Anyone thinking of emigrating?

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118440943#Comment_118440943

Ireland is conservative???

There are many, many other countries that are much more insular.

We are very globalised.

Quags

Jaysus lads, just cause your happy here doesn’t mean others are. Just cause your happy in your daily life doing whatever, others want to do others and finally I’ve never seen someone defend the weather 😂

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441183#Comment_118441183

I agree with you on the housing issue.

But more right-wing!!!!!

The country has, and is, moving left.

See the number of SF / PBP TDs.

I have to check, but there are over 10 far-left TDs, and zero far-right.

There are over 3m on welfare.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445196#Comment_118445196

I am an Australian. I wanted to leave years ago, but when you have kids who have just started college or are in their final years of HS, they have to take priority. Then there was a long standing legal problem that took 2-3 years to sort. It's looking as if I might be able able to make my escape later this year.

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441854#Comment_118441854

Those are reasonable points.

Note that the USA has huge property taxes.

But yes, for workers, taxes are lower in the USA, yes.

But remember, you need private health insurance, which can be 10,000 PA for a family.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445236#Comment_118445236

Ff to me are left wing. They are High welfare high state spending. FG no different either. Ireland is overwhelmingly left wing in its outlook.

Geuze

IMO, FF will swing whichever way the people want.

I would consider FF centrist, swinging centre-left.

FG should be centre-right.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445170#Comment_118445170

Out of all the reasons to knock Ireland, the weather really isn't one of them.

I tell ya there are places around the world that would have you racing back here purely because we have such mild weather.

There are States in America, for example, where you can't go outside the frontdoor because it's either too hot or too cold. In New York the summers can get unbearable. You stick to whatever you're sitting on and have to shower several times a day. In the winter you freeze your bollocks off despite have the central heating on full blast and multiple layers on. If you're lucky enough to be in an apartment with air con, the bills will shock the life out of you during June, July and August. There are places in southern Arizona that can get hotter than 45 degrees Celsius.

In certain parts of Canada, outside of British Columbia, you can get - 20 degree temps for days on end. It's absolutely miserable.

There's parts of Russia that experience winter from mid October to beginning of April. Other parts, like the Crimea, are intolerable during the Summer months because it's like the tropics, complete with millions of mosquitoes sucking your blood.

Honestly, as far as weather is concerned, the Irish have it easy.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445249#Comment_118445249

Yes but the property tax is pretty much nullified by the lower prices they cause. Aside from NY and SF and the like of course.

And yes, health insurance can be expensive. However in Ireland if you have a couple working for average pay then just their direct taxes going towards healthcare will be €6-7k per year. Quick look and "Level 2" VHI for 2 adults and 2 kids will be another €3k.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444685#Comment_118444685

I'm not dismissing it. I said we're clearly living in two totally different Irelands. Perhaps your experience is entirely different to mine. Some families for example are or were oppressively conservative, e.g.: hardcore rural catholics and so on. Mass, pub, mass, boiled cabbage and bacon. That's not the experience I had.

I know quite a few people who seem to view Ireland through a lens of 1970s conservative households in the midlands, but then there are Americans who view America through similar lenses and so on.

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444995#Comment_118444995

The reason I ask is because at 40 they'll be unlikely to get a mortgage wherever they move, if they're in low paid positions now they're unlikely to be any better paid in other countries

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445216#Comment_118445216

We can get a bit of rain here and it can be a pain in the arse sometimes. But I was in Paris for work a few years ago for two week in October and pissed down all the time. Very unpleasant.

We have a tendency to moan about the weather here, as do the Brits in the UK. But nether of us have it that bad. Well, maybe the Scots. LOL.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445194#Comment_118445194

Taxes are lower - 10% VAT/GST - and the weather is better and you hardly pay much for home heating and any cooling needed is cheaper than heating. You can even power airconditioning from solar which has less than half the pay back period than here. You can't heat a home here in winter using solar. Car ownership and running costs are vastly lower. So basically, several very significant areas of household expenditure are significantly less. You don't need to pay solicitors a huge wedge when buying or selling property. You don't even need one if you are administering a deceased estate. Lifetime Legal costs are negligable, wheras here, they are simply inexplicable.

