New Life in Westmeath - Any Advice?

PorCan Guy

G'Day...

I'm very close to being offered an excellent employment opportunity that will be located at the Athlone Business and Technology Park.

I currently live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and if successful I will be relocating to Athlone or the area. I plan to visit the area if I'm offered the position, before accepting, to get a feel for the area.

However, that being said, I need your thoughts. If I'm working at the Athlone Business and Technology Park, and I'm willing travel upwards of 30 minutes to and from work, where would be the best area to relocate my family to?

I have a 5 year old, so schools, hospitals, etc. are important.

Is Athlone the best place? Are there other towns that I should be giving serious consideration?

Again, I appreciate any advice that is provided....thanks in advance.

mr_edge_to_you

Athlone is by far the best town out of Mullingar, longford tullamore. I'm originally from Athlone and the way life has worked out I'll not be moving back. However, I think it is a great town. Perfect size,perfect location. On the river! Only 90mins on a motorway to Dublin. Train station. Not every town here has a proper train station. There's plenty of houses available within 30 mins walk of the Business Park, you won't have to commute. We don't really have an acute hospital but they are about 30 or 40 mins away in Mullingar and Tullamore. The health system here is ****e so you'll need private insurance. To be honest there's not much wrong with Athlone. Best of luck with the job search! I'm building a house with my fiancee in another part of the country but i'd go back to Athlone in a heartbeat

PorCan Guy

Thanks mr_edge. What about St. Vincent's / Athlone District Hospital? Is it not operating anymore?

veryangryman

+1 on all points bar the health service. To say that its **** is under estimating how bad it is.

www.vhi.ie

Nuff said

PorCan Guy

PorCan Guy wrote: »

Thanks mr_edge. What about St. Vincent's / Athlone District Hospital? Is it not operating anymore?

We've only needed to use it once, it's an out of hours surgery & clinic from what I understand, nearest hospltals are in Ballinasloe & Roscommon then you have Tullamore & Mullingar.

tubos

Nearest hospital is Ballinasloe - Portiuncula hospital. With the new motorway opening before Christmas I would imagine this hospital being no more than a 20 minute drive away, guaranteed (unlike dublin where you may be a mile from a hospital but could take half an hour to drive there!!). Plenty of doctors surgeries around town

Nice places to live outside of Athlone are Ballykeeran and Glasson. If you want a half hour commute by car you can go a lot further out with the motorway

I love Athlone, we moved here when we started a family, it has everything you need really within a small area. So with the motorway opening to Galway, the beach won't be too far away anymore either!!!

Seaneh

you could live anywhere in Athlone or around it and be within 30 minutes of the businesspark easily, small town and easy to get from a to b.

I reccommend living somwehere like Bealnmulla, near the motor way but far enough out of town to be quiet and serviced by Bus, near a mixed primary school and a girls secondary school if you have kids.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=FZUOLwMdWIGH_ynl-UllZklcSDHu1zG_FQ5WbQ%3BFdM3LwMd9sWF_yn5VrK-1EdcSDHhHCi7p8cAJg&q=Athlone+Business+%26+Technology+Park+to+bealnamulla&sll=53.423292,-8.00354&sspn=0.028847,0.077162&ie=UTF8&ll=53.419252,-7.970409&spn=0.057699,0.154324&t=h&z=13&saddr=Athlone+Business+%26+Technology+Park&daddr=bealnamulla


Or Somewhere in Coosan, near the lake, if you're into that sort of thing.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Athlone+Business+%26+Technology+Park&daddr=53.441139,-7.958393&hl=en&geocode=FZUOLwMdWIGH_ynl-UllZklcSDHu1zG_FQ5WbQ%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=13&sll=53.42671,-7.919235&sspn=0.057688,0.154324&ie=UTF8&ll=53.439963,-7.93582&spn=0.028835,0.077162&t=h&z=14

Roro4Brit

Yeah Athlone is absolutely great.

You're always only 5 min away from your nearest drug dealer.

The shopping centre is ace if you're looking to be taunted by loads of young knackers.

You'll have no problem finding someone to beat you up after a night out on the town.

Oh and don't forget the lovely neighbours...like these for example....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDOoEIfADfs



Great spot. Let me know how it goes.

