Has anyone ever worked/lived in the UK and preferred it to Ireland

Stevieluvsye

theteal wrote: »

I've not quite brought myself to go to the cricket, a few of the local lads are into it and have invited me but there's just some inbred working class Dublin thing that makes me decline, can't explain it as it looks a decent day in the sun with scoops. . .never mind the boringness on the pitch (is it called a pitch??)

Chelmsford is a decent spot albeit one I'm not overly familiar with, there's an Irish owned pub near the bus station, had a few good nights in there.

The "Pitch" is also known as the wicket, as in where the batsman would play from Outside of that you have the "outfield"

There you go, you're all set. Get yourself to a T20 Blast game. Games in Chelmsford are usually on a Friday night.

chrissb8

I can only speak for London, but it is no place to make a life. The pace is too fast and although there are nice areas you could never afford to live there. Or if you can is it worth it considering how much farther your money would go elsewhere? Plus the idea of raising a family in such mania stresses me out.

However I like it here as I'm relatively young and the opportunities and things to see or explore are great. But I know that in time I'll want that slow pace of life again for good. The idea is to build a career here, get some great experience, have some craic and head back to Ireland where I can pick something similar up career wise.

I don't miss the lack of things to do in Ireland but I miss the stuff I could do. Simple things like walking down the road to the beach on a summers night, going for a hike somewhere out in Wicklow. I left Ireland because I was cracking up at the repitition of life there for me, I didn't feel there was much growth for me and although I've struggled at times here it's been rewarding and is helped by having friends from home around me too.

That's actually one thing I would recommend for any Irish person to do. Is to make connections with other Irish people as although British people by and large are friendly, you miss the certain humour we Irish have and the flow of conversation you can't find anywhere else.

So to answer the OP it's Ireland for me.

P.S. The pubs are f*****g s**e though. So are their cask ales, flat warm muck. It's no wonder you never see them in other countries.

mariaalice

I have a lot of family in the UK including children and inlaws, it all depends where you live, lots of depressing towns full of bingo places, run-down shops and cheap pubs, on the other hand, their are beautiful cities and towns although they tend to be expensive to live in. Public services are very good despite the moaning. its a very divided society in a way you do not see in Ireland.

wakka12

Well I much prefer London to Dublin, cant speak for the whole country though, plenty of ****holes, agree above that most places in the UK that are nice to live in are obscenely expensive. plenty of nice areas in Ireland that are affordable

ancapailldorcha

Yeah, I definitely feel more at ease here than I ever did in Ireland. Not quite at home but definitely more at ease.

I hail from the countryside and lovely as it was, I just don't think I could hack living somewhere so isolated ever again and the local town was just boring beyond words. If you weren't into GAA, soccer or drinking that life there was just pointless and miserable in my opinion.

While I wished the political situation here was different, I figure that I've paid for the ticket so I might as well see the show at this stage. I could be tempted into moving to Dublin but the housing situation seems to be appalling and I say that as a Londoner. I doubt I'd get a job there anyway so here I'll stay it seems.

quokula

Lived in the UK for about 12 years, lived in a bunch of cities around England but eventually settled in London for the last 8 of those years. London is a great city, but the rest of the UK is utterly miserable, with a few exceptions. May have been a coincidence, but on a couple of occasions in the six months or so after the Brexit vote I had run ins with racist types who weren't happy about hearing an Irish accent in their pub - both times when out of the city and in smaller towns. That was what really put me off the place, aside from all the other uncertainty Brexit brought.

