aseasyas123

Hey all,

Brand new here. Usually keep out of forums (90% of the ones I've seen turn to slagging matches in 2-3 posts ) but this one seems like it's got some decent folk... hoping for a few pointers on my questions, if you'd be so kind.

I'm contemplating a move to Ireland in a little while. I'm from the UK so have the passport - have lived in Canada, Australia, Thailand, and some parts of South America as an Internet bum and enjoyed it for a while. Am attracted to Ireland for the tax rates and the proximity to friends/family in Britain.

Anyhow, before I actually go over there, I thought I'd throw up a few questions on here. The answer to most of these is probably gonna be "get off your arse and go find out for yourself" - in which case, cheers, very helpful. But if any of these happen to be issues you've encountered yourself and you can chunk in your two cents, much appreciated

Alrighty then, here goes:

1. It's a toss between Galway, Cork and Dublin so far, as 'first places to visit' and potentially live for a little while. I'm 27, male, work online as a freelance programmer, love food and high tech stuff, reading, meeting interesting folk. Any musings about which of the above cities (or maybe somewhere else entirely?) might make a good first spot?
   
2. What's the current consensus on religion over there? I'm atheist (a fan of the Dawkins school of thought). Not massively bothered by religion, just don't fancy living a life pervaded by it. Love Xmas, though. Is it going to be easy to find like company, or am I likely to be shoed out by people making crosses with their fingers?
   
3. Sushi - love the stuff... is it going to be easy to find?
   
4. What's the drive like from the UK over to Ireland- easy to get ferry crossings, etc? I'd like to travel back to the UK for visits by car mostly.
   
5. Bookstores - are there any great big bookstores in any of the mentioned cities? I'm thinking of stuff on par with Barnes & Noble in the US. Like great big libraries the size on Amazon.com on the high street... likely?
   
6. Technology- what's Ireland like for TV, Internet, wireless access, and the general tech vibe? Is it likely I'm gonna find hangouts/meetup.com clubs of fellow geeks like myself?
   
7. Health - the cost of private health insurance. I was thinking of just shelling for a Bupa policy... are the facilities on private health insurance pretty good?
   
8. Food - availability of 'exotic' and organic stuff in supermarkets. Is it on par/ahead of/behind the UK?
   

I'm sure I'll have a ton more, and again, I'm sure loads of this stuff will be answered by actually living in the place... but I'm a curious and impatient sort so I'd rather be mulling on it now to help motivate the travel decision either way...

Cheers!

snoopycat

Hi,
Here are a few personal thoughts for you. I’m sure some will disagree. The suggestions are based on our experiences. We moved from England in 1991 to a smallholding 30 miles from Cork and five miles outside of a small town (pop. 5000) and then moved to the South of France in 2008.

1. All three cities should have reasonable Internet access. Probably based on their size, so Dublin first, Cork second and Galway third. We lived near Cork and had friends from Dublin but know very little about Galway. As soon as you move outside of those cities, internet access can be very variable or non-existent.

2. In the cities there are plenty of people who are ‘non-religious’, that is don’t care rather than specifically atheist .Out of town there is still plenty of religion and since many social activities are based on the local church or connected in some way to it, you would find some exclusion if you weren’t a church goer. On the other hand, the same people would be friendly and non-judgemental, but you wouldn’t get many invitations to this family oriented society. The end result is that most of your social circle ends up being European ex-pats.

3. Sushi – You will find about eight sushi bars in Dublin and maybe two in Cork but don’t know about the quality.

4. The drive from England – depends on where you are coming from. In the North you go to Holyhead and go across to Dublin. Good road across North Wales.In the south you tend to go to Fishguard or Pembroke. Nowadays most routes have a fast ferry, two hours instead of the old four hours. The southern ferries go to Rosslare which then means you have to drive 160 miles to Cork, roads are so so. Alternatively there is the Cork- Swansea ferry. Never tried it but it seems to break down sometimes.

5. Bookstores – No chance. You will get the standard bookstores like Waterstones but we bought all our books from Barnes and Noble or Amazon on-line or waited until we visited London.

6. Technology – Irish TV is appalling. We signed up with Sky to get a decent choice of channels and also some break from the dreadful hurling and gaelic football on Irish TV. Internet is very patchy outside of the cities but ok in the cities. Not sure about clubs etc.

7. Health – speaking from experience (one reason we moved to France) health care is expensive. At local level not too bad but at Hospital level massive waiting lists. Going private is expensive and the policies tend to have so many exclusion clauses you would find it difficult to make too many claims. In Cork my husband waited over a year for a CAT scan, gave up waiting and we moved to France. On a routine visit to the local town clinic here, (France) waited twenty minutes for a CAT scan.

