Moving from UK to Ireland......Please help !!

ocean

Hello everyone,
Kinda new to this forum so please be nice.....
Myself and my other half Claire are hoping to move to your beautiful country next year and would appreciate any help you guys could give us.
We are expecting our first baby in May and want to give it the best life possible and as im sure you all know the quality of life in this country (UK) is crap.....if there is anyone on here that could give us info on properties to rent, prices we should be expecting to pay for a house in the country, food and fuel prices, rough costs of household bills etc, would we qualify for any child benefit payments.......is there any work going in the country......all the usual stuff.
We have wanted to move to Ireland for some time as it is everything we have always wanted......beautiful countryside, lovely people, more relaxed and a generally happy place to be.
Any help with this would be very much appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read my long drawn out question (once i start talkin...i cant stop!!)
Thanks again
see ya later:)

Stephen

I don't know about guides on the net, but from my own personal experience:
Renting/buying property usually is a lot cheaper in the country... anywhere besides Dublin, really, but it is still very expensive. Average rent increased this year for the first time in about 5 years. Have a look at www.daft.ie for an idea of the rental market, and, say, www.myhome.ie for the property buyers market.
Fuel prices here are less than in the UK, due to lower tax on it, but are rising a lot. Currently you'll pay about €1.10 for a litre of petrol in Kilkenny. The cost of home heating oil (kerosene) has gone up a LOT this year, and electricity and gas rates have been hiked too. Telecoms services are also more expensive here. Broadband is harder to get, especially living in the country, and comes with lots of strings attached (i.e. download limits).
Public transport is pretty much non-existent if you want to go to any place that's not Dublin (Seriously - if you want to go anywhere by train that's not on the same line, you're nearly guaranteed to have to go to Dublin first to change trains).
I'm not trying to be all negative though
Unemployment is at an all-time low in this country, the economy is booming. As EU citizens you should have no problem claiming child benefit etc once you are resident here.
Motoring is very expensive in this country because of the insurance (cartel) and tax regimes. If you have your own car more than 6 months in the UK, bring it with you. The revenue gestapo will try to make it hard for you to register it here without paying their semi-illegal vehicle registration tax, but as you will be able to show you've been resident in the UK for more than a year you shouldn't have any problems. Also, you will be able to change your UK licence for an Irish one for a small fee without having to resit a driving test. You don't have to though, as an EU licence is fine here, though some of the insurance companies, being ****, might try to load you for it. The roads aren't great either, but are improving.

If you smoke, expect to pay €6.30 for a pack of 20. The public health service here is a disaster, so make sure you get decent health insurance. Bupa and the VHI are the main companies in that business. Schools here are pretty good, and undergraduate college education is free to all citizens (For now anyway, there's often talk of fees being reintroduced, but I reckon whatