Ireland vs UK quality of life

lufties

I was listening to Joe duffy on the bus coming from dublin today. A few callers saying they'd like to return to Ireland but there is no incentive. The callers were living in Oz and UK. They said they'd be sacrificing a better tax, health system, as well as taking a pay cut in their professions (teaching and nursing).

Jim2007

lufties wrote: »

I was listening to Joe duffy on the bus coming from dublin today. A few callers saying they'd like to return to Ireland but there is no incentive. The callers were living in Oz and UK. They said they'd be sacrificing a better tax, health system, as well as taking a pay cut in their professions (teaching and nursing).

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

lufties

Jim2007 wrote: »

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

thats not the point. But life is better overseas for them, Ireland is a rip off in comparison. Nobody is saying they are entitled to anything. Just prefer to live in a fairer society.

mrslancaster

lufties wrote: »

thats not the point. But life is better overseas for them, Ireland is a rip off in comparison. Nobody is saying they are entitled to anything. Just prefer to live in a fairer society.

agree its probably better overseas.
it has always been a struggle in Ireland & definitely not a fair society IMO.
there was a few years when it looked like things were improving for the average Joe but that didn't last
family and friends who emigrated to the uk appear to have better life balance. they dont seem to work as long hours, there are more jobs & better career opportunities for kids, better services & facilities for older people or people with any disability or medical needs, health service, free medicines, school book schemes, cheaper cars, insurance, etc etc. I could go on...

services in the UK are there as a citizens right not because you 'know' someone
just saying....that's what I hear from family & friends and most love coming back for visits but no way would they live here, they say life is too hard here

jimmycrackcorm

Jim2007 wrote:

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

lufties

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

Where is that? the U.K? Well I never said it was a Utopia over there. But I can say, that after living in 5 countries in the last decade that I've never felt as ripped off as I do in Ireland. 33% high tax band is outrageous, along with car insurance, rent/house prices, ****e salaries. No employer pension (its compulsory in the UK. To be honest I'm suprised the lights even turn on in Ireland. Everything is low grade, poorly built.

BTW, I'm one who never cared much for overtime. Perhaps its a good idea to have high tax on overtime, as it prevents idiots working the job of 2 men, therefore freeing up jobs.

Jim2007

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

Would you prefer to live in a country where everything gets taxed at the highest bracket on the scale, where a wife's salary gets added to the husband's but he is taxed as a single person and should you happen to own your own home the estimate rental income of the property is added to your tax bill? Every country has it's issues and Ireland is no different.

lufties

mrslancaster wrote: »

agree its probably better overseas.
it has always been a struggle in Ireland & definitely not a fair society IMO.
there was a few years when it looked like things were improving for the average Joe but that didn't last
family and friends who emigrated to the uk appear to have better life balance. they dont seem to work as long hours, there are more jobs & better career opportunities for kids, better services & facilities for older people or people with any disability or medical needs, health service, free medicines, school book schemes, cheaper cars, insurance, etc etc. I could go on...

services in the UK are there as a citizens right not because you 'know' someone
just saying....that's what I hear from family & friends and most love coming back for visits but no way would they live here, they say life is too hard here

After the sheen of moving back to Ireland wore off, the frustration kicked in and I realised why I left in the first place.
I had an interesting convo today with a lady on the bus, we were talking about if you question the stays quo your labelled a troublemaker..she reckoned its a mentality that stems from the old days when you'd be called an informant and ridiculed, if you questioned authority

seachto7

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Sosurface

seachto7 wrote: »

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Money is generally crap in the north. Everything is usually cheaper but usually you get smaller wages to account for that. I actually worked for a major Southern food company named after a county and the pay/conditions were the usual bare to the bone-as little as we can get away with giving crap you'd expect from Irish businesses tbh. If you can get decent money though its pretty much a cheaper weirder version of Ireland.

lufties

Sosurface wrote: »

seachto7 wrote: »

Anyone work in NI and then RoI. Is it much of a muchness? Any comparisons to be made apart from the obvious ones?

Money is generally crap in the north. Everything is usually cheaper but usually you get smaller wages to account for that. I actually worked for a major Southern food company named after a county and the pay/conditions were the usual bare to the bone-as little as we can get away with giving crap you'd expect from Irish businesses tbh. If you can get decent money though its pretty much a cheaper weirder version of Ireland.

