Was it a mistake to move to Ireland or not? You be the judge

So - to summarise; despite being demonstratively true; the grass really wasn't greener.

Well the grass has been brown especially with the way the summer was this time Neighbours thought i brought the weather with me..

Yes, the grass was never green and i knew it but never expected to be brown, i did so much research and infact visited before moving here, i had my doubts but personal circumstances made me move..

So stay out if you think you cannot survive without a car or a salary that can only help you buy peanuts..

I've worked in both Sydney and Dublin (temporarily, never a resident); all things being equal, I know where I would have chosen and it would never have been anywhere in Europe.

I chose europe for a reason..At the moment if i have to choose between the UK or Ireland, i think UK it is..Dublin is still recovering from GFC and promoting this country positively is simply giving hopes to the people who already live here..

It's a joke, this country is still way behind some of the european ones, forget comparing with an Asian one...They are so behind it is unimaginable and the cost of living is so ridiculous to the quality that is being offered, it's a joke..

Even a decent meal is not readily accessible, potatoes plenty, they offer that with your thai curry..Thai's will commit suicide if they come to know this..Imagine Fries being served with your curry, it's like everyone has a permanent hangover

I can crack a joke with just one word "IRELAND"

Navthad. As an Irish person, I thank you for your honest experience and I certainly would not recommend immigration to Ireland. Its full of greed........another celtic tiger building up to collapse again. I know you were too polite to mention racism but it exists. You're right .......Ireland is a joke.

Apologies for the grammar, I was so tired and i was venting while my eyes were shutting off

Yes, thats the way i saw it and i still see it..A big no to people who want to move here, I've heard stories of marriages and relationships ending due to the stress of living in ireland.

This is a place to retire if you made your millions somewhere else, if not, just visit, have a few pints eat some potatoes and move on..

We moved to Ireland from South Africa for exactly the same reasons. We had great jobs and owned a house but wanted a quieter life. We only lasted a year. The cost of living in astronomical and the banking system and the internet is one of the worst that we have ever dealt with. I work online and was not able to work from there!
We moved to London a month ago and have not looked back. Best decision that we have ever made. Let me know if you have any questions that I can help you answer.

Hi Navthad,
Thank you for writing your review, it was quite interesting to read. I am actually considering to move to Ireland, and this was really helpful. If i may ask, you said if you are NON IT, does this mean that for IT people grass is greener? what salary range -as per your experience- will make like in Dublin comfortable?

Also, what is the deal with the banks, you mean taking a loan will not be possible unless someone is get the citizenship first? if there is a good link to read about it, i would appreciate the help.

Hi, I red your post. I didn't imagine the cost of living was so high in Ireland. Thanks for the info.

Maybe Ireland is not perfect but are taxes lower than other EU countries?
Especially for entrepreneurs?

I am glad that I could help. It is really a beautiful country but it is much more expensive than the rest of Europe. Good luck with your decision

Silvma,

Well having lived in Sydney and seen the standards and what i could get for that cost. Ireland is expensive.

Check this website called Numbeo.com , it's probably website to give you an up to date data about cost living around the world. You can compare and it is very accurate and add that data to your life experience, it will be spot on.

Ann, it is a beautiful country there is always a but about this country.

I now know why there was a GFC.

Navthad.. so are you moving out? Where are you thinking of going?

Rin,

At this point I'm considering all possible options..Moving from one country to another is a big stressful journey and having been here only few months.I am in this limbo, there is a huge financial impact.. I need to recover my cost too..

For example..Their health systems are broken, infact it is atrocious, insurance is a nightmare be it car or health or any kind of insurance you want to take.

To give you a picture, there are 3 private health insurance companies, one of them has 104 products..can you believe 104 products..No wonder people struggle..It is designed to confuse. I have a health insurance background and i am very thorough in that subject, when i saw their products and read a few..It was a complete joke..This is just 1 out of a few important things that you have to consider if you want to live in ireland. When you realise that insurance is a nightmare and nothing is been done to fix it..You know the standards..

GFC has brought strict governance and everything is regulated and it is so strictly regulated, common sense has been flushed out. Regulation is important but this country is just unbelievable. I wonder how they are part of the EU. People still struggle but there are some who are happy. I guess peoples priorities are different.

Rin,

I also noticed you live in singapore. Singapore is like my 2nd home after australia. Stay put to singapore or if you're planning to move to EU. Germany would be a good bet.

This is the case of the grass is greener. And like you said, depends on the priorities. Singapore is a great place for earning money, but I wouldn't want my children to be born and grow up here. The people here are horrible. Nobody's treating you like a human being, you're just a product here. Anyway, I shouldn't digress from the main topic. I was actually looking at Ireland because what I value is people treating other people as human beings and I can find that in Ireland.

