Do people generally want to go back home to Ireland?

CiaranC

hussey wrote: »

Define similar though?

History, Geography, population, climate, sports, food, activities, culture are all different to Ireland.

None of these things are very different as far as I can see, bar the climate. Activities maybe because the climate means you can do more. Are we in different countries?

hussey

CiaranC wrote: »

None of these things are very different as far as I can see, bar the climate. Activities maybe because the climate means you can do more. Are we in different countries?

History - Ireland has 1000's of years of history
Australia - Up until 200 years ago isolated from the world, aboriginal history isolated for estimated 48,000 years

Geography - Ireland tiny
Australia - Huge

Sports - AFL, Cricket, swimming, NRL, Tennis: are very big over here not so much Ireland
Ireland - Hurling, Gaelic Football
(shared rugby union & soccer)

Food - Huge Asian influence, greek, italian, etc (I don't mean a takeaway)

Culture - Ireland has a unique culture found no where else
Australia - a melting pot of culture, a mix of everywhere, European (First english/irish, then italian, greek) over the last 20 years asian and middle eastern, also the Islands like Fiji, Samoa, etc

Economy - Australia one of the worlds largest, apart of the G20, hugely influenced by asia/china
Ireland - pretty small in comparison

personally I think we have more in common to sweden than Australia

CiaranC

hussey wrote: »

History - Ireland has 1000's of years of history
Australia - Up until 200 years ago isolated from the world, aboriginal history isolated for estimated 48,000 years

Geography - Ireland tiny
Australia - Huge

Sports - AFL, Cricket, swimming, NRL, Tennis: are very big over here not so much Ireland
Ireland - Hurling, Gaelic Football
(shared rugby union & soccer)

Food - Huge Asian influence, greek, italian, etc (I don't mean a takeaway)

Culture - Ireland has a unique culture found no where else
Australia - a melting pot of culture, a mix of everywhere, European (First english/irish, then italian, greek) over the last 20 years asian and middle eastern, also the Islands like Fiji, Samoa, etc

Economy - Australia one of the worlds largest, apart of the G20, hugely influenced by asia/china
Ireland - pretty small in comparison

personally I think we have more in common to sweden than Australia

Ireland/the UK and Australia have a shared history, how do you think the majority of the population got here? How does the size of the landmass or the size of the economy make any different to everyday life? I get up and take a tram to work in an accountancy firm every morning, same as anywhere else, I dont sit on the tram thinking well "the landmass is very big".

They have AFL, which is similar to GAA and play a slightly different type of rugby. Ireland has international cuisine exactly the same as here (well Dublin does anyway). The culture is bland westernised, TV is the same, the same movies, the same type of bands and djs, same type of festivals, same theatre and shows, same companies, same rights and obligations, same laws and legal system, same weddings and funerals, its like living in a sunny England.

Australia is a nice place, but saying is very different to any other English speaking country is nuts.

hussey

Essentially what I am trying to say is
Ireland has things in common with Australia but
but Ireland is exceptionally similar to Scotland.

CiaranC

lol

hussey

CiaranC wrote: »

Ireland/the UK and Australia have a shared history, how do you think the majority of the population got here?

Majority of the population did not get here, they were born here.

How does the size of the landmass or the size of the economy make any different to everyday life? I get up and take a tram to work in an accountancy firm every morning, same as anywhere else, I dont sit on the tram thinking well "the landmass is very big".

Are you serious? Work in Alice springs, darwin, the bush and then tell me it doesn't matter. I work in a city like you, of course I don't say this land mass if huge. Live somewhere where it takes over an hour by helicopter to get to the nearest hospital and present your argument.
And the size of the economy makes a massive difference, just look at Ireland compared to Australia at the moment

They have AFL, which is similar to GAA and play a slightly different type of rugby.

Fair enough, but argument is valid for cricket, swimming, tennis etc.

Ireland has international cuisine exactly the same as here (well Dublin does anyway).

Not in my opinion, much more Asian/greek/italian influenced in Australia than Ireland

The culture is bland westernised, TV is the same, the same movies, the same type of bands and djs, same type of festivals, same theatre and shows, same companies, same rights and obligations, same laws and legal system, same weddings and funerals, its like living in a sunny England.

Both share westernised culture. You can argue the same for any westernised country.