Working for Paddy is worse than anything

arccosh

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Jim2007 wrote:

And so what, does Ireland owe them a living or something? I left Ireland over 25 years ago, it would never enter my head that Ireland owes me anything. This sense of entitlement is shocking, is it really the future we want for Ireland??

Does Ireland owe then the privilege of paying 52% tax on every extra hour of overtime once you go above a mediocre salary?

UK? ... you have to earn £150,000 to get that tax band

arccosh

In the UK close to 3 years....down the south coast...

Rent: seems compaible with Dublin, slightly cheaper, but when you add on council tax, theres maybe only €100 - 200 in the difference..

Transport: if you're outside a major town, a car is a must... with the crap with southern rail the last year or so, even trains , which were usually reliable, has gone to crap..... also train travel is very dear...

Cars: don't own one, but have BIK..... alright deal too

Salary: entry level and service jobs are really badly paid.... I took a hit leaving a decent job in Dublin to come over and pretty much start from scratch... paying off big time now

Opportunity: unreal compared to Ireland.... I'm in Telecoms, and anything in Ireland, bar customer service or technician was pretty much Degree/Masters with 2 years experience minimum for entry level jobs.... which I suppose makes sense, you don't realise how small Ireland is until you move away, so they have the pck of the bunch at home

Life: decent work life balance.... 35 hr work week in a 40 hr timeframe, wages are really good, 28 days holidays minimum and decent pension matching.... Weather is amazing down south, there is the pretenciousness that goes with some areas of the south, but I just keep the head down and work....

Study: additional study is not cheap.... even part time and add on year for a degree will be £4500 out of your own pocket over 3 yrs...obviously work may pay and give time off, which a lot seem to do in IT/Telecoms/Electronics sectors

Don't know how things will go with Brexit.... I'd happily stay for another few years, but that would be dependent on buying a house, and how difficult that will be around Brexit will be a big decision maker.... But I know going back to Ireland I'll fall back into the living for the weekend routine

Overall, I've a better job, salary, work life balance, health, than what I had in Ireland....

Ireland though is where all my friends and family are, and as will happen, we're slowly drifiting away...
I'd love an opportunity to go back, but I will be bottom of the ladder again, and have to move in back home, also, I know I'll fall back into the living for the weekend routine... even though the social side in England is a bit barren, it's better than getting FOMO at the weekend and pissing your wages up the wall week in week out.

average hero

A very timely thread for me. 

I worked in a few places in the UK over the past few years. Leeds is a great town but all of my friends were down in London. So while I worked there, I didn't particularly enjoy it. If you moved over with a few friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend, you'd have a good aul time. 

I'm based in London at the moment and I love it. Good opportunities, better salaries than in Dublin although entry-level and service jobs are paid very poorly indeed. Rent is close enough to Dublin however it is still expensive. Takes a chunk out of the pay packet every month! Conditions can be good in the right companies - eg. I have 25 days leave per year, a good pension, 37 hours a week etc.

The one thing that gets on my goat is that London is such an expensive and busy city! I think I need to take more holidays abroad and relax rather than going back to Dublin!

I was thinking of moving home to Dublin however this thread is really striking a chord with me...

lufties

average hero wrote: »

A very timely thread for me. 

I worked in a few places in the UK over the past few years. Leeds is a great town but all of my friends were down in London. So while I worked there, I didn't particularly enjoy it. If you moved over with a few friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend, you'd have a good aul time. 

I'm based in London at the moment and I love it. Good opportunities, better salaries than in Dublin although entry-level and service jobs are paid very poorly indeed. Rent is close enough to Dublin however it is still expensive. Takes a chunk out of the pay packet every month! Conditions can be good in the right companies - eg. I have 25 days leave per year, a good pension, 37 hours a week etc.

The one thing that gets on my goat is that London is such an expensive and busy city! I think I need to take more holidays abroad and relax rather than going back to Dublin!

I was thinking of moving home to Dublin however this thread is really striking a chord with me...