Seaneh

Idiot.

Roro4Brit

Seaneh wrote: »

Idiot.

In the words of a true athlonian....

I tell you no lies missus.


Listen I'm just giving you my 18 year experience of Athlone - albeit jocosely. Don't attack me just because you don't like what you hear.

Every town on the planet has it's share of lowlife, if you look you'll always find them!

But most people will find out where the shitholes are and avoid them.

PorCan Guy

Thanks again everyone! I live in a great city now, and yes, it has its fair share of garbage as well (almost 100 homicides this year, and counting)...don't get me started on drugs and gangs.

As dolanbaker said, if you look hard enough you'll always find this. And if I may say so myself...if you are walking around town alone at 2 in the morning (or later), you have to expect that you are going to be prone to trouble.

Thank you everyone for feedback. I greatly appreciate it. The biggest concern I have at this point is that the hospital isn't really a hospital...but I'm sure there is good ambulatory response in case of an emergency?

I just got through to the third and final interview for this opportunity. It's looking like I might be in Athlone very soon.

Is there a football club in town? My son is an advid footballer, and I wouldn't mind to continue coaching.

Thanks again!

Seaneh

There are two very good schoolboy teams in town, St. Francis and Willow Park.

We have a League Of Ireland team too, Athlone Town F.C.

Yeah Athlone has an Ambulance service and its very near town and right beside the motor way, Athlone is within 30 mins of 2 hospitals, one of which is a major regional hospital (Tullamore Regional) and the other of which is just a standard small hospital with an A&E and a few wards (Portiuncla, Ballinasloe).
As has been said, invest in health insurence, we have a social healthcare system but its limited and pirvate is definately the way to go.

mr_edge_to_you

Athlone Town FC. Former European giants!!! Milan came to town once!!!! We've also got a decent rugby team in town too.

I wouldn't be too worried about being too far from a hospital. 3 years ago I was taken to hospital unconscious by ambulance from Moate to Tullamore in 11 minutes - pretty fast. In fairness, there is an excellent out-of-hours doctor service in the hospital in Athlone. Along with that if you are really sick they'll ship you up to Dublin anyway!!

We also have amazing restaurants too.

There is also an excellent third level college in the town too. Don't think anyone has mentioned that yet. That makes up somewhat for the lack of hosital in my opinon.

Athlone is also the home of curry chips and cheese. It sounds wrong but it's a taste sensation!

PorCan Guy

Thanks Seaneh.

Do good employers in Ireland typically offer private health insurance as part of their benefit package? My final interview is partly to start negotiations on salary and benefits, so I'm curious if this is something normally offered.

Does anyone know if there are any future plans to upgrade the Athlone hospital?

I also have questions regarding Private and High Tech hospitals...are there any of these in the area? Do the hospitals already mentioned fall into one of these categories?

Thanks all! I'll have to buy a round!

PorCan Guy

PorCan Guy wrote: »

Thanks Seaneh.

Do good employers in Ireland typically offer private health insurance as part of their benefit package? My final interview is partly to start negotiations on salary and benefits, so I'm curious if this is something normally offered.

Yes, health insurance is (used to be) offered as part of the package, with the current economic situation here a lot of things that were a given three years or so ago, aren't anymore.

As for the hospital questions, I don't know.

PorCan Guy

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Athlone Town FC. Former European giants!!! Milan came to town once!!!! We've also got a decent rugby team in town too.

I wouldn't be too worried about being too far from a hospital. 3 years ago I was taken to hospital unconscious by ambulance from Moate to Tullamore in 11 minutes - pretty fast. In fairness, there is an excellent out-of-hours doctor service in the hospital in Athlone. Along with that if you are really sick they'll ship you up to Dublin anyway!!

We also have amazing restaurants too.

There is also an excellent third level college in the town too. Don't think anyone has mentioned that yet. That makes up somewhat for the lack of hosital in my opinon.

Athlone is also the home of curry chips and cheese. It sounds wrong but it's a taste sensation!

Thanks again. I don't really care about the hospital for myself...they can just ship me in a cardboard box for all I care. My worry is really due to my young son. We currently live 2 minutes from a decent hospital, so I guess I've just become so accustomed to knowing that one is so close - just in case. I've had to use it more times than I'd like for my son.

