Best place to live in Northern Ireland

I see sheep

Thoughts please?

Possibly moving there.

No where if at all possible. Nordies get hugely defensive when you say it, but NI is a miserable, depressing, and mean-spirited place full of angry and dour people.

I see sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767237#Comment_118767237

😀

I like it there. People are more down to earth I think, people in the Republic have become insufferable snobs.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058236867/best-place-to-live-in-northern-ireland

Towns like Enniskillen are lovely. People are friendly and plenty of facilities.

mariaalice

Somewhere on or near the coast a bit touristy so you get a good mix. I think Warrenpoint is nice.

martinedwards

do you have work lined up? commuting would need to be taken into consideration.

the rural towns are lovely buy way out in the sticks if you want a cinema or similar.

the cities are well fitted with facilities.

depends what YOU want.

I'm in Jordanstown. lived here 30 years and wouldn't consider moving. 15 mins drive from Belfast city centre and there is a good train service, cinemas to choose from as well as really good shops, near the sea and great parks and wild hills nearby.

Fr Tod Umptious

Honest question.

Once someone picks a town or city or village to live in NI do they then have to think about where within that town, city or village to live in depending on their accent, what church they may attend, what sports they might take part in etc ?

I see sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767998#Comment_118767998

Cheers, I'll be keeping me job and working remotely, my wife will be looking for a job probably though so with that in mind we'd probably be looking somewhere near a town/city.

DubDani

It really depends on your individual circumstances and what you are looking for. If you are on your own you will probably have very different requirements then when you are moving as a family with kids. I agree that Warrenpoint or Newcastle are really lovely spots to live with family, both having the sea and the Mournes on your doorsteps.

I am not Irish but have lived on this Island for the last 20 years, about 10 of them in Dublin and the last 10 in NI. I enjoyed and cherished my years in Dublin and really had great time at the time, but now that I have family and kids I much prefer living in the North. And my experience might well be different to that of "southerners", but I have to say that a foreigner with mixed race kids I have never had any Issues here. Religion or Race has never been an Issue thrown at us, be it at school, in our local community or in any of the sports they children partake in. People are generally very friendly and approachable, but as everywhere there is always the odd Idiot in between.

maccored

derry used to be lovely - probably still is. omagh's alright - but again, haven't lived there for years

An Claidheamh

As said above, avoid a unionist area, orange hall area or garrison towns - war memorial in towns is a hint, as are flag poles

Though worth remembering the Northern health service is worse than HSE (trades of English NHS), welfare crap (but you will be working) and not many new buildings or attempts to trouble shoot economy I believe (residual from unionist acceptance of the North just living off a subsidy)

-economy is too used to being basket case, despite the heads in sands refusal to accept it

Border area should be preferable, close to M1, seems like working in Republic and paying low Northern mortgage/rent is a handy number

Derry or Down (Newry) or seaside town might be nice

An Claidheamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768413#Comment_118768413

That’s good to hear, but unfortunately statistically the North has high levels of racism than elsewhere

Just remember about a third of the voting population vote for the DUP or TUV who are openly racist/sectarian and homophobic

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767907#Comment_118767907

My sister used to live in Warrenpoint a lovely spot.

I have a friend who lives just off the Malone road in Belfast very nice.

Co down has some lovely places like Holywood.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767237#Comment_118767237

I am a nordie but not lived there for 20ish years. I don't agree, there are some lovely spots, like Holywood or Magherafelt for example.

I am not denying there a lot of absolute sh1tholes....e.g. Larne. As well as some bigots etc, but things are changing...slowly.

I am not sure on stats but I would say even with the history of the troubles NI is a lot safer to live than ROI.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768881#Comment_118768881

Aye, this is borderline racist / sectarian. What you're basically saying here is to go to a nationalist town (avoid the orange halls and the war memorials equals nationalist) and thereby perpetuate any us-and-them segregation. We in the North seem to have largely moved on from this in recent years and in most areas it doesn't matter where you're from - there a quite a few D registered cars in my area for instance, which would have been a firmly moderate unionist area in the past. Maybe you could move your views on into this century too and join the rest of us ?

OP, it depends what you want really. Are you a city person, coastal, small village, do you want up-market or more working class, near bright lights big city but not quite in it or in the middle of nowhere (usually Tyrone), etc, etc.

Tbh it's going to be a bit like looking for somewhere in the south, eg if you wouldn't want to live in Tallaght then you wouldn't want to live in Ballybeen. All counties have their good and bad places. One thing to note is that public transport is not the best unless you want to either go to or from Belfast. The whole province is geared up to that journey. So have a look at the few main train or bus routes that there are if you think you're going to be using those.

If you have a bit more of an idea of what you're looking I can maybe help with a few suggestions. I would also agree that South Down is a nice area in general, plus it's probably the best weather that the province has to offer.

crinkley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768881#Comment_118768881

I would say avoid any areas with flags, I found the republican areas could be even worse as they try to out Irish you.

Last place I lived had flags up for 2 weeks during July and it was the nicest place, stayed there 5 years.