I moved back to Limerick for 6 months and nearly went insane, poor salaries, perks etc, and just a general lack of sophistication, opportunities, coupled with small mindedness and outrageous outgoings, car, health insurance etc. Came back to London with my tail between my legs.

average hero

Sorry to hear that Lufties although thank you for sharing!
I'm looking at jobs in Dublin but at the moment it seems futile to be applying from London. Perhaps I need to move back and apply for jobs.
That is a good point about the outrageous outgoings actually - car and health insurance especially, as I don't need either here in London!
In the next couple of months I will make my decision but I suppose with my family and friends back home, the heart want what the heart doth want.

redcup342

Looking at it from a different perspective

We have a UK Office and I work in the German office.

In the German office we have flex time, no meetings are scheduled after 4pm or before 9am.

Working during your holiday is forbidden.

We get 30 days holidays per year, Sabbaticals are possible. We have health days, an onsite gym with 2 trainers, we also have a massage room with a masseuse on call where you can book an appointment.

Lunch is lunch, you take it and you go out or eat in the canteen, you never eat at your desk, it's taken as a time to relax and eat/enjoy your food properly.

We have a yearly Ski trip and events every year plus a discount program for many activities all over Germany and abroad.

We also have a Car leasing program or you can also get subsidized public transport which you can use during your working hours for yourself and then after 7pm and on the weekends you can use it for you, 1 adult and 2 children and the zone extends out to the entire NRW Region and not just the city center zone.

In the UK they get 25 holidays per year, there is no rule on when meetings can be scheduled, it's totally normal to be dragged into working remotely on your days off.

Eating at your desk or skipping lunch altogether is pretty common because people just want to try and get home a bit earlier.

There is no flex time, you just work until it's done. Many people just lose their Vacation days because their manager won't approve days off and they expire the following year.

There is no onsite Gym or discounts.

Also our offices in Germany are in the City Center or served by S-Bahn/U-Bahn, one is even next to a main rail station so served by ICE/IC/RE/S-Bahn UK Offices are served by a crappy bus service and are in an industrial park somewhere.

I wouldn't rate the UK Quality of life with regards to work/life balance anything close to Germany. Ireland is pretty similar from my experience.

Never worked in London but if you work for the right company in the right place it can be good I hear but from colleagues that recently moved to our London office everything is great except they have to live really far away from work because the cost of accommodation is completely crazy.

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

Looking at it from a different perspective

We have a UK Office and I work in the German office.

In the German office we have flex time, no meetings are scheduled after 4pm or before 9am.

Working during your holiday is forbidden.

We get 30 days holidays per year, Sabbaticals are possible. We have health days, an onsite gym with 2 trainers, we also have a massage room with a masseuse on call where you can book an appointment.

Lunch is lunch, you take it and you go out or eat in the canteen, you never eat at your desk, it's taken as a time to relax and eat/enjoy your food properly.

We have a yearly Ski trip and events every year plus a discount program for many activities all over Germany and abroad.

We also have a Car leasing program or you can also get subsidized public transport which you can use during your working hours for yourself and then after 7pm and on the weekends you can use it for you, 1 adult and 2 children and the zone extends out to the entire NRW Region and not just the city center zone.

In the UK they get 25 holidays per year, there is no rule on when meetings can be scheduled, it's totally normal to be dragged into working remotely on your days off.

Eating at your desk or skipping lunch altogether is pretty common because people just want to try and get home a bit earlier.

There is no flex time, you just work until it's done. Many people just lose their Vacation days because their manager won't approve days off and they expire the following year.

There is no onsite Gym or discounts.

Also our offices in Germany are in the City Center or served by S-Bahn/U-Bahn, one is even next to a main rail station so served by ICE/IC/RE/S-Bahn UK Offices are served by a crappy bus service and are in an industrial park somewhere.

I wouldn't rate the UK Quality of life with regards to work/life balance anything close to Germany. Ireland is pretty similar from my experience.

Never worked in London but if you work for the right company in the right place it can be good I hear but from colleagues that recently moved to our London office everything is great except they have to live really far away from work because the cost of accommodation is completely crazy.

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

redcup342

lufties wrote: »

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

Tarring all Germans with the same brush doesn't really make sense, Cologne/Dusseldorf are very open minded and its easy to mix, plus they are really international, I wouldn't say London is typical England either (look at the Brexit vote)

Munich and most of Bavaria can be very closed. Berlin is a bit of a mixed bag.

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

There is no doubt that Germany has a better quality of life, and I've spent time there. However Germans are so different with regard to humour, culture etc. London sucks in some ways, but no way would I go back to Germany to live.
If you can score a good job in the UK ,it's a game changer.