Australia is a nice place, but saying is very different to any other English speaking country is nuts.

Maybe was words failed me, I believe Ireland has things in common with Australia, but not 'exceptionally different' (which was my argument)

Xavi6

Doc wrote: »

Yea I really don’t get this at all but it’s so true! It’s like they plan their lives out 2 weeks in advance and there’s no spontaneity at all on a Friday or Saturday night. Back home Id just ring up my mates on a Friday night and we would organize things there and then.

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

Doc

Xavi6 wrote: »

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

That’s not true at all. There’s just as much to do at home as there is here in fact you could do more on a weekend as you can hop on a cheep Ryan Air flight to anywhere in Europe. You can’t exactly do that living in Perth now can you? I don’t think that any of the people I’m talking about are doing anything that I wouldnt be able to do back home they just seem to organize it all weeks in advance.

brendansmith

Doc wrote: »

That’s not true at all. There’s just as much to do at home as there is here in fact you could do more on a weekend as you can hop on a cheep Ryan Air flight to anywhere in Europe. You can’t exactly do that living in Perth now can you? I don’t think that any of the people I’m talking about are doing anything that I wouldnt be able to do back home they just seem to organize it all weeks in advance.

Ride a kangaroo down the great ocean road?

CiaranC

Xavi6 wrote: »

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

Whether or not you did anything other than going to the pub or to a shopping centre back home has nothing to do with the country, its to do with you.

Doc

brendansmith wrote: »

Ride a kangaroo down the great ocean road?

Get a piggy back of a leprechaun through The Burren

Mackman

Xavi6 wrote: »

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

Its nothing to do with whether they're busy or not, the australians just dont do spontinaity. Its too much effort for them, their too lazy

Xavi6

CiaranC wrote: »

Whether or not you did anything other than going to the pub or to a shopping centre back home has nothing to do with the country, its to do with you.

So people are just as likely to have barbecues/trips to the beach planned backhome if they want to? The range of activities available is greater over here because of the weather therefore folk are more likely to have something planned.

strathspey

Xavi6 wrote: »

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

+1 Exactly.
Also planning is not part of the Irish pysche. Just look at the number of infrastructure projects that went over budget. How about the recent floods that are due to poor urban planning where developers were allowed to build estates in the flood plain. How about the only iconic buildings to have been built for posterity to enjoy were those built by the English, despite our boom.

NORZ

In answer to the original poster, no I would not go back! It would just be too much of a lifestyle downgrade, not to mention financial. I took a second WH and nearly have my PR finalized... Will be more than happy with annual trips home for Xmas/weddings etc. Miss the family and friends obviously but there are innumerate ways of staying in touch these days.

mandrake04

ZinedineKilbane wrote: »

In answer to the original poster, no I would not go back! It would just be too much of a lifestyle downgrade, not to mention financial. I took a second WH and nearly have my PR finalized... Will be more than happy with annual trips home for Xmas/weddings etc. Miss the family and friends obviously but there are innumerate ways of staying in touch these days.

+1

I try to go home every second year and members of family come out here every other second year and I arrange a super holiday in Australia (Australia Zoo, Cairns etc etc) with them, I find that I now spend 3-4 weeks of quality time with my family each year as compared to when I was living back home because I used to live at least 2-3 hours drive away or I lived in England and at best would only see my folks for a few days every few weeks.

The other thing I noticed was that I appreciate Ireland better from a tourist point of view because last time my Aussie GF was with me and we did things like the Guinness tour with my family as a group.... I never done stuff like that when I lived at home.

I also appreciated Trad music more I now play the Mandolin and Tenor Banjo, and I find that I have a better interest in my music now than I did back home.

Maybe after the first year I felt a bit homesick for Ireland but when I went home for Xmas I felt homesick for Australia, I find it is best to go home every few years and get the feeling out of your system but I imagine if you left it too long between visits you would lose touch of place (I suppose that happens)...

Having that Visa in my Passport means I have the choice to come and go as often as I want and Ireland may be on the other side of the world but it is really only a day away.

BarryCreed

Xavi6 wrote: »

That's because there's feck all else to do back home. Over here it's possible to make plans that don't just involve a trip to the local or a Sunday trip to the nearest shopping centre.