Overall the North coast is the nicest, but depends on your commute etc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767237#Comment_118767237

It sounds like you'd feel right at home doc.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768897#Comment_118768897

And another third support the IRA in its current guise. So it's horses for courses, I suppose.

alchemist33

Totally depends on what you want to work atand whether you're a city or country person. I've worked in the north and depsite some differences, life and people are mostly the same as here. Avoid places with flags, but that still leaves a large majority of the place you can live in.

If you want city, take south Belfast (but there are good places in all four corners).

If you want a scenic, secluded country life, take Fermanagh or rural Tyrone.

If you want to be beside the sea, south Down or Antrim coast.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768921#Comment_118768921

I get the feeling some of board's experts have never even stepped foot north at times.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769239#Comment_118769239

Ah but some would have a, more, refined palate, F, while others prefer to burn pallets.

For me, I’d stay away from large swathes of the North. Derry seems like the place with the least unfriendly “types”.

I’d steer well clear of the eastern half, in general. Day trips up and back would be as far as I’d go there and you couldn’t pay me to spend any more time, than absolutely necessary, in places like Portadown or Enniskillen. Malice and spite hang heavy in the air in there.

The North is a long, long, way from being a welcoming place, despite what ‘Visit Northern Ireland’ would have you believe.

Larbre34

It's a strange situation, to be moving to somewhere as specific as the 6 counties, but being able to live anywhere at all once you get there.

Anyway, that's your own business. To answer your question, anywhere green on this map.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769460#Comment_118769460

Jesus, don't mind this OP!

I am from along the border(southern side) and spent a lot of time over the border, Fermanagh in particular. I have family and friends living there. I can say 100% I have not had a single issue in northern Ireland since the early 90s. The people are sound, you don't make any issue, they don't make any issue.

Enniskillen is a good town, but I would say things are going downhill a bit, the main street has a lot of closed premises etc....

Belfast is a really great city, very good friend of mine lives there and we always have a better time in her town then mine ! (Dublin)

Ubbquittious

Ballintoy. Lovely sleepy village

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769460#Comment_118769460

More unhelpful, not true rubbish.

The north has some undesirable addresses just as the south has.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767907#Comment_118767907

Yeah, kilkeel, Larne, bushmills etc you'll get on like a house on fire!!

mfceiling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769239#Comment_118769239

This is the thing Francie. I'm originally from Tyrone but living in Dublin the last 20 years.

I do go back a few times a year to visit parents, relations etc. Was back a month ago for my mum's 70th birthday. Went shopping for a few supplies beforehand and my wife remarked "Jesus they're very friendly in the shops up here". Being used to Dublin where they practically fire the stuff at you it is almost a shock when the person behind the counter actually chats to you.

As for the OP's question as to where to move to....depends where your work is or can you work remotely?

Some rural towns have very little in the way of services (shops, restaurants, cinemas etc) but can be very big on community things.

Other "biggish" towns are not dissimilar to down here. Good areas and bad areas where you just get lost among the population.

Find a nice area with good parks, shops, restaurants and cafes nearby and you'll be grand.

An Claidheamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768921#Comment_118768921

Safer to ... love?

(I suspect the (modern day) police force are better than the Gardaí, and don't just turn out for photo ops)

An Claidheamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768970#Comment_118768970

Hmmmm, I was sort of expecting this.

Seems commonplace to accuse those who call it out as being pro-segregation, like when the northern FA accused the FAI of being sectarian for allowing Irish players choose to not have to be discriminated against

Look, fact is that people who actively set out to promote hate like the OO should not be normalised, tolerated and I would not want to live in a town where even a fraction of people of that way of thinking were resident

I would not be forced into wearing poppies or seeing the national flag burned or indeed having to book holidays to avoid orange marches or in anyway feel uncomfortable

You are forgetting that most middle class unionists and young people would not want anything to do with those neanderthals either

Remember, there were shops were you could not get served if you had an Irish reg/accent

It is a quality of life issue, and anyone who says they would like to live in an area with the union jack plastered around the place with an Irish accent is either naive or a liar

That said, of course it is good there is more movement around Ireland, there are bigots everywhere and lovely people everywhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769619#Comment_118769619

I suspect the modern day police force are definitely not better then gardai.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769591#Comment_118769591

It's weird what people think is funny.

I have family who live in NI, they love it.

An Claidheamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769591#Comment_118769591

Jeepers Bushmills,

you would think the people of that town would cop on about their reputation - can't believe the Irish government promote bussing people up there

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g209948-d212192-r394430321-Bushmills_Distillery-Bushmills_County_Antrim_Northern_Ireland.html

mariaalice

I suppose the great thing about moving to NI is you don't imbibe all the nonsense and can actually look around and see all the good things.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769673#Comment_118769673

Would u move to kilkeel, Larne or bushmills or recommend anyone from down south to?

Larbre34

Not wishing to generalise, but on the whole, the North is a worn out, miserable, depressing kip of a place. A craic vacuum. A sink of inertia and the place optimism forgot.

That is genuinely how I perceive it whenever I can't avoid visiting it. And you have to conclude, its because of it being the unwanted hind tit of a failing Britain for the last hundred years.