Curry chips and cheese definitely sounds enticing...any particular place I should give it a try at?

And yes, I remember hearing about Athlone Town FC...I'll have to catch up with their recent doings.

I've been reading on the recent flooding...is this something to expect at this time of year, or was this a rare incident? Are the waters receeding yet?

mr_edge_to_you

Alfredo's - finest Italian chip shop in Athlone (the italians came over and sold potatoes (in the form of nice homemade chips)to the irish- you have to admire them!).

The flooding seemed to happen in certain areas near the river which are prone to flooding. Although the severity of the floods this time around was never seen before in all areas).

On a serious note, when you get into our hospitals you will not get better doctors and nurses anywhere else. The people are let down by the system.

To be honest, there is nothing bad I can say about Athlone that I don't like. I live outside Dublin and work in Dublin. Yourself and your family will enjoy a nice pace of living in Athlone. There's a lot to be said for hassle free commuting.

We also have a decent swimming pool/leisure centre and the college have recently built a full size track and field facility.

martin1

PorCan guy...............from the bottom of my heart

STAY WHERE YOU ARE

tubos

I'm from Dublin, born and bred! When myself and wife decided to start a family we got out of Dublin, wanted to move somewhere where we could afford an actual house (as opposed to a 1bed tiny apartment)! We moved to Athlone and have not regretted it one bit. It helped that I was sorted with a job before I came though!!

I can find little fault with Athlone, the fact that there is no hospital in the town is a problem, but it's the same with a lot of Areas in Ireland. The fact is, if you have an emergency, I would imagine the drive to Ballinasloe will take 10 minutes max!! Fortunately I have not had to use the emergency service, but I do know there are ambulances based in Blyry industrial estate. Not sure how it works exactly though. Portiuncula hospital is known to have a good maternity service and recently opened a state of the art special baby care unit (it was left idle for a long time because of no staff to operate it). In Ireland, your local hospital is always in danger of being downgraded due to cutbacks though!!

There's a few dodgy characters around the town alright, but I still get a shock when I go back to Dublin and see the amount of scumbags!

There's hardly any traffic jams in Athlone, which is nice!!

Athlone has got so much potential that is not fully realized, with the Shannon and the lake. Just don't live too close to the Shannon and close to water level!

I find that a lot of the local Athlonians are the ones putting their town down!! But that is the same as most places, always complaining about the negatives, never realizing what you have on your own doorstep.

The choice of eateries is top notch in Athlone and surrounding areas.

Plenty of leisure facilities including the regional sports centre. There is an abundance of clubs and leisure activities for kids - Football, GAA, rugby etc and the facilities are top class.

PorCan Guy

martin1 wrote: »

PorCan guy...............from the bottom of my heart

STAY WHERE YOU ARE

Care to explain further? I wonder if you'd say the same if you knew what it was like where I live now? Also, I would not be considering this move if it were not for a lucrative enough opportunity...what I'm being offered salary-wise is much, much higher than I would get offered in Canada without another 10 years of experience.

Hence, a comment such as this really does not have much value...unless you explain...

PorCan Guy

tubos wrote: »

I'm from Dublin, born and bred! When myself and wife decided to start a family we got out of Dublin, wanted to move somewhere where we could afford an actual house (as opposed to a 1bed tiny apartment)! We moved to Athlone and have not regretted it one bit. It helped that I was sorted with a job before I came though!!

I can find little fault with Athlone, the fact that there is no hospital in the town is a problem, but it's the same with a lot of Areas in Ireland. The fact is, if you have an emergency, I would imagine the drive to Ballinasloe will take 10 minutes max!! Fortunately I have not had to use the emergency service, but I do know there are ambulances based in Blyry industrial estate. Not sure how it works exactly though. Portiuncula hospital is known to have a good maternity service and recently opened a state of the art special baby care unit (it was left idle for a long time because of no staff to operate it). In Ireland, your local hospital is always in danger of being downgraded due to cutbacks though!!

There's a few dodgy characters around the town alright, but I still get a shock when I go back to Dublin and see the amount of scumbags!

