Job situation in the West of Ireland
Nov 26th 2006, 2:39 am
#31
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Joined: Feb 2005
Location: Oak Ridges, ON
Posts: 332
Re: Job situation in the West of Ireland
Originally Posted by Daedra
Was reading through this thread for my own personal interest, and as I am a Canadian immigrant from Montreal who has lived in England the past 2+ years I feel I can help you a bit with the whole "Quebec" ie "French Canada" aspect of possibly moving to Canada.
For one; Montreal is not like a typical small french town, very few locals are not bilingual, you just wouldn't be able to suceed if you only spoke one language and there would be 10 more same skill bilingual people in line for the same job you applied for....
But... having said that, Quebec is very proud of it's French heritage and will enforce the laws making SURE that French is equal or MORE predominant on public signs... Stems from a fear of loosing their culture when the British won the war in Canada, and British being polite as they were, allowed the French a 'refuge' in Canada which is/was Quebec.
Quebec is mostly Roman Catholic, which coming from Ireland, you may already be comfortable with. Most of the French swear words for instance, are sacrilidges against the church, where as most French (from France) swears will tend to be more sexual in context similar to English swear words. Just warning you in case you end up there and your teens come back spouting church objects in french to you
Lastly... there IS exemptions avaidable for immigrants moving to Quebed who have been raised predominantly in English (as English is also a national language of Canada of which Quebec is a part of) however, it takes more leg work and probably more stress then just simply moving to an English province in Canada would do.
Last selling point: Quebecers are the closest culture as far as social and loving their booze and smokes to Europe and they just LOVE a good party! (ok cheap shot at the anglophones, but they wont mind, too busy going to church and forgiving their sins )
For one; Montreal is not like a typical small french town, very few locals are not bilingual, you just wouldn't be able to suceed if you only spoke one language and there would be 10 more same skill bilingual people in line for the same job you applied for....
But... having said that, Quebec is very proud of it's French heritage and will enforce the laws making SURE that French is equal or MORE predominant on public signs... Stems from a fear of loosing their culture when the British won the war in Canada, and British being polite as they were, allowed the French a 'refuge' in Canada which is/was Quebec.
Quebec is mostly Roman Catholic, which coming from Ireland, you may already be comfortable with. Most of the French swear words for instance, are sacrilidges against the church, where as most French (from France) swears will tend to be more sexual in context similar to English swear words. Just warning you in case you end up there and your teens come back spouting church objects in french to you
Lastly... there IS exemptions avaidable for immigrants moving to Quebed who have been raised predominantly in English (as English is also a national language of Canada of which Quebec is a part of) however, it takes more leg work and probably more stress then just simply moving to an English province in Canada would do.
Last selling point: Quebecers are the closest culture as far as social and loving their booze and smokes to Europe and they just LOVE a good party! (ok cheap shot at the anglophones, but they wont mind, too busy going to church and forgiving their sins
)We have actually moved to Ontario due to job offer etc, and my kids are in regular public school. There is a french immersion school here in our town but you have to go in at Grade 1, so missed that boat. However, both my guys are doing really well in French! My son's french teacher has even made a point of telling me how well he is doing, despite being 2 years behind. It seems that learning a second language (even if it was irish
) from a young age, has really helped after all. 
Nevertheless I can't see them being fluent anytime soon!Snowqueen
Nov 26th 2006, 5:20 pm
#32
Senile Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: North of Manchester
Posts: 1,253
Re: Job situation in the West of Ireland
Originally Posted by snowqueen
Thats all really interesting info - especially the swear words - I never knew that!! I had heard that Quebecois french was more like 17th century french tho' and thats why the (french) french look down their noses at it, but then they look down their noses at most things LOL!!
We have actually moved to Ontario due to job offer etc, and my kids are in regular public school. There is a french immersion school here in our town but you have to go in at Grade 1, so missed that boat. However, both my guys are doing really well in French! My son's french teacher has even made a point of telling me how well he is doing, despite being 2 years behind. It seems that learning a second language (even if it was irish ) from a young age, has really helped after all. Nevertheless I can't see them being fluent anytime soon!
Snowqueen
We have actually moved to Ontario due to job offer etc, and my kids are in regular public school. There is a french immersion school here in our town but you have to go in at Grade 1, so missed that boat. However, both my guys are doing really well in French! My son's french teacher has even made a point of telling me how well he is doing, despite being 2 years behind. It seems that learning a second language (even if it was irish
) from a young age, has really helped after all. Nevertheless I can't see them being fluent anytime soon!Snowqueen
Unless one of your kids develops a passion for languages, I don't see why they would need to learn French more so then what is taught in schools (as a second language), unless of course, they were to live in Quebec... at which stage, it'd be hard to spend any length of time in the province and NOT pick up French (Quebecoise as the French Canadians are wont to refer to it as) from friends/being out and about.