Agree, this is the case of Grass is Greener. The grass was never green, infact i visited to check this place out and explored for 3 weeks. I knew it won't be enough. People here are nice, there could be pockets of the usual nonsense but overall the people have been fantastic and very welcoming.

People alone is not a good enough reason to move though, then comes the reality.. jobs, cost of living and the rest. There are people who are satisfied with whatever little they earn and live happily.

Its also depends on the line of work you're in. IT jobs are plenty.

Put it this way, if you and your partner (if you have one) earn a combined gross salary of over 100 thousand you could lead a simple comfortable life. I mean simple forget the luxuries. Anything over 150,000 Euros combined is good.

A single person with a 75 K job is not bad.

Also check Numbeo.com it gives some idea of the cost of living, it's a useful website.

No matter what you do, don't ever go to Australia though. This is why i am stuck and Ireland disappointed me on quite a few factors. Dublin is a small and a beautiful city but beauty wears off and reality sets in. That is when you want your stars to be aligned well

Yes, it really is a complex matter. I just don't want to grow old in a place where I'm just a number, and they'd ditch me as soon as I'm not producing milk for the corporates.

I have checked numbeo.com, the problem with numbers is, other factors are not shown. For example, there is NO WAY for foreigners to buy a property in Singapore unless it's a condominium (that will easily cost $2 million).

Hahaha.. funny you said that. I'm personally not a fan of Australia, so we can agree on that.

It is complex. I am not an IT guy and like you said if you don't produce you get ditched. Another serious option is starting a small business, now that brings us to speak about the banks, which is the biggest joke in ireland. After the GFC, if you want to buy a property you and your partner or even if you're a single person the banks will only lend a MAX of 3.5 percent of your Gross.. Remember the key word is MAX and that is like winning a jackpot. In most cases they give 1.5 to 2 percent Max and the rest you got to manage.

So if an average gross salary is 45 K and in some cases less and if you have a partner who is not working and if you have a kid, then you are F'd cause banks refuse to give loans, if you have a good broker there are chances but the banks don't want to risk because you got to take care of your family blah blah blah etc etc.

Even if you have the deposit they still want you to have a year's worth of credit history and they don't recognise credit history from other countries unlike the UK or other european countries. The banks in ireland are so far behind they are in the ice age.

Every bloody thing is interlinked and common sense is thrown out the door. I was told by my bank, that, don't open a savings account, you might as well keep that money inside a mattress and sleep on it atleast you will feel safe. This was in a AIB branch.. That is the state of it...

So banks, jobs, housing, entertainment. Sincere advise my friend, travel here and check for yourself, who knows you might not care about all this and just end up loving this place wherein you won't give a F

Australia !!!! hmmmm...Lived there for donkeys years... Stay away!!!! Simple as that...

I have been to Ireland a few times, stayed for a few weeks each time. I like the place so far, but of course, holiday is very different from actually living there permanently. Thanks for sharing the details, now I have more considerations to take in

Yup! Holidays are nice and green

I prefer dublin to other towns. If you can put up for 5 or 6 years then options will be plenty..Berlin or Munich or Amsterdam and believe it or not, i would say UK...Yes there is Brexit but my bet will be good old UK.

Your post really made me wonder about picking Ireland as a place to move to. Many of the financial factors you mentioned are concerning to me and especially how you believe the banking system in Ireland is a bit dodgy at best. Not to mention how tough you say it can be to attain a mortgage that finances a sizable amount of the property. In the States it is quite normal for a mortgage to cover 80% to 100% of the purchased property.

3.5% in this context basically mean you need to be prepared to have almost 98% of the necessary funds to buy a home. If that is the case there really is not a serious mortgage system in Ireland. This is quite concerning because that also means the banks in Ireland are extremely weak and teetering on failure or even total collapse. Can this be true?

My other question is something I hope is a none issue in Ireland.

How wide spread is racism in Irish society? As a African American moving to Ireland it's important for me to blend in and feel at home and embrace my new home's traditions and culture. I also want to be in a society that is open and receptive to all ethnicities. As a African American will I experience overt and covert racism in the small towns and large cities? How are people of color regarded in Ireland in terms of being seen as fellow citizens, or viewed more like foreigners?

How is interracial dating viewed in Ireland?

Thank You

Where would you draw the conclusion that banks in Ireland are dodgy? They're fully integrated into the EU banking system and follow all their laws and structures. No more dangerous than any American bank and I would say probably less so.

Mortgages work much the same as here. However, you will not have a credit file built up there so as far as I can tell your creditworthiness here is irrelevant. To retire there you'll need that minimum 100k euro income, 250k euro in savings that you cannot touch - I do not know if that applies below retirement age folks but imagine, without a work sponsor (which is also hard to get) something similar will pertain.

You should also rent first anyway just to see where and how you want to live

As far as racism is concerned there has been black people leaving there - albeit in small numbers - for hundreds of years. I can t say there is no racism but I have never heard of it and interracial dating and couples are unremarkable.