Moving to Ireland a couple of years ago was a great decision thanks to much more affordable housing in Ireland which has allowed for a standard of living far beyond what would have been possible over there. I do miss the endless attractions, nightlife and things to do in London, especially when you're not much into drinking like me, but as I'm a bit older now I do appreciate the more relaxed lifestyle. I think there's a point when most people start to feel they're getting too old for the rush of London living.

susieball

Thanks for all the replies. I wouldn't want to live in London or anywhere around it, including Essex. I spent several years working and in College in Manchester. Really like Manchester and Liverpool. Lived in a lovely village outside Bolton called, of all the strange names, 'Ramsbottom.' I never had much in common with people in the South East/London, but I always felt home in North West UK. Don't know what Leeds is like, but I here it's nice. Have spent time going back and over to Newcastle for work, but still prefer Liverpool/Greater Manchester. Things that I think about - I pay almost 2k a year just for me in health insurance - that will be 3k when I retire in 10 years. My friends who both have excellent jobs in UK - Tech and NHS - about 130k between them - wouldn't even think of having private health insurance. Having said that they pay Council Tax here. Cars are cheaper, insurance is cheaper and some foods. Career opportunities are better in healthcare and allied professions. I don't know if I would want to work in NHS again. I hear there is terrible pressure on staff from all the time I come back and over to UK, but there are lots of opportunities here in allied professions in private organisations, which is really my area of work now. The NHS is bad, but it is nowhere near the basket case of the Irish health service. About two weeks ago, I was chatting to a Doctor/Medical Consultant, who said he would not live outside of Dublin, as however bad Dublin was, he felt the hospitals outside Dublin were atrocious! I don't work in hospitals now in Ireland, but did for about 17 years - what I saw was scary to say the least! I find people in and around Manchester and Liverpool, friendly, polite - probably friendlier than at home in Ireland, of course there are lots of really tough areas in Manchester. I remember working in a nursing home as agency 22 years ago in Gorton in Manchester - we had to have window shutters at night as well as shutters for the doors, and there was spikes along the top of the walls, and a very large security gate, with a security guard - for a nursing home! Whoever said their wife, who works in healthcare, wouldn't return as she finds some of the stuff she heard about the Irish health service really backward, that's true! Almost 20 years ago, when I returned. I was doing a night shift, and the senior nurse, who was about to return, wouldn't let me have the medicine key or give out the medicines, as he felt only senior nurses could/should do that. At that time, to be a senior nurse, you had to be 20 years post qualification. At the time, I had been qualified several years.

PommieBast

weemcd wrote: »

But for all those English places above, Brexit has ruined them entirely. It's becoming a nasty, horrible place and it's getting worse.

Brexit is just a symptom of a much longer-term decline. I saw the writing on the wall and got out in 2012.

eviltwin

Lived there for a time in my teens and loved it. Hated coming back. I wouldn't live there now though.

CrankyHaus

PommieBast wrote: »

Brexit is just a symptom of a much longer-term decline. I saw the writing on the wall and got out in 2012.

What in your opinion is this decline, what manifestations of it did you recognize it by and what are its causes?

quokula

susieball wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I wouldn't want to live in London or anywhere around it, including Essex. I spent several years working and in College in Manchester. Really like Manchester and Liverpool. Lived in a lovely village outside Bolton called, of all the strange names, 'Ramsbottom.' I never had much in common with people in the South East/London, but I always felt home in North West UK. Don't know what Leeds is like, but I here it's nice. Have spent time going back and over to Newcastle for work, but still prefer Liverpool/Greater Manchester. Things that I think about - I pay almost 2k a year just for me in health insurance - that will be 3k when I retire in 10 years. My friends who both have excellent jobs in UK - Tech and NHS - about 130k between them - wouldn't even think of having private health insurance. Having said that they pay Council Tax here. Cars are cheaper, insurance is cheaper and some foods. Career opportunities are better in healthcare and allied professions. I don't know if I would want to work in NHS again. I hear there is terrible pressure on staff from all the time I come back and over to UK, but there are lots of opportunities here in allied professions in private organisations, which is really my area of work now. The NHS is bad, but it is nowhere near the basket case of the Irish health service. About two weeks ago, I was chatting to a Doctor/Medical Consultant, who said he would not live outside of Dublin, as however bad Dublin was, he felt the hospitals outside Dublin were atrocious! I don't work in hospitals now in Ireland, but did for about 17 years - what I saw was scary to say the least! I find people in and around Manchester and Liverpool, friendly, polite - probably friendlier than at home in Ireland, of course there are lots of really tough areas in Manchester. I remember working in a nursing home as agency 22 years ago in Gorton in Manchester - we had to have window shutters at night as well as shutters for the doors, and there was spikes along the top of the walls, and a very large security gate, with a security guard - for a nursing home! Whoever said their wife, who works in healthcare, wouldn't return as she finds some of the stuff she heard about the Irish health service really backward, that's true! Almost 20 years ago, when I returned. I was doing a night shift, and the senior nurse, who was about to return, wouldn't let me have the medicine key or give out the medicines, as he felt only senior nurses could/should do that. At that time, to be a senior nurse, you had to be 20 years post qualification. At the time, I had been qualified several years.