8. Food – Although great strides have been made in recent years, tends to be expensive and not great quality. Exotic stuff is difficult to find and then expensive. Organic food is available from dedicated shops but once again expensive.

Saying all that, it’s a beautiful, unspoilt country with very friendly people. Unfortunately they still let the church dominate their social lives and are obsessed with gaelic sports. Most Brits prefer football.


regards,

Snoopy

JAJ

Northern Ireland is on the island of Ireland (if that's what you're looking for) but keeps you in the UK, so you still have the NHS, same currency, less tax/bureaucracy complications, etc.

Londonuck

As a dedicated follower of all things sushiness, its very poor here for that. There's a couple of places in Dublin but they are outrageously expensive. Having previously lived in Vancouver where sushi is very popular, cheap and excellent, ive been disappointed at the level of it here and in England. Irish produce is excellent and local. The trouble is, people are quite traditional in their food tastes, hence, the lack of exotic restaurants.

As snoops says above, it’s a beautiful, unspoilt country with very friendly people. I dont think the church is a major force it once was here at all.

aseasyas123

I'm specifically looking to live in ROI - tax rates are much lower for running a corporation, which suits me well.

aseasyas123

I lived in Vancouver for a little while also - actually, that was where I first tried Sushi... and I've been hooked ever since!

I'm wondering if perhaps introducing a small 'exotic' sushi cafe to the likes of Galway or Cork might go down well... I would imagine some of the younger folk would be open to expanding their culinary tastes?

Horus

There's already a sushi bar in Cork.

From what I hear the only fish they're interested in around here comes with chips from the chippy.

Yosushi also already have a few sushi bars around the island ie most shopping centres with a food court.

What corporation are you thinking of running? Anything that will bring jobs here will be welcomed.

aseasyas123

I create Web 2.0 software. I'm thinking of a San Francisco-style company, employing designers, programmers and advertisers.

It's the same thing I do myself - I'd be looking to expand that to an office.

That, or, by the sound of it... a sushi cafe!

JAJ

If it's a personal service corporation you should look to see if there are special provisions to treat the company's income as your personal income. (UK has such rules, also Australia and USA among other places, as far as I know)

Londonuck

Snap mate. We used to live on it!

And if you are opening a sushi bar couldnt you of done this about two years ago. How selfish of you!

(or shellfish even)

michaleen oge

have you tried the traditional irish sushi?? black and white pudding,sausages,fried eggs,fried bread and two rashers of bacon,fried in pork dripping,and placed on a bed of basmati rice?mmmmmmmmm

Londonuck

I laughed out loud.

michaleen oge

have the extra-large portion of irish sushi and you would EXPLODE OUT LOUD!!!!

MikeWaters

Snoopycat is right about quite a few things: health, Irish TV channels and internet access in rural areas. However, I don't agree with the picture of an ultra-right Catholic society that excludes outsiders. While Catholicism is still the official religion of the majority, many, especially younger people, do not even practice. Those who do, largely keep their views and morals to themselves and certainly do not try to impose them on others. I do admit, however, that this is considerably at variance with the Ireland of 30 years ago.

Generally, Irish people are friendly and talkative, and will happily welcome you into their community. I have never heard of outsiders being ignored or excluded.

Local TV stations, i.e. RTE and TV3 3, are not great - at least wasn't when I lived there - but I found Sky Digital to be excellent, albeit expensive at around 60 euro pm eight years ago.

The food situation has improved massively on what it was in the 90s, but no, Ireland still doesn't compare with France in culinary terms. Eating out in Ireland, in my experience, was horrifically expensive, like many other things. You also didn't get the choice on offer in most other European countries.

General living costs and the appalling weather are the two main reasons I don't want to live there again.

michaleen oge

now there's three words I never thought I would ever see in print together-france-culinary-ireland. Well I remember the first burgers I ever tasted in ireland. it was the wimpey bar in dun laoghaire in the late 50's and early 60's. we thought it was the height of culinary fashion in them dere days. also archie and his sisters(all italian)who ran the bar were great.
My brother,who lives in Wexford,keeps phoning me up to complain about the cost of living in Ireland. Of course it doesn't help when I tell him the cost of a litre of bacardi over here(12 euros)and he tells me it is 30 odd euros in wexford. but I am still determined to move back as soon as I can. Love the people,love the country,even love the lousy weather. We all know Ireland is green because of the rain.(plus there aren't any snakes there,it is a record year here for the slithery thingies).