Boring bit of history here - stop reading if your not into this stuff *lol*
There's also alot of English/Scottish and Irish surnames (family names) in French speaking Quebec due to the orphans being shipped across the Atlantic and taken in by the French Catholic missionaries around that time late 1800's early 1900's... they were taught French but were permitted to keep their surnames even if/when they were placed in new French speaking families.
I'm sure all those Irish/Scottish/English 'convicts' that were shipped off to the penal colony of Australia must have contributed to the amount of 'orphans' as well as the fact that the journey across the Atlantic to the 'new world' was treachurous and had high casualty rates especially among the 'hold' (poor) passengers.
What I found kind of amusing when I was reading up on this stuff (for Ancestry/Geneology research on my family) is that many of the 'poor' lower class would purposefully go out and commit a petty crime (such as stealing a loaf of bread or clothing) in order to be sent off to the penal colonies at the crowns expense. Since they could never afford to pay for passage on a ship bound to the new world. After their years of service/labour in the mines (and surely other things!) in Australia was completed, many convicts chose to stay in Australia or jump down to New Zealand (where there was a brief Gold Rush near the end of the 1800's) to start life anew with more opportunities open to them then they ever could have hoped for in Ireland or the UK.
Last edited by Daedra; Nov 26th 2006 at 5:50 pm.
Nov 27th 2006, 8:43 pm
#33
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Joined: Feb 2005
Location: Oak Ridges, ON
Posts: 332
Re: Job situation in the West of Ireland
Originally Posted by Daedra
It does help your kids alot that they were exposed to learning a different language (Irish, or is it Eire? excuse my ignorance!) at a young age, it makes it easier for them to grasp the concepts, more inherent or ingrained if you will, of foreign languages as they become adults.
Unless one of your kids develops a passion for languages, I don't see why they would need to learn French more so then what is taught in schools (as a second language), unless of course, they were to live in Quebec... at which stage, it'd be hard to spend any length of time in the province and NOT pick up French (Quebecoise as the French Canadians are wont to refer to it as) from friends/being out and about.
Boring bit of history here - stop reading if your not into this stuff *lol*
There's also alot of English/Scottish and Irish surnames (family names) in French speaking Quebec due to the orphans being shipped across the Atlantic and taken in by the French Catholic missionaries around that time late 1800's early 1900's... they were taught French but were permitted to keep their surnames even if/when they were placed in new French speaking families.
I'm sure all those Irish/Scottish/English 'convicts' that were shipped off to the penal colony of Australia must have contributed to the amount of 'orphans' as well as the fact that the journey across the Atlantic to the 'new world' was treachurous and had high casualty rates especially among the 'hold' (poor) passengers.
What I found kind of amusing when I was reading up on this stuff (for Ancestry/Geneology research on my family) is that many of the 'poor' lower class would purposefully go out and commit a petty crime (such as stealing a loaf of bread or clothing) in order to be sent off to the penal colonies at the crowns expense. Since they could never afford to pay for passage on a ship bound to the new world. After their years of service/labour in the mines (and surely other things!) in Australia was completed, many convicts chose to stay in Australia or jump down to New Zealand (where there was a brief Gold Rush near the end of the 1800's) to start life anew with more opportunities open to them then they ever could have hoped for in Ireland or the UK.
Unless one of your kids develops a passion for languages, I don't see why they would need to learn French more so then what is taught in schools (as a second language), unless of course, they were to live in Quebec... at which stage, it'd be hard to spend any length of time in the province and NOT pick up French (Quebecoise as the French Canadians are wont to refer to it as) from friends/being out and about.
Boring bit of history here - stop reading if your not into this stuff *lol*
There's also alot of English/Scottish and Irish surnames (family names) in French speaking Quebec due to the orphans being shipped across the Atlantic and taken in by the French Catholic missionaries around that time late 1800's early 1900's... they were taught French but were permitted to keep their surnames even if/when they were placed in new French speaking families.
I'm sure all those Irish/Scottish/English 'convicts' that were shipped off to the penal colony of Australia must have contributed to the amount of 'orphans' as well as the fact that the journey across the Atlantic to the 'new world' was treachurous and had high casualty rates especially among the 'hold' (poor) passengers.
What I found kind of amusing when I was reading up on this stuff (for Ancestry/Geneology research on my family) is that many of the 'poor' lower class would purposefully go out and commit a petty crime (such as stealing a loaf of bread or clothing) in order to be sent off to the penal colonies at the crowns expense. Since they could never afford to pay for passage on a ship bound to the new world. After their years of service/labour in the mines (and surely other things!) in Australia was completed, many convicts chose to stay in Australia or jump down to New Zealand (where there was a brief Gold Rush near the end of the 1800's) to start life anew with more opportunities open to them then they ever could have hoped for in Ireland or the UK.