I've a chronic health condition and have fared far better with HSE in the last couple of years than with the NHS in the previous 5. Because the housing situation there is so much worse than Ireland and you end up moving every year due to price increases, I was forever being forced to change NHS trusts and GPs, and there was absolutely no communication between them. At one point I had an xray and a diagnosis, but then when trying to follow up the next consultant had no record of the xray, refused to even believe me, and gave me a different, wrong, diagnosis before shoving me out the door with a useless prescription despite my protests.

This was a common theme in the NHS, the only thing any consultant ever cared about was getting you out the door as quickly as possible, which is down to their extreme under-resourcing and waiting time targets with no consideration for actual outcomes.

Since moving home I was able to see a GP immediately when I wanted to (unthinkable in the UK) - it wasn't free of course but I'll take possible over free - and I was eventually able to see a consultant in hospital in about 6-9 months, which is faster than I ever managed on the NHS. More importantly, my actual consultation was far more in depth and it was pretty much the first time it felt like a medical professional was actually trying to help me.

It varies depending on which part of the service you're using of course but the NHS is really on its knees these days and I'm happier to be in Ireland.

dd973

Lived for years in the London area and hate the place, especially the outer swathe which isn't London nor part of the country beyond it, now live in Cheshire and actually prefer it to Dublin, friendlier and have Liverpool and Manchester not far away, which are both friendlier and more cosmopolitan than Dublin. English people in the North West are close to us in temperament and personality in the same way that the Scots and Welsh are.

One better aspect of England is the big population and wider diversity of people, although it can happen anywhere there isn't that level of panoptican paranoia you have in Ireland where you're constantly judged by strangers in the blink of an eye.

Some of the posters and comments here crack me up, loads of Irish people genuinely believe we're further ethnically and culturally removed from the English/British than the Chinese! Over here you're just lumped in with the 'Jocks' and the 'Taffs' and little more attention is given to it.

turbbo

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I wouldn't worry too much about that. The difference between the working class people I worked with in the pizza shops and the Middle class people in the public service, was stark. They take class much more seriously than Irish people. The working class shun learning in a way that Irish people would never do. They see learning, education and curiosity about the world as being for 'posh' people.

Even watching a documentary on BBC4 is completely alien to them because thats a channel for 'posh' people. I couldn't believe how rigidly they enforce their perceptions of their own class. And needless to say those people were really uninformed.

But the middle class ones were curious about the world and we're great company.

It was genuinely fascinating to see people completely close themselves off to things because of their own perception of their class.

But saying that doesn't happen here too would be a lie. Facts are facts I think a lot more comments here are feelings/perceptions on the subject rather than facts.

turbbo

quokula wrote: »

It varies depending on which part of the service you're using of course but the NHS is really on its knees these days and I'm happier to be in Ireland.

The mythical NHS - sick hearing about it. Anybody that has worked in both the NHS and HSE will tell you it's not all that different these days. In fact the HSE stories in many cases sound better believe it or not.

ancapailldorcha

turbbo wrote: »

The mythical NHS - sick hearing about it. Anybody that has worked in both the NHS and HSE will tell you it's not all that different these days. In fact the HSE stories in many cases sound better believe it or not.