There's hardly any traffic jams in Athlone, which is nice!!

Athlone has got so much potential that is not fully realized, with the Shannon and the lake. Just don't live too close to the Shannon and close to water level!

I find that a lot of the local Athlonians are the ones putting their town down!! But that is the same as most places, always complaining about the negatives, never realizing what you have on your own doorstep.

The choice of eateries is top notch in Athlone and surrounding areas.

Plenty of leisure facilities including the regional sports centre. There is an abundance of clubs and leisure activities for kids - Football, GAA, rugby etc and the facilities are top class.

Thanks! I notice the same where I live now. Those who have been born and raised complain night and day. I moved to this town 10 years ago, and have never regretted it either. The main reason I'm being lured away from this town in Canada to go to Athlone Ireland is because of a significantly higher salary than what I'd be receiving here.

I'm looking at some apartments in the Athlone Town Centre (?)...apparently they are pretty new adjacent to the mall and a hotel? Any thoughts on that area?

Acoshla

Hi PorCan Guy,

So you're planning a move over? I moved to Toronto for a year and am now back in Ireland, have ended up not too far from Athlone

I'll leave it to the experts to give you advice as I don't really know too much about Athlone but all I'll say is this, no matter what anyone tells you about how awful and wet and dreary Irish winters are they are nothing compare to Toronto winter! Once you've commuted in that snow and ice winter here is a doddle.

tubos

A lot of Irish people aspire to living in Canada though! We always hear what a great quality of life you have over there!!

As for the apartments at the Athlone Town Centre. I haven't been in them but I would imagine they are small!! Very central though!! They are only a stones throw from the train station as well. I think a lot of them are unsold as they were built at the time the whole property crash began! I wouldn't imagine they'd be suitable for families. Apartment living in Ireland is not like other places around the world where it is the norm, most of our apartments were built in the last ten years when developers could make money from selling shoebox like apartments are inflated prices!!

The Bastion Quay apartments look nice enough (esp the ones with the huge corner windows), but that area was hit with the recent flooding, not sure about the building itself but the surrounding area was badly hit.

PorCan Guy

Spadina wrote: »

Hi PorCan Guy,

So you're planning a move over? I moved to Toronto for a year and am now back in Ireland, have ended up not too far from Athlone

I'll leave it to the experts to give you advice as I don't really know too much about Athlone but all I'll say is this, no matter what anyone tells you about how awful and wet and dreary Irish winters are they are nothing compare to Toronto winter! Once you've commuted in that snow and ice winter here is a doddle.

I hear ya Spadina! I just finished driving through our first major snowstorm, 70 Kph winds, and -20 windchills! I'll take +5 and rain any day!!

So was is it a major difference between Toronto and where you are now? Obviously a metropolis is a metropolis, but I guess I mean way of life, culture, etc.

I live about 45 minutes outside of Toronto (Georgetown), so I'm used to and favour small town life.

PorCan Guy

tubos wrote: »

A lot of Irish people aspire to living in Canada though! We always hear what a great quality of life you have over there!!

As for the apartments at the Athlone Town Centre. I haven't been in them but I would imagine they are small!! Very central though!! They are only a stones throw from the train station as well. I think a lot of them are unsold as they were built at the time the whole property crash began! I wouldn't imagine they'd be suitable for families. Apartment living in Ireland is not like other places around the world where it is the norm, most of our apartments were built in the last ten years when developers could make money from selling shoebox like apartments are inflated prices!!

The Bastion Quay apartments look nice enough (esp the ones with the huge corner windows), but that area was hit with the recent flooding, not sure about the building itself but the surrounding area was badly hit.

Absolutely...I don't doubt that many people in the world aspire to live in Canada. It's a decent life here, but very hustle and bustle and fast paced - depending on what you do for a living. As well, if you are not a snow-lover, such as myself, you really tend to hate the next few months.

Again, I wouldn't be considering a move if it weren't for an excellent job opportunity. if all things were equal, it just wouldn't be worth the stress and change. People with the same experience and expertise I have are getting salaries between 55K and 70K euros. That's not exactly chump change to me...unless it costs 1000 euros a week for groceries in Ireland....

tubos

Ireland ain't a cheap place to live that's for sure. Rents in Athlone are very affordable these days though, there is great value to be had, but day to day cost of living can be high, but it has come down!

neaideabh

martin1 wrote: »

PorCan guy...............from the bottom of my heart

STAY WHERE YOU ARE

Bitter...