It's hard to put into words what a genuinely outdoor lifestyle is like where the average annual temperature is 20°C and not 10°C and you have 2906 annual hours of sunshine to play with (Perth, WA) versus a mere 1440 hours in Dublin. You'd need a book, really.

And a massive, massive difference is that Australia has one of the best health systems in the world, while Ireland doesn't, by a very long shot.

Australia probably has the world's best retirement funding and saving scheme on the planet with it's superannuation system. People can actually manage their own funds if they wish - imagine that.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445158#Comment_118445158

True and the East and southeast are fairly dry compared to the West.

I spent a lot of time in Finland (one of the best places to live allegedly) and while 5 months of the year are lovely, the rest is extremely cold and very dark, so much that a good 3/4 months are totally spent indoors

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445339#Comment_118445339

Evreywhere gets "a bit of rain" - Ireland has it costantly. When I lived in Ireland it was nearly always grey and wet. Depressing, cold, grey. Even in "summer".

Moved to Berlin and found out what a real summer was. Blue cloudless skies, high 20s/low 30s and lakes all around the city you can cycle to just chill out by. And it was like that for a good two or three months every year.

Most places in Europe are dull in October, but even Paris has proper summers. Ireland doesn't.

Our weather's mild, but it's also very unpredictable. That's the major issue I find with it. You plan some outdoor event and you get soaked.

Except for summer, which is undoubtably a lot warmer, you have more or less the same weather in Western and Northern France for example. Paris can be pretty grey and wet, so is the Benelux and Denmark.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445316#Comment_118445316

That is true and did think the same. Personally think savings are important in your 20s/30s and try develop a career that pays reasonably. Else you can be very stuck as you get older. This is true for any country, more so Ireland where we don’t have good long term rental options like say in Germany

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445370#Comment_118445370

I knew a girl from Helsinki that said the same. You just don't go out in winter. At least not for long anyway.

She also worked in Norway for a bit up the north, near Narvik. Said it was just miserable. Pitch black and freezing cold for about half the year.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445256#Comment_118445256

The average Irish voter votes for whoever promises them the most stuff!

As a result we were the third most indebted country in the developed world pre covid. Iirc we spent the most per Capita on covid measures so we may have got second place in the meantime!

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445376#Comment_118445376

Yes our summers can suck but we don't get cold winters so that's a plus, I've barely used my heating this winter so far. Berlin can be snowy and freezing in April, from my experience anyway, but yes they do get beautiful summers that I would enjoy.

Also it seems to rarely rain in Dublin these days, I go jogging and cycling most days and I can't remember the last time I got wet. Where did you live in Ireland?

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445376#Comment_118445376

I bet you found out what a real winter was too. 😉

But seriously, come on. Summers are my main cycling months here in Ireland and I can tell you we can get some lovely weather here for being outdoors. It's not unbearably hot like a lot of other countries and you can actually do some physical activity without feeling completely disgusting afterwards.

It can get cloudy and rainy sometimes, but I'll take that over months of minus freezing temperatures every time.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445461#Comment_118445461

Oh God yes - but I like real winters! Proper snow. Looks beautiful. None of the slushy shite!

I lived in Ireland for 30 odd years, there was the occaasional good wee here and there but most of it was just.... grey.

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445176#Comment_118445176

I hate to keep dogging on a specific poster, but you really are incredible. Every opportunity that arises to denigrate Ireland, you surface regular as an almanac, spewing your bile.

You explicitly mentioned that you been in this country for over two decades. You’ve spent a significant % of your life in an environment that you detest. This life isn’t a dress rehearsal; you don’t get to come back to re-live it in Nirvana. For your own sake, please just move on. I dread to think of the havoc your overwhelming negativity is wreaking on your physical and mental health.