I can't stand the way the Brits bang on and on about the NHS and then vote for the people who oppose its very existance. In its current form, it's a joke and well short of being the envy of the world people here seem to think it is.

turbbo

mariaalice wrote: »

. its a very divided society in a way you do not see in Ireland.

Have you been to any cities in Ireland recently? - They couldn't be much more divided imho. Something I detect in this thread is a massive blindspot for issues effecting Ireland.

mariaalice

turbbo wrote: »

Have you been to any cities in Ireland recently? - They couldn't be much more divided imho. Something I detect in this thread is a massive blindspot for issues effecting Ireland.

Of course, there are divides here, but they are not the same and not as deep as the UK, watch any of the documentaries on the universal credit in the Uk.

There is fabulous wealth in the Uk the like of which you do not see here despite the fact we are a well of society there is also horrendous poverty of the type you do not see here.

There are real class divisions in the UK of the type you do no see here.

wakka12

turbbo wrote: »

Have you been to any cities in Ireland recently? - They couldn't be much more divided imho. Something I detect in this thread is a massive blindspot for issues effecting Ireland.

Ireland has a huge middle class with barely any poor or super rich, not the case in the UK

corks finest

susieball wrote: »

I am on holiday again in UK. I went to college here 22 years ago, and only returned to Ireland 19 years ago, as I didn't want to bring up my children here at the time - at that time, you had to buy a house in an expensive area to get a half decent State school - I don't know whether it is still the same. However, I have spent almost 20 years missing the UK. Every time I come back on hols, I still miss it. My career really flattened when I went home. It felt that a lot of the time, though I had really good qualifications and experience, that it was someone who knew someone, who knew someone that got the job in Ireland. I also made some good friends in UK. Hard to get to know them, but once you made friends in UK, they were long-lasting. Much less begrudgery also. Am I seeing it through rose tinted glasses. I still have job offers here. Would like to return when my children start college - both will be gone to college in less than 2 years. Bit scared though about the pension stuff etc. Has anyone else felt the same for many years after moving back to Ireland. Am I seeing it through rose-tinted glasses?

Worked with v decent Brits in London ea

corks finest

susieball wrote: »

I am on holiday again in UK. I went to college here 22 years ago, and only returned to Ireland 19 years ago, as I didn't want to bring up my children here at the time - at that time, you had to buy a house in an expensive area to get a half decent State school - I don't know whether it is still the same. However, I have spent almost 20 years missing the UK. Every time I come back on hols, I still miss it. My career really flattened when I went home. It felt that a lot of the time, though I had really good qualifications and experience, that it was someone who knew someone, who knew someone that got the job in Ireland. I also made some good friends in UK. Hard to get to know them, but once you made friends in UK, they were long-lasting. Much less begrudgery also. Am I seeing it through rose tinted glasses. I still have job offers here. Would like to return when my children start college - both will be gone to college in less than 2 years. Bit scared though about the pension stuff etc. Has anyone else felt the same for many years after moving back to Ireland. Am I seeing it through rose-tinted glasses?

Worked with v decent Brits in London early 80s, loved it as a young guy, anyone over 30 in London in too old,vvvvv fast pace

kenmm

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I can't stand the way the Brits bang on and on about the NHS and then vote for the people who oppose its very existence. In its current form, it's a joke and well short of being the envy of the world people here seem to think it is.

They haven't seen how bad it is yet, and how bad it will become.

I go back to the UK on a semi-regular basis. Some family live over there and as an outsider it is blatantly obvious that it is getting worse over time, especially the last 5-8 years.

Its kinda funny how the conservatives ran a brexit campaign to "take back control" (spew) of the NHS that they fu(ked in the first place..

Cina

So the best way to get people on boards to say good things about Ireland is to get them to compare it to the UK. Good to know.

kenmm

Cina wrote: »

So the best way to get people on boards to say good things about Ireland is to get them to compare it to the UK. Good to know.

