Anyone thinking of emigrating?

If it was a simple thing to do I’d certainly consider it

Comparing 2019 living standards to today I'd be considering it yeah. In the UK and many parts of Europe you can live mostly-normally but in Ireland you just can't and this set-up is already semi-permanent.

E2100 to rent a 3bed townhouse in Balbriggan nowadays. Ireland ain't no place for the working man. After this year the gloss goes off Ireland for multinationals, reduced corporation tax etc - it may get messy fast. Mid 20s no ties I'd be gone, mid 40's with sprogs so I'll be sticking around!

https://www.daft.ie/for-rent/house-28-bremore-pastures-drive-balbriggan-co-dublin/3656726

Jesus... fifteen posts in and no one's defended the place... This is serious.

Would depend on what part of Spain. Stcik to a city with some ex-pats so you don't feel isolated, meet up with locals as much as possible and give it a week of decent weather and you'll be glad you did it

Take a look at Greek property prices also.

I would be gone to the states if it was easy. I hate this country

I agree that the government is & has been since 1922 a miserable, ultra conservative, priest ridden, corrupt nightmare of a place for young people.

But the answer I don't think is to leave, the answer is to reform the system. You'll find all western governments since the late 60's/early 70's have been cracking down on what they call a "excess " or a "crisis of democracy" as they called it in a 1975 report. "The report observed the political state of the United States, Europe and Japan, and says that in the United States the problems of governance "stem from an excess of democracy" and thus advocates "to restore the prestige and authority of central government institutions."

In other words the population is to free & people have to much democracy so governments have to become more authoritarian to create a more obedient & authority fearing population. Keep people afraid, feeling isolated & in line they won't try to create a more fair & free society.

As Noam Chomsky brilliant explains here, the principles of which the US was founded on, and this can apply to most other western states:

" The constitutional system was based on the principle that the prime responsibility of government is “to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority,” as Madison, the leading framer, explained at the Constitutional Convention. Therefore, he elaborated, power must be in the hands of the wealthy, while the public is fragmented and scattered so that the threat of democracy is reduced and the country can be “governed by those who own it,” as declared by John Jay, the president of the Convention and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."

He goes on..

"With all the changes that have taken place over two hundred years, that principle has been maintained, and indeed reiterated, particularly in the twentieth century, when leading Wilsonian liberals (Walter Lippmann, Howard Lasswell, etc.) explained that the “ignorant and meddlesome outsiders” (the general public) have no business interfering in the public arena – their “function” is solely to lend their weight now and then to one of the “responsible men” (elections)."

He explains the so called "crisis of democracy"

"the Trilateral Commission, representing the more liberal internationalist currents among elites from western Europe, Japan and the US, in their study Crisis of Democracy. The “crisis” was that during the ferment of the 1960s, the public began to depart from its normal apathy and passivity. The study recommends means to drive people back to their spectator role, so that “democracy” can be protected. Recall that this is the liberal side of the spectrum; the mislabeled conservatives are far more strongly opposed to democracy. Social policy and propaganda since have been directed to the goal of overcoming “the crisis of democracy” by sharply reducing participation in democratic institutions. The public grasps that in some manner; by now, an unprecedented eighty percent of the public regards American democracy as non-functional.

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The major attack on democracy is the effort to shift decision-making even more than before into the hands of unaccountable private tyrannies: the corporate world, which is fundamentally totalitarian in character, as long understood by business historians and political economists. That is the goal of the current efforts to weaken those elements of the national government that serve public needs, while expanding those that serve business power, notably the Pentagon system, which was designed in large measure as a device to transfer public funds to advanced sectors of industry under the guise of “security,” and continues to serve that function.

"

And I think it's pretty clear also that Irish & British governments whether Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, or Tory or Labour governments policies regarding the general population are very similar, reduce democracy and put power into the hands of "unaccountable private tyrannies: the corporate world, which is fundamentally totalitarian in character."

The young population who are eager for change, if determined enough, are the best hope of building a fairer & more egalitarian society.

One thing to look out for abroad is high Property Tax compared to ours. Even in the North.

Property taxes in Texas are the seventh-highest in the U.S., as the average effective property tax rate in the Lone Star State is 1.69%. Compare that to the national average, which currently stands at 1.07%. The typical Texas homeowner pays $3,390 annually in property taxes.

A lot of people see the term "right wing" being thrown around on twitter at racists,trump supporters,anti gay etc.

They haven't a notion what it actually means.

Thats the funny thing , all these people complaining that Ireland is a shithole with feral kids on the luas etc etc , keep voting for all these left wing parties that are never going to tackle this. Then the supposedly centrist parties like FG and FF have also moved to the left. The young are sick of Ireland now because our government has taken the most extreme position as regards Covid restrictions and now we are 2 years in they see no end to it. But these are classic left wing policies of "Big government" and "Central control", nightclubs must close, pubs must finish up at 8pm, etc etc

I emigrated about 20 years ago (I'm not sure if that's the correct term though as it was more to do with having an adventure and a bit of craic than anything else) it was near the height of the boom so there were loads of opportunities here but I just fancied something different.I was 24 and single so I could just head off anywhere.I had a great time,made lots of friends,decent cash and came back after 10 years.

If I was the same age now I'd be gone again.It could be that I'm a grumpy old man now in my 40s but it really is no country now for a young person,it's so hard to get ahead and then you see people contributing nothing but policies in place to make sure they have the same standard of living with none of the work or responsibility.All the usual (valid gripes) covered in this thread and others,no point rehashing them.

Anybody thinking SF are the answer are in for a big land aswell.

The title of the thread probably can't be amended. Could the OP give a list of where they mean by the question (Anyone thinking of emigrating?)