For the record, I lived in your home land for a year in my early 20s. There were pros and cons associated with living there, just like anywhere else. Despite having the opportunity for sponsorship, I bailed after a year. Ultimately, it was the people who swung it for me. I simply prefer the way people in this part of the world conduct themselves. The object lesson here is that if a milieu doesn’t fit with your outlook and values, you pull the plug. You don’t spend over two decades there, launching into periodic diatribes against the country that has afforded you a home and a living.

Please just cop on to yourself.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445512#Comment_118445512

Ummmm, I'll take a nice mild Dublin winter over a bitter cold Berlin one thanks.

The summer is nice there though. Hopefully Covid fucks off and I can go back this year.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445456#Comment_118445456

In fairness, not recently. Up until 2008 and then 2012-2013. But as I said to Tony, I can live with winter if I get a proper summer; and recently it hasn't been all that cold.

Mister Vain

"slushy shite" 🤣

The thing is though, we get the slightest bit of wind or rain and its a big "weather event."

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445583#Comment_118445583

What was wrong or different about the people in Australia?

NSAman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445295#Comment_118445295

I live in one such place, -30 in winter and up to +40 in summer and 80% humidity.

heating our house is cheaper than the house in ireland. Air con in summer costs a little more but nothing crazy.

Weather IS an issue, never knowing when the rain is coming or in most cases stopping, doesn’t allow outside work to get done. While I absolutely love being home, I do miss the sun. Even in winter -25 outside it’s bright and sunny, it elevates your mood. Weeks with no sunlight and grey clouds can really get you down.

however, emigrating because of the weather should be very low on peoples list of reasons (unless you are retiring).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445367#Comment_118445367

That outdoor livestyle brings with it the highest skin cancer rates in the world with a horrible vain, macho and bullying culture. Horrible place to be stuck in.

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445633#Comment_118445633

There’s nothing wrong with them. A significant % of them just weren’t cup of tea. I left Australia and moved back to a continental European country where I lived for a decade. I was infinitely happier there. I have since relocated back to Ireland and am even happier here.

My point to that poster (and others on this thread) is that if you are unhappy, you research the move and execute. Do not spend years ruminating on the decision and becoming increasingly bitter and negative in your current environment.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444715#Comment_118444715

well the left certainly dont characterise their beliefs re_ personal freedom as " conservative " ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445512#Comment_118445512

ah but in Germany the snow and ice doesn't stop life going on. When I lived in the Balkans the summer's were amazing! Fantastic weather. But winter could go as low as -20+ and there was nothing done to make life easy! no roads cleared, no chance of going anywhere if it wasn't walking distances.

good winters are nice, but it's nice to be able to enjoy them!

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445256#Comment_118445256

as a people , we adore big government

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445456#Comment_118445456

This 100% resonates for me. Running is my hobby and I try to get out 4 or 5 times per week. It’s extremely rare that I’m prevented from doing so. Today was a bit damp and miserable. However, I still managed to get out for an hour without getting wet. I would hate to live in a climate where it is simply too hot or too cold to pursue my hobby.

I do miss a guaranteed 3 months of sunshine though. It’s hardly a dealbreaker though.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445752#Comment_118445752

I can’t stand it, really can’t- but accept I’m in the minority!

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445583#Comment_118445583

You seem selective in your reading comprehension, if you actually do read and not just skim. I am in the process of emigrating and have said so more than once. No need to lecture or advise me to do that. My life is complicated. Some of those complications involve having offspring in education and putting what I believe to be in their best interest, above my own. Others are legal - now recently solved.

So you don't like someone not thinking this country is the cutest, bestest and niciest countries in the whole wide world - tough. Sorry to have bruised your national pride/ego and to have opinions and perspectives that differ from your own, but I'm not sorry. Suck it up, not everyone in life will agree with you or stroke your ego for you.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445656#Comment_118445656

Thanks, my brother died from skin cancer, so I am aware of the danger more than most. Ironically it arose a few years after he had moved to the UK. Other things I'll keep to myself as I'm in enough hot water as it is.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445761#Comment_118445761

by the way this attitude exists across the board here , from the welfare lifers to farmers , to any group you can name

road_high

Doesn’t Ireland have a very high rate of skin cancer too?