Well.. I think they are both fu(ked

Graces7

AlphabetCards wrote: »

It would have to fall verrry far to fall beneath most health systems, globally. I have gone in for surgical consults on a thursday, and been operated on the next day under GA. FOR FREE.

Ah now! I have had that happen here on a medical card, straight from A and E to theatre.. and in the UK waiting lists for non emergency are as bad as here. Waited many months for an "urgent" hysterectomy there.

Each has its faults and its good points

Graces7

wakka12 wrote: »

Ireland has a huge middle class with barely any poor or super rich, not the case in the UK

Not true re the poor. Have a look at the work food banks are doing now; youtube has reports and at programmes re children in poverty; and the homelessness also

It was not like that even 20 years ago.

NB I would not go back, not ever.

Jim_Hodge

Graces7 wrote: »

Not true re the poor. Have a look at the work food banks are doing now; youtube has reports and at programmes re children in poverty; and the homelessness also

It was not like that even 20 years ago.

NB I would not go back, not ever.

Relatively speaking we have very few children in poverty here and a bigger middle class. You can't make general statements based on YouTube. I could refer you to YouTube pieces on families living well here and it doesn't mean all are.
4.5 million children are living in poverty in the UK with a figure of 200,000 in Ireland. That leaves the rate in the UK 2.25 times higher than here per capita.

So, in essence he is quite correct, in the context of this discussion, regarding the numbers of poor.



As a pensioner, I'm glad I'm in Ireland (spent a few years on and off in the UK in the late eighties) and that we reared and educated our children here.

Timistry

Agree with the comments about Leeds above. Great spot, was living there for a year and had the time of my life. People are fierce sound and down to earth. There is a great social scene there. The Dales are only a drive or train away too!

Also, the benefits of UK living now - cheaper cars, food, NHS etc. oh how this will change once Brexit is done.

c.p.w.g.w

Worked and lived in both London & Oz. Hated both places as the commutes were awful.

In London I spent 4 hours a day commuting, and found myself too tired to enjoy all the great stuff London has on offer.

Oz was just a hole, pawn & charity shops everywhere. Everyday racism towards indengious & Asian folks. Also found it prohibitively expensive if you didn't want to live paycheck to paycheck

Work in Clare now, 15 minute commute eachway to work. Manage to save 70% of my net salary. Mortgage repayments are half the price of median rents in my area too.

c.p.w.g.w

Worked and lived in both London & Oz. Hated both places as the commutes were awful.

In London I spent 4 hours a day commuting, and found myself too tired to enjoy all the great stuff London has on offer.

Oz was just a hole, pawn & charity shops everywhere. Everyday racism towards indengious & Asian folks. Also found it prohibitively expensive if you didn't want to live paycheck to paycheck

Work in Clare now, 15 minute commute eachway to work. Manage to save 70% of my net salary. Mortgage repayments are half the price of median rents in my area too.

PommieBast

CrankyHaus wrote: »

What in your opinion is this decline, what manifestations of it did you recognize it by and what are its causes?

Was in a home-town working-class local and someone asked me why I voted remain. I was shouted at to "go back to my own phucking country" before I even finished the first sentence of my response. They were just listening for a few key-words and using them as an excuse to be abusive. I've spoken RP in some pretty rough republican bars around Dublin, and never had any comparable trouble.



The nastiness has some roots in the Blair-era antiterrorist "report it" campaigns that seemed uncomfortable close to the suspicion-mongering in 1930s Germany, but it was the 2008 crunch when things really kicked off. I think it was the "hostile environment" campaign by the home office the normalised unpleasantness but I had buggered off to Oz by that point.

Ghetofarmulous

Worked and lived in Aberdeen and surrounds for about 6 years. I came back to Ireland in 2016. When I think of Scotland I feel homesick. I don’t have love for this country anymore

UI_Paddy

Never worked or lived in the UK, but my fiance did do summer jobs there and I visited her there a good few times. I've grown to really like it, I especially love cities like Oxford and Nottingham where you can also be close to the countryside, I'd always be happy to go somewhere in the UK on holiday but in terms of settling down and permanent living nothing will ever beat home.

