Sick of this country

There's no real "running away to something better" - different area only means you are forced to deal with a different shhitt show, is all. There is no Utopia to be found these days. Entire world's gone mad (especially with greed.)

Plus the north island had a pretty big earthquake recently and new zealand has a history of them, it also had a cyclone I think recently.

So you lived in the states and that didn't work out either. TBH you're coming accross as someone who is desperately unhappy. Genuinely I would suggest that you speak openly to someone about how you feel because if you think upping sticks again is going to improve your lot then you may be in for a rude awakening.

Spent a few months there...

I hated it, everything required a car, charity shops everywhere, visible poverty, very difficult to find a pub to have a quiet pint in, price of alcohol was very high, pay was good, people were awful(proper racist sh!t bags, towards Asians & Indigenous), hospitals very good, food incredibly expensive...

I enjoy that I can eat locally raised meat here in Ireland for half the price than in OZ(currency adjusted for of course)

You think they're heading here for the weather? Hahahaha

They're here for the free stuff, nothing more. Ireland is a soft touch.

Total tax take for 2022 on an income of €53,000 is €14,232. That's as a single adult with no deductions. Not sure how you managed to give the government nearly 4k more than that?

Source: PWC Tax Calculator

Bertie and Flynn are 15+ years ago. Irrelevant.

Independents like who? The idiot Paul Murphy? The clowns from Kerry? Who are you referring to?

We all change...not talking you personally but in general...we get it! You lived in Australia. I returned from abroad in 2019 and quickly became very self conscious of not saying "in x" because it was usually not relevant to the story anyway. Just get on with it!

First World problems are still problems to the individuals concerned. If you're lucky enough to be able to jet off to experience Australia then go for it. Nothing to lose by the sounds of it.

Lived there for a good few years, fantastic place to live when young and care free, less so to settle down as your career progresses and parents get older. All the usual societal issues crop up.

I wouldn't have been able to afford to buy house without an undesirable mortgage anywhere I wanted to live Melbourne or Sydney. I can afford one in a nice part of Dublin. They're only better cities to live if you can afford it. Most people can't, and have the same struggles we do here. So you should probably avoid New South Wales or Victoria; very much out of the frying pan and into the fire based off your current perspective.

Western Australia is possibly the way to go given you're in construction and the partner is a primary teacher.

Distances are big so for construction workers a lot of daylight hours can be spent commuting which takes away from the lifestyle element. As you head for site management the work hours get longer again so consider this carefully when choosing between bigger cities or more regional locations.

Different states have different rules for assessing primary teaching qualifications. Make sure your partners qualifications can be recognised before heading over or their salary will be relatively smaller than what it is now when costs and taxes are factored in.

How about Switzerland? Hear good things and closer to home...