I am from Athlone and I can honestly say that Athlone is one of the best towns in Ireland in terms of amenities, education, nightlife location and potential! Many people I know who moved here from other towns say the same thing! You have everything you want here!

Good shops, the river, the lake, good restaurants, good nightlife and whats more is you are only an hour from dublin and galway.

PorCan Guy

PorCan Guy wrote: »

Care to explain further? I wonder if you'd say the same if you knew what it was like where I live now? Also, I would not be considering this move if it were not for a lucrative enough opportunity...what I'm being offered salary-wise is much, much higher than I would get offered in Canada without another 10 years of experience.

Hence, a comment such as this really does not have much value...unless you explain...

I'm quessing that he is a victim of the current recession and that he means don't come to Ireland, full stop, rather than any particular issues with Athlone.

Acoshla

PorCan Guy wrote: »

I hear ya Spadina! I just finished driving through our first major snowstorm, 70 Kph winds, and -20 windchills! I'll take +5 and rain any day!!

So was is it a major difference between Toronto and where you are now? Obviously a metropolis is a metropolis, but I guess I mean way of life, culture, etc.

I live about 45 minutes outside of Toronto (Georgetown), so I'm used to and favour small town life.

Just remembered what my username is, do you recognise it at all? My love of Toronto spread to my boards name, ha. The windchill! I decided my two most hated words in Canada were Humidity and Windchill, I remember waiting for a streetcar at 4am in both, not fun!

I lived in a small town in Ireland all my life, well, big as Irish small towns go, about 25,000 people, then I had moved to Galway City before moving to Toronto, I had travelled a bit and seen London, New York etc so Toronto wasn't a big culture shock in terms of size, noise, traffic, etc., but on moving home again I definitely miss and appreciate some things more here.

I don't know anything about Georgetown, I spent most of my time in TO between downtown where I lived and Woodbridge, Vaughn, where my ex boyfriends family live. I now live in a town with approx 22,000 people but whereas the town I'm from had a large town centre this town has a much smaller centre, just well populated surrounding countryside really so it's a big difference from anywhere I've lived before. The main differences I find now are that sometimes I think "Oooh where can we go for dinner?" and remember that even though they are of course choices in Athlone/Galway region it's nothing like the choice in a big city! Also I have to say, since living in TO all the nature here seems so much more gorgeous, the fields, the sheep, the rolling hills, the little villages, it's all so beautiful after coming from highways and buildings and streetcars! Even though I thought Toronto had lovely parks and stuff nothing compares to going off to Portumna Woods and wandering around for hours in the peace and quiet.

Traffic is much worse here in terms of bottleneck towns, being stuck for ages, but at the same time Toronto was so huge that even moving at good speed it took a while to get to most places, so it kinda evens out. Very frustrating to sit still in traffic here though, that never really happened to me in Toronto.

Also, one big difference, brace yourself for Irish humour. It is very different to Canadian humour, I thought so anyway. And if I even said so much as a "Feck" at work they'd all be staring at me

There are so many differences, sometimes I can't believe the same person that lived in Toronto and went to exhibitions, the ROM, and Wonderland at the weekends is the same person that now spends weekends going for walks with my dog and my camera in the deep countryside, but it's lovely all the same.

Sorry if I rambled a bit! Hope some of it helps.

PorCan Guy

Thanks Spadina! Yes, you must've lived close to China Town then...I'm not a city slicker for anything...in fact, I avoid downtown TO like the plague.

I like your humour..."Feck"...hilarious! I guess I work in a different culture, cus if you don't say it every one stares at you!

Well thank you for your perspective!

I just completed my third and final interview, and the organization has been so kind as to fly me out this weekend, so I can spend the better part of next week in Athlone...just to be sure. ALL EXPENSE PAID! I'm floored! Can you all see why I'm considering the move? This organization is phenomenal.

So...I shall be amongst most of you in Athlone by Saturday evening! What's the first pub I should stop at? Sean's?