Shelga

Lived in the midlands of England for a few years, mostly Birmingham, and Bristol for a little bit. The first couple of years in Birmingham were great fun, loved making friends over there, not worrying about the future- but then as time wore on, I realised it was not where I wanted to be, long-term. It’s an ugly city, albeit with nice people, and I missed the sea.

Bristol is much nicer, but it’s a city for young hipsters, and there didn’t seem to be much outside that mould. I did love the variety of places and people in the UK- on weekends I’d go everywhere from Bath, Cornwall, the Peak District, the Lake District, London (a lot!), Scotland, Snowdonia, etc etc. Felt like a greater variety than Ireland.

Took me a while not to feel restless, but I’ve been back in Ireland 3 years now, and can’t see myself leaving any time soon. Love the people, the scenery, being by the sea again. Brexit has also made the UK extremely unattractive for me now.

Mad_maxx

mariaalice wrote: »

Of course, there are divides here, but they are not the same and not as deep as the UK, watch any of the documentaries on the universal credit in the Uk.

There is fabulous wealth in the Uk the like of which you do not see here despite the fact we are a well of society there is also horrendous poverty of the type you do not see here.

There are real class divisions in the UK of the type you do no see here.

We have thee most generous welfare state in Europe, the UK has amongst the slimmest

Johnny Sausage

Mad_maxx wrote: »

We have thee most generous welfare state in Europe, the UK has amongst the slimmest

i dont think people know how low the benefits in the Uk actually are, its a stark comparison to the cushy life some choose here

Mad_maxx

Johnny Sausage wrote: »

i dont think people know how low the benefits in the Uk actually are, its a stark comparison to the cushy life some choose here

Even in social democrat Sweden, you don't get to remain on the same rate continously

PommieBast

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Even in social democrat Sweden, you don't get to remain on the same rate continously

I've been trying to dig up some figures of how benefits compare for someone who has little or no track record of contributions. In France it is some percentage of last salary before losing job, but I am told (hence need citations..) the base-line is pretty miserly even by UK standards.

kravmaga

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Just out of interest, how does someone who loves hiking and had money to buy a house in Dublin get offered a gaff in the city?

I was a Government employed Key worker and worked in central London.

Was in receipt of London Weighting Allowance also.

4068ac1elhodqr

The uk isn't 3 countries, it's effectively 6 and all are very different gravy.

Landan town innit braa'
Stiffs in the 'dawn saf'
the sound 'North'
the other 'North'
the mad Scots,
and the weird Welsh.

BanditLuke

uch wrote: »

Lived in London around 1990, Absolute **** hole, still is, The North of England however is a beautiful place with lovely genuine people

Second this. Lived in Bradford for a while back in the 90's and then Liverpool. Never really liked the vibe in London any time i went there for work. Maybe that's changed as haven't been in years though.

partyguinness

I've been living and working here since 2010 (English wife and 2 kids).

When I see the right wing crap being spouted on the media I would love nothing more than to fill the car up and get back to Ireland.

Do I prefer it to Ireland? Hard to say. There are aspects of Ireland that are better for sure but equally there are better aspects over here.

Sometimes I think what would I do if I woke up tomorrow with no ties (say wife and kids) would I head straight back to Ireland? Truth be told, I probably wouldn't.

The big draw back over here is that there is no community. Everyone lives in their own little bubble oblivious to what happens in the rest of the world. I have been struck by how little the average English gives a **** about the rest of the world.

I am not saying one is better or worse than the other but each place has its good and bad.

Ireland is a small friendly island of 4 million with an overwhelming white & christian population. In a 50 mile radius (West Midlands) of where I am sitting there is a population of 6million.

It must be borne in mind that the UK is a massive country of nearly 70million people that is hugely complex and a melting pot for all different races, religions and nationalities and cultures. TBH you cannot compare Ireland with the UK- they operate on different planes completely.