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445767#Comment_118445767

We all have complex lives. It’s a byproduct of being an adult. I have two young kids and a third on the way. If I hated Ireland or any country as much as you do, I would make sure to relocate my family. There were multiple inflection points when this could have been achieved; pre-school, pre-secondary school, post-junior cert etc. You chose not to do so. That decision is on you. It also does not take over two decades to resolve a legal issue, unless you’ve engaged the most inept solicitor in the history of mankind.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less what you think of this country; having my ego stroked by you is also a most undesirable outcome. I’m simply highlighting the warped nature of your viewpoint. A grown man who spends over two decades in a country, spewing bile and negativity, but failing to take a definitive step to resolve the source of his unhappiness. I genuinely hope that 2022 is the year that you do finally relocate and that the transition to a new environment brings you some happiness and positivity.

Furze99

I wouldn't blame the OP for wanting to emigrate, go somewhere where society is more equitable across the board. Problem is though adapting to a whole new culture. Ireland for all it's faults is what you know when you're brought up here - better the divil you know etc. etc.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445927#Comment_118445927

There is a bit of a difference between claiming you would do something and doing it for real. I have done it for real, you haven't. If you would yank your child a year or two prior to sitting the leaving cert, and move them to another country, bully for you. I wouldn't and didn't.

Maybe a thread on people wanting to emigrate isn't the best place for you to be spending your time, given your sensitivities. I do admire you for not trotting out the trite 'don't let the door hit you on the way out', that was refreshing.

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445963#Comment_118445963

Define equitable for me, not the meaning of the word but by what you mean using it

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446164#Comment_118446164

Right back at you fella. A thread about emigration isn’t the place for an outlier such as yourself. You really aren’t best placed to provide an objective view on this topic, given your embittered, myopic outlook. I suggest that you channel your mental energy into expediting your imminent relocation, rather than engaging in a seemingly endless stream of negativity. It really isn’t productive for anybody, least of all your good self.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445963#Comment_118445963

Seriously

Fcuk equality.

If I'm emigrating I'm going somewhere where my skills and education, plus my ability to speak, read and write English will be an advantage to me.

No one emigrates in order to be equal.

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441355#Comment_118441355

We have a system where someone working minimum wage won't make as much as the average rental prices in most areas.

,,,

Right wing my arse.

I don't know what rightwing means to you, but if you are working and still don't earn enough to pay for a roof over your head, to me that is the epitome of a rightwing economy.

Sure, thankfully there is a safety net for the worst off - but how long do you want to rely on that for? It certainly covers the basic needs, but that's all it will ever do and after one year, five years, ten years you'll still be in the same place.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446537#Comment_118446537

Having stupidly generous welfare isn't right wing though, is it?

Do some sums and you'll see it doesn't just cover "the basics" either. You'll be better off than a lot of people working (and in the top couple of percent in the world) if you get a couple of kids and have a little cry.

cnocbui

37% of income earners pay no income tax - the mind boggles. At least there's VAT, I suppose.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446336#Comment_118446336

The bad news is the your ability to speak English just makes you equal to most other applicants these days. Pretty much everyone coming out of Europe education these days learn English and most of them will have past the Cambridge certification which means they have reached a level at which they can attend college through English. Your ability to speak English is not going to be particularly impressive. And of course in an English speaking country it’s just taken for granted.

As for skills and education, everyone you will compete against will have them - every first and second world country has colleges, universities, apprenticeship programs etc, so unless you have advanced degrees, specialist skills or experience, being equal to everyone else is exactly where you will find yourself.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118446765#Comment_118446765

No one emigrates to find an equal or more equal society.

They emigrate so that they can do better than equal.