FYI, the term "Eire" is used to refer to the country, not the language! Having said that no-one in Ireland uses it - only British people and it makes them stick out like a sore thumb!! Everyone in ireland referes to the country as just Ireland and the language as irish! Simple really! The Irish language is not used widely, although it's included on road signs/ forms etc and of course, taught in schools!
Snowqueen
Nov 27th 2006, 8:52 pm
#34
Senile Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: North of Manchester
Posts: 1,253
Re: Job situation in the West of Ireland
Originally Posted by snowqueen
A fount of knowledge you are, aren't you? Really interesting and also very sad really. If any of us who have been/are going through the emmigration process or moving countries dare to complain, we should remember what lengths people had to go to before!!
FYI, the term "Eire" is used to refer to the country, not the language! Having said that no-one in Ireland uses it - only British people and it makes them stick out like a sore thumb!! Everyone in ireland referes to the country as just Ireland and the language as irish! Simple really! The Irish language is not used widely, although it's included on road signs/ forms etc and of course, taught in schools!
Snowqueen
FYI, the term "Eire" is used to refer to the country, not the language! Having said that no-one in Ireland uses it - only British people and it makes them stick out like a sore thumb!! Everyone in ireland referes to the country as just Ireland and the language as irish! Simple really! The Irish language is not used widely, although it's included on road signs/ forms etc and of course, taught in schools!
Snowqueen
St-Patricks day in Montreal was always a very racaus and rambunctious affair with parades in the streets and lots of binge drinking and merry making... I think it might just be an excuse for Montrealers to have yet another party, but then again, met an Irishman downtown MTL about 5 years ago who said he wished the St Patty's parades were like that in Ireland... dont know if thats the tourist in him talking with a few too many drinks or if it was an honest sentiment, in any case, the Irish descendants in Canada are very proud of their heritage and show it off every St Patty's day
Thank you for being so helpful snowqueen, I hope Canada welcomes you and makes you feel at home
Nov 28th 2006, 10:18 am
#35
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 304
Re: Job situation in the West of Ireland
I haven't read through all this thread but as I live in the West of Ireland (Galway) I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Just to add:
Galway is one of the nicest places you could ever hope to live. Really nice friendly city which is great for the craic. Great during the summer months when the population about doubles with the influx of tourists. Massive student population with a massive University (Nuig) and RTC (Gmit). Imo there is something really magical about Galway city. However you should bear in mind:
1. Cost of living is very high. Not as high as Dublin but def at the top end of the European scale. However pay scales probably reflect this.
2. Public transport is a disaster. However you can walk/cycle around the city centre.
3. The weather can be bad. We got a LOT of rain as were first point of contact off the Atlantic.
4. For a 4 bedroom semi near the city you would be talking about €350K to €400K. Better value slightly outside the town where I live. However commute times can be up to and above an hour depending on where you are. I travel about 15 miles from north Galway, across the city. It takes me 30mins in the morning and about 45min to 1 hour in the evening.
For an idea of housing prices and an all round feeling for Galway check out our local paper:
http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/
Some local recruitment websites:
www.richmond.ie
www.cmcn.ie
www.ccprecruit.ie
Galway has a very large Healthcare manufacturing pressence with companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Abbott with large manufacturing facilities which jointly employ about 5,000 to 6,000 people.
Just to add:
Galway is one of the nicest places you could ever hope to live. Really nice friendly city which is great for the craic. Great during the summer months when the population about doubles with the influx of tourists. Massive student population with a massive University (Nuig) and RTC (Gmit). Imo there is something really magical about Galway city. However you should bear in mind:
1. Cost of living is very high. Not as high as Dublin but def at the top end of the European scale. However pay scales probably reflect this.
2. Public transport is a disaster. However you can walk/cycle around the city centre.
3. The weather can be bad. We got a LOT of rain as were first point of contact off the Atlantic.
4. For a 4 bedroom semi near the city you would be talking about €350K to €400K. Better value slightly outside the town where I live. However commute times can be up to and above an hour depending on where you are. I travel about 15 miles from north Galway, across the city. It takes me 30mins in the morning and about 45min to 1 hour in the evening.
For an idea of housing prices and an all round feeling for Galway check out our local paper:
http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/content/
Some local recruitment websites:
www.richmond.ie
www.cmcn.ie
www.ccprecruit.ie
Galway has a very large Healthcare manufacturing pressence with companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Abbott with large manufacturing facilities which jointly employ about 5,000 to 6,000 people.
Last edited by gidxg03; Nov 28th 2006 at 10:46 am.