You can do loads of stuff in Ireland too, not shopping or pubs, if you're not a numpty or chav

BarryCreed

strathspey wrote: »

+1 Exactly.
Also planning is not part of the Irish pysche. Just look at the number of infrastructure projects that went over budget. How about the recent floods ....

bush fires in Victoria? discuss...

Jumpy

BarryCreed wrote: »

bush fires in Victoria? discuss...

All efforts were made to prevent that. Sometimes nature cannot be controlled. You cant backburn enough to prevent winds of that magnitude.

There was **** all done to prevent the Cork flooding. Zero, nip, nada, bugger all.

CiaranC

Jumpy wrote: »

All efforts were made to prevent that. Sometimes nature cannot be controlled. You cant backburn enough to prevent winds of that magnitude.

There was **** all done to prevent the Cork flooding. Zero, nip, nada, bugger all.

How many people died in Cork? There was a huge scandal about how ill-prepared they were for these fires. Another example of people looking at Australia through rose-tined glasses

Daithio

Spontaneous sessions can be great craic, but on the whole I prefer the way people plan things out in Australia. It used to piss me off so much in Ireland trying to organise anything with my mates, which usually meant that all we did was spontaneous sessions to the pub. Nobody will commit to anything and it just means you end up doing nothing, apart from getting trashed both nights of the weekend.

And there is definitely much more to do in Australia, mainly because of the weather.

nzae86

live in asutralia came here 6 yrs ago on the 1yr working holiday visa like 10,000's of young irish every yr, all bar 1 of my class in college did the same, i was fortunate enough to get offered sponsorship in the first yr and decided to take it nothing to do with the economy back then 2005 but fancied another couple of yrs here, i eventually applied and got permament residnecy and just recently i became an Australian citizen.

we planned on moving back in early 2007 but hearing the stories at home decided to give it a year or 2 which in hindsight has been really lucky i'm now in my late 20's and would really like to return maybe at the beginning of 2012. i wonder tho will the country have picked up by then and how i'll feel returning to ireland after 9 yrs in Australia. I've made many Irish friends over here and its funny how we've all changed they/we were all here for the craic and a couple of years away/travelling in 2003/2004 but now its home and real life (jobs houses etc etc)
Ireland in particular has been very badly managed i have to laugh when people talk about the global recession said it wasnt ireland's fault the country is in recession. Well there isnt or was any recession in australia, unemployment now will peak at 6.5% they reckon and interest rates are on the way up. Things thighten a bit alright and the first to be affected were backpacker i.e most Irish over here, but none of my settled friends with residency/citizenship had any problems what so ever. The aussies have a funny concept over here they look after the citizens first, Ireland may think about it someday.
i'm sure many of you are familiar with living over here but its a very well managed and run country and every facet live is highly regulated there (good and bad points to this). There is a rule or regulation for everything here, the cute hoorism of home doesnt really exist either the nepotism or connections, in part probably due to the size and the population but also due to the regulations. you dont here of many politicans or police going to jail at home, you do here.
They've had a long history of rules and regualtions here going back to the convict days the menataily of the people is used to it, so infairness ireland and most other countries are a bit different and its one thing the main things we notice as a difference in society between ireland and here, the rule regualtions and people atitudes to them.
I meet a huge amoutn of young irish here thru work who are over here looking for work, i'm in Brisbane and the difference in the amount of Irish here in 2009 to 2005 is unbelieveable, most you meet now are looking for work and sponsorship to stay, before it was just a year on the piss/travelling to 90% of those that came over.
But aside from all the problems ireland is also a great place people take life a little less seriously at home, rules arent followed to the the letter of the law etc, there is a great spirit to the people, and people know how to have fun and arent dry s**tes like in many of the "better" countries! Yes Ireland has massive problems compared to parts of mainland Europe, Australia, Scandiavia etc but its also not bad when you compare it to the majority of the world, people should look at Ireland's problems with a bit of perspective.

i for one look forward to moving home, i'm happy and proud to be an Australian citizen and happy to have the option of I or my kids (if i have some) Living in Australia open to me but hopefully one day i'll move back, maybe my future lies in Australia but i'll definately be giving Ireland another go before then.