Tarring all Germans with the same brush doesn't really make sense, Cologne/Dusseldorf are very open minded and its easy to mix, plus they are really international, I wouldn't say London is typical England either (look at the Brexit vote)

Munich and most of Bavaria can be very closed. Berlin is a bit of a mixed bag.

Yes Germans like to peddle that myth about cologne\dusseldorf, having lived in both, I never had one German friend. When I left the job, not one person joined me for a beer (and I got on with pretty much everyone).

Also spent time in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and bavaria. Same thing.

Germans are cold people.

redcup342

lufties wrote: »

Yes Germans like to peddle that myth about cologne\dusseldorf, having lived in both, I never had one German friend. When I left the job, not one person joined me for a beer (and I got on with pretty much everyone).

Also spent time in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and bavaria. Same thing.

Germans are cold people.

That's weird, I have a lot of German friends, we regularly go for Stammtisch or we (I) organise a Kneipentour, every Christmas we have a get together at the Christmas markets. Met most people via work, Badminton or just when out having some beers in bars.

The only time I've seen expats having problems is when they only stick to expat events/Irish Pubs, Internations, Couchsurfing events, that kind of stuff.

You can't say Germans are cold people anymore than you can say Irish people are all drunks

zweton

Haha

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

Yes Germans like to peddle that myth about cologne\dusseldorf, having lived in both, I never had one German friend. When I left the job, not one person joined me for a beer (and I got on with pretty much everyone).

Also spent time in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and bavaria. Same thing.

Germans are cold people.

That's weird, I have a lot of German friends, we regularly go for Stammtisch or we (I) organise a Kneipentour, every Christmas we have a get together at the Christmas markets. Met most people via work, Badminton or just when out having some beers in bars.

The only time I've seen expats having problems is when they only stick to expat events/Irish Pubs, Internations, Couchsurfing events, that kind of stuff.

You can't say Germans are cold people anymore than you can say Irish people are all drunks

Well the reality of my experience speaks for itself. Perhaps it's the industry I'm in is a magnet for arseholes. I'm quite an outgoing person. So either I was giving some off some negative vibrations I wasn't aware of, or I was surrounded by people who were closed off to friendship.

LordSutch

lufties wrote: »

Ireland vs UK quality of life.

The UK; England (North), England (South), Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland ....... where to begin?

I've lived in the the South of England for many years, and from that experience I can safely say that its a great place to live & work. Vibrant, full of energy, great facilities, great people too!

So much to discuss & weigh up re the different regions, cultures & countries within the UK. I think (nowadays) Ireland compares very favourably.

lufties

LordSutch wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

Ireland vs UK quality of life.

The UK; England (North), England (South), Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland ....... where to begin?

I've lived in the the South of England for many years, and from that experience I can safely say that its a great place to live & work. Vibrant, full of energy, great facilities, great people too!

So much to discuss & weigh up re the different regions, cultures & countries within the UK. I think (nowadays) Ireland compares very favourably.

Compares favourably? Ireland is a rip off, and you work harder for less. You mean regarding multiculturalism?

LordSutch

LordSutch wrote: »

So much to discuss & weigh up re the different regions, cultures & countries within the UK. I think (nowadays) Ireland compares very favourably.

I should have qualified that with, in many (but not all) aspects ...

I think the NHS is great.

average hero

Wow Redcup - that sounds amazing! What industry are you in might I ask? I assume tech haha.
By the way, I am jealous of you living in NRW! I frequently go over to watch Borussia Dortmund play football and stay with a buddy in Essen. Not the prettiest cities in the world but by God I love it. People are class, beer and wurst is great and seems chilled! Fair play man!

Any big gripes with NRW?

zweton

LordSutch wrote: »

The UK; England (North), England (South), Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland ....... where to begin?

I've lived in the the South of England for many years, and from that experience I can safely say that its a great place to live & work. Vibrant, full of energy, great facilities, great people too!

So much to discuss & weigh up re the different regions, cultures & countries within the UK. I think (nowadays) Ireland compares very favourably.

what part of the south of england lordsutch?

LordSutch

Surrey.

Nice.

zweton

guys, currently living in edinburgh and was considering bristol as a change.
Have any of you been/worked there?