I daresay if we made Boris a reasonable cash offer tomorrow, he'd bite our hands off.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770179#Comment_118770179

I would tell them to check the places out for themselves, also if you are in a hospital in NI with your leg hanging off do you really think you would care or think to ask what side of the street they came from before they treated you?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770236#Comment_118770236

They absolutely wouldnt! I know many people who headed to Enniskillen hospital before Cavan or Sligo. Great service up there.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770236#Comment_118770236

You obviously don't have a clue of these places so.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770227#Comment_118770227

I have to disagree! Have always had great craic in the North, particularly since the 90s, things are different up there now. Derry and Belfast are great cities, Enniskillen is a great little town, theyre the places I know best.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770262#Comment_118770262

No one is recommending that someone move to Bushmills, but why concentrate on that or even mentioned it? I am well aware that moving to some middle-class enclave has a different vibe, the coast of NI is huge I could have been talking of anywhere. I do think Warrenpoint and Rostrevor are nice.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770262#Comment_118770262

Northern Ireland has a lot of other places. No need to fixate on certain little areas.

mariaalice

It really is weird but any opinion on moving to NI seems to trigger some residents of NI, its peculiar it's as if they can't see their own country in any positive way at all.

dxhound2005

I don't think it is a serious enquiry from the OP given that he claims to know the character of all NI residents, and that of us down south as well. And already have a liking for NI.

"I like it there. People are more down to earth I think, people in the Republic have become insufferable snobs."

The only other information given is that he will be working from home, and his wife will be looking for a job. No mention of their religion or politics or even nationality. In which case they might have no problem choosing Kilkeel or Larne instead of Warrenpoint or Rostrevor.

JupiterKid

As a Nordie myself (Belfast born, grew up in Dublin - most of my extended family and relatives living up there) there are many, many very nice and very pleasant places to live in the North well away from the sectarian kips of Ballymena, Portadown, Larne, Strabane, much of East (and West) Belfast et al.

Leafy South Belfast such as the Malone Road area and the avenues off the Lisburn Road is and was always a million miles away from the Falls or the Shankill or Ardoyne. But North Belfast also has some nice enclaves as well, around Fortwilliam and the Upper Antrim Road.

Then there is the so-called “Gold Coast” of North Down running from Hollywood through Cultra, Helen’s Bay, Crawfordsburn and into Bangor. Very pleasant areas that are mixed and very civilised. Lovely series of beaches and country parks. High house prices (by NI standards) though.

Outside Belfast, the North coast is lovely - Portrush and Portstewart, pretty much all of beautiful County Fermanagh - Enniskillen is a real gem of a town. Cultured and very different to the popular image in the Republic of all NI towns being savage, sectarian dumps. Armagh “city”:is another gem of a town with the planetarium and observatory - a bit of a “mini-Kilkenny” of the North. Newcastle in South Down and much of the Ards peninsula is rather pleasant.

Much of Derry city is nice too - the Pennyburn area north of the compact city centre is lovely.

As in the Republic, the deprived areas are definitely not places I would recommend and as I have opined on Boards a number of times before, there is a definite class divide with respect to sectarian issues and open bigotry on both sides of the “divide.” These are the places you see the flags and painted kerbstones.

There is no doubt that the Republic has surpassed Northern Ireland in terms of personal wealth and general development (a complete reversal of the situation of the 1960s just before the Troubles erupted) but there is a very good quality of life to be had and enjoyed in the North, despite what many in here may think ...and spout.

I see sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770666#Comment_118770666

Dunno what you're on about, it is a serious inquiry.

I'm from the west of Ireland, I live in GB, I can't get a big enough mortgage in Ireland to buy a decent house so we're thinking of the north, which I've visited but never lived in.

I stick by my comments about Ireland, it's the Celtic Tiger back again and not in a good way.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118772740#Comment_118772740

But why come to AH for such advice ?

Surely one of the regional forums or Accomodations and Property would be better places to get such answers.

You are a poster with over 1,000 posts, at this stage you should know that AH is not the place to get a serious answer about something as important as a move like that.

So I agree with the other poster, I don't think it's a serious enquiry.

Mad_maxx

Ards Peninsula

cj maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118768881#Comment_118768881

Avoid Newry like the plague. Hateful bunch of cnuts who think they above everybody. Enniskillen is nice , likewise Derry.

martinedwards

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118777866#Comment_118777866

Grew up in Carrowdore, still have most of my family there.

sleepy and quiet, some strong GAA down near the end, less so at the Ards end.

its potentially a long drive to ANYWHERE!!

NIMAN

Some sweeping comments being made about entire swathes of the population. Just because you have experience of a few knobs in a certain county, doesn't mean the whole county should be avoided.

I think the OP needs to give more details about what they are looking for, what hobbies they have, what sports they play/watch, do they like beaches, do they like cities or the countryside, do they need an airport close. That way they might get more accurate replies.

I would totally ignore most of the comments about the attitudes of people, as it will only apply to a small number. Generally most humans are decent, and you'll have no bother with them, even in NI.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118777900#Comment_118777900

Strange, never associated Newry with any kind of aspirations, not like it has much to look down on others from