The one thing about living here is that everything is just hard work. From popping out for a pint of milk to commuting to just going for a pint. It is just hard going- so I can see why people retreat into their own little bubbles.

Graces7

Johnny Sausage wrote: »

i dont think people know how low the benefits in the Uk actually are, its a stark comparison to the cushy life some choose here

Interesting, I am English and lived much of my life there on disability and there is no great difference here for me. True the pension is lower there but the cost of living here is far higher so that equals out.

Johnny Sausage

Graces7 wrote: »

Interesting, I am English and lived much of my life there on disability and there is no great difference here for me. True the pension is lower there but the cost of living here is far higher so that equals out.

Good for you

AlekSmart

irishguitarlad wrote: »

I have lived in three countries and in this order I would put them. 1. Spain, 2. Ireland, 3. England. I lived in England for 3 years, it was a shíthole. Funnily enough I have nightmares about the place and how I can never escape.

Nightmares..?

This ....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9NCvSakgR8

Vs this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji0yG9JHDR8

Votes on the back of a used bus ticket please

dd973

Surely nuance has to be taken into account, the middle class area I live in over here beats hands down the two crap areas of Dublin I lived in with all their attitude, anti social behavior and constant sense of mood and edge.

Likewise, living in Sandymount or Dalkey would be a rather nicer experience than being in Shepherd's Bush or Handsworth.

partyguinness

dd973 wrote: »

Likewise, living in Sandymount or Dalkey would be a rather nicer experience than being in Shepherd's Bush or Handsworth.

Handsworth...Jaysus. I drove through there recently wide eyed and jaw on the floor. Car doors firmly locked. Another world.

bullpost

Worked in Letchworth, one of the garden cities for a short while - fabulous place - picture postcard pretty and quite friendly.

ancapailldorcha

bullpost wrote: »

Worked in Letchworth, one of the garden cities for a short while - fabulous place - picture postcard pretty and quite friendly.

Is it? Garden cities seem like a nice idea. Shame it never caught on.

FTA69

I'm here around 12 years now and there's positives and negatives to it; due to the nature of my job it'll be likely I'll be here a long time more yet.

I genuinely don't understand the stuff about people from the north of England being a more pleasant bunch. From my experience a lot of them have a massive chip on their shoulder and if I've to smile and nod along to someone moaning about how "we're dead friendly compared to down in that London" I'll f*cking scream. Pretty much the only anti-Irish hassle I've had in this country has come from dopey f*ckers from places like Yorkshire with a superiority complex. London is a massive metropolis and there's an impersonal aspect to that of course but the working class of this city are sound as a pound and the best people you'd ever meet; in all their colours and backgrounds.

The one thing that still annoys me is the general British ignorance about their world history; most of them laughably think the British abroad and their impact on the world was generally a positive thing rather than them just looting the rest of us. I remember explaining to people about stuff like collusion with Loyalists or Winston Churchill and the famine in Bengal and people being genuinely confused by it. They don't learn it in school though so not their fault maybe.

I came here at 19 started work as a plant machinery operative working with 20 or so nationalities and loved it, and still love the city for that reason. You meet the most interesting people from all over the world with the most fascinating of backgrounds and stories. And if you're out there doing stuff, you've a million and one things to choose from in the city. But sometimes the pace of the city and all the social issues does get to you, on top of that it is increasingly becoming a city solely for the rich. Rent is massive, independent venues are disappearing and it's turning into a land of Pret a Manger and luxury f*cking flats which is a real shame. Long standing communities are being pulled apart in this process.

Long term I would like to move back to Cork. Less than an hour's drive I can be catching mackerel off the rocks, walking in the mountains or whatever else. The craic and sense of humour at home just can't be beaten really, and maybe home is just home I guess. Ireland is a wonderful country to live in despite the problems around housing and health etc, but we've a whole stack of similar problems here in that regard/

FTA69

Nobody here can pull a pint with a degree of speed or accuracy either. One pint at a time and no idea of serving in turn etc. "Anybody waiting?" and all that sh*t. Drives me f*cking mad still