Londonuck

Cracking name mate.

Im very good friends with Scott Gorham, Lizzy's long time lead guitar. *bump* did someone mention name drop?

Londonuck

I hope you didnt put condensed milk in that pint!

Afro-Saxon

It was a toss between Afro-Saxon, Asbo-Caribbean or Plastic Palm Tree.

Great! I visited Phil's grave in Howth and his statue in Harry Street.

Ah well, I added a dash of Reggae Reggae Sauce to spice up the ol' Irish stew! A bit of Bob Marley mixed with Bob Geldof - The Trenchtown Rats!

Londonuck

Not sure my customers in my cab enjoy the likes of King Tubby, Cornel Campbell and Horace Andy. There's a cracking Gaelic language channel on 106.4 that plays old soul and funk and a roots show on Saturday nights at midnight. Keeps this old S London funker occupied while waiting for fares!

kazarty

Hi all, im a newbie on here and its a great site

I moved over 5 yrs ago and had no problem with the bank etc, I found bank of Ireland very good, you will need to a get PPS number from social welfare for a morgage etc (its the Irish equilvant of your UK social security number), when you fo to the social welfare office here make sure you take your UK social security number.

on the job front, its not good here at the moment, my hubby was made redundant last year and still no luck, its nothing to do with being an ex pat its just the current climate, the healthcare sector here as far as I know seems to be ok though as ive a few British friends that have jobs in tat sector.

good luck with it all

Londonuck

I find the healthcare system here a disgrace. The way my young cousin has just been treated by them after falling sick with a kidney infection is par for the course. She was discharged from hospital without anyone knowing where this infection came from and several trips back to the doc, 50 euro a visit i might add, hasnt helped and now shes back in hospital again. After being here for 2 years im struggling with it big time!

(rant over, sorry)

dgjamison

Hi the south of ireland is beautiful and the people really friendly, so you will no difficulty on that score, my daughter lives in a little village in cork with her 3 children and loves it, would never leave it. My grandchildren are never in, they play out all the time, dos'nt matter what the weather , she has trouble getting them in just to eat!!!! I also have found the kids are kids longer where she is, a lot more innocent, As someone else said, like what it was when we were young. Now like anywhere depends on what part of a town you live in, but certainly where she lives is lovely. It is more expensive, eg she has to pay for all their school books, dentist, doctors, and any extra activities they participate in, ie drama, football, rugby ect: but she still thinks it is worth it. Have you considered maybe looking at a province on the border, where you would get the nhs of the north but be on the border to the south? Maybe worth looking at and get the best of both worlds. Anyway sorry for the long post, good luck in your decision

kazarty

I agree, the healthcare service here is terrible if you are a patiant, im lucky that I have healthcare with my employer, but you have to fork out the initial cost and wait for a partial refund , my doctor is very old school and at times i would be better being treated by a vet, im lucky as to still be reg in the UK for certain things when i go over to visit my mum and often nip into the docs there for inhalers etc.

moving near the border would be an advantage at first as it would be a good way to break into the stream of things, plus you can still get cheap shopping over there, the best of both worlds.... DARN why didnt I think of that

but the south does have its advantages such as beautiful people and places to see, its a great place to bring up kids, i remember seeing my neice and nephews up the back field building cubby houses and making swings in trees, falling fast asleep in bed by 7pm with all the fresh air, they always seemed very safe here in the sticks as everyone in the village here know them, in comparrison to my relatives in UK where you are scared for them whenever they go out, and they seem to be stuck indoors on playstations etc (havnt seen many obese kids in the countryside) and I think the values can be a little better with family life... but thats just my view.

the education service seems to be good and they stay at school for a few more years and there is a big thing for sports here.

my main gripe seems to be, religon ( i know we should never really discuss these sorts of things) but i feel the country seems to run on the church, and ive had a few run ins with the priest etc as I wouldnt change from c.o.e and he said I would be condemed to hell etc... lol, ... but its not looking too good for them at the moment


everywhere has its pros and cons but when the view & people are bettr its a bit better to live with

Londonuck

You should of asked him did he know the phone number of reservations seeing as quite a few priests have pushed up the entrance fee.

Afro-Saxon

You get the holy rollers in England, especially in London. Go to Brixton, Peckham, Hackney or Harlesden you'll find yourself doing a "Cap'n Oveur from Airplane" (R.I.P. Peter Graves)

As suggested before, move near the border. You could put one foot on the Republic border and say "Hey, I'm in the Republic of Ireland!" and then your other foot on the Northern border and say "I'm in Northern Ireland!" and then swap feet and repeat "Republic! Northern! Republic! Northern...."

Right, time for some tater farls, soda bread and moss. Happy Porricks!

michaleen oge

politics and religion, who invented those two evils?? speaking of doctors, in the early sixties I was in the royal navy and coming home to blackrock for my shore leaves. always had a great time and when it was time for me to go back to my ship I was always very reluctant to do so.
My mother used to take me to doctor mcdonald in the blackrock surgery for a sick note which allowed me an extra week(or two if he was feeling generous)of leave. even then my father had to accompany me to the mail boat in dun laoghaire and make sure i got on board. once out of sight of ireland i was all right but the sight of the royal marine hotel sign disappearing on the horizon was a very sad sight for me.
talking about the border between the south and the north reminds me of when i was in hms sea eagle in derry. this was in the early sixties,and the north of ireland,along with scotland,was dry on sundays. not a drink to be had(except in hotels)and there weren't too many of those in derry. so if we wanted a drink on a sunday we took the bus from derry to the border crossing at muff. there we walked through a small room and we were in the south. and only twenty yards up the road was a pub. so we got a skin-ful and then had to go back through the little room(border post)to catch the bus back to derry.all very civilised indeed.
little historical note here...the first place to get a drinks licence for sundays in derry was "kens place". a sort-of nightclub which was opened by ken gallagher(a distant relative of the gallagher cigarette people,benson and hedges etc). he opened his club just off the foyle,and i am proud to say i helped him set it up.the foyle was about twenty paces from the door of kens club and many of his clients fell into it on leaving the club in the early hours. to my knowledge no-one ever drowned. the opening night was hysterical with ken inviting the local yanks from their base just outside derry. he put a limbo bar on the floor and the yanks had a great time going under it and my mate big len had a better time kicking them back again. another note, i do believe kens bar,named" kens den",was the first building bombed during the troubles.
heady days indeed.

Londonuck

That was literally the route of the lovely 37 bus i spent most of my youth waiting for. Apart from Hackney of course.