning basic language skills in their mother tongue

Phew - that's a relief.

All the best, daisy