Daithio

^^ pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about the whoel Ireland/ Australia thing.

unreggd

Daithio wrote: »

It used to piss me off so much in Ireland trying to organise anything with my mates..... Nobody will commit to anything and it just means you end up doing nothing

Thats the breaker for me

Its SO annoying that people won't commit to anything, anything at all!

It's worse cos I know their alternative is sitting home watchin TV

and Irish people are terrible with money


But personally, I wanna finish college and its too pricey here. Also, I wanna travel around for a few years, so I'm lookin forward to headin home

Rebel_Emerald

I'm loving Australia and don't have any desire to move back to Ireland anytime soon. I know I probably will want to head back at some stage in the future but am happy out here for the minute.

kittex

nzae86 wrote: »

Ireland in particular has been very badly managed i have to laugh when people talk about the global recession said it wasnt ireland's fault the country is in recession. Well there isnt or was any recession in australia, unemployment now will peak at 6.5% they reckon and interest rates are on the way up. Things thighten a bit alright and the first to be affected were backpacker i.e most Irish over here, but none of my settled friends with residency/citizenship had any problems what so ever..

Nothing to do with being well managed! The resources boom in WA has propped up and will prop up the Oz economy for years.
I'm sure if we had billions upon billions of iron, gold, diamonds, gas and oil in Ireland wouldn't be in recession either.

Daithio

kittex wrote: »

Nothing to do with being well managed! The resources boom in WA has propped up and will prop up the Oz economy for years.
I'm sure if we had billions upon billions of iron, gold, diamonds, gas and oil in Ireland wouldn't be in recession either.

Sorry, that's just wrong. Government in Australia functions a thousand times more efficiently than it does in Ireland.

hussey

Daithio wrote: »

Sorry, that's just wrong. Government in Australia functions a thousand times more efficiently than it does in Ireland.

true, but the point she was trying to make is we are linked closely with the Asian market, esp around commodities they do not have. If China had been as bad as the US, Australia might not have came out this as good.

The Sweeper

BarryCreed wrote: »

bush fires in Victoria? discuss...

Having lived through the bushfires, I can tell you that the literature, information and guidance to allow people survive a bushfire has been in place for years. It's not a lack of information, or a lack of dissemination of that information that was to blame - it was a freakish day of weather, and years of complacency seeing as the last terrible bushfires were Ash Wednesday of 1983.

I got a booklet in the post from the CFA about two months ago. It contained a huge amount of information about bushfires - the change in speed you can expect when they climb or descend a hill, advice about the best forms of defence (a car is better than being in the open, but being in a house is far better than being in a car).

Every part of the booklet that I read, I thought "oh, that's in response to suchandsuch a tragedy on Feb 7th" - things about the defensibility of properties, the speed of the fire front, the importance of evacuation, the pitfalls of trying to defend, etc.

There is even a paragraph in the booklet that states "making a decision to wait until the bushfire is nearly upon you, then attempting to flee in a car, can be a decision with terrible consequences". I assumed it was in direct reference to the people who died in their cars trying to flee Kinglake.

Until I checked out the copyright date on the booklet.

And discovered it was from 2007.

mandrake04

The Sweeper wrote: »

Having lived through the bushfires, I can tell you that the literature, information and guidance to allow people survive a bushfire has been in place for years. It's not a lack of information, or a lack of dissemination of that information that was to blame - it was a freakish day of weather, and years of complacency seeing as the last terrible bushfires were Ash Wednesday of 1983.

I got a booklet in the post from the CFA about two months ago. It contained a huge amount of information about bushfires - the change in speed you can expect when they climb or descend a hill, advice about the best forms of defence (a car is better than being in the open, but being in a house is far better than being in a car).

Every part of the booklet that I read, I thought "oh, that's in response to suchandsuch a tragedy on Feb 7th" - things about the defensibility of properties, the speed of the fire front, the importance of evacuation, the pitfalls of trying to defend, etc.

There is even a paragraph in the booklet that states "making a decision to wait until the bushfire is nearly upon you, then attempting to flee in a car, can be a decision with terrible consequences". I assumed it was in direct reference to the people who died in their cars trying to flee Kinglake.

Until I checked out the copyright date on the booklet.

And discovered it was from 2007.

Good post....

Wasn't so much poor planning.... but that people decided to stay and defend and with such dry winds whipped up so quickly turned out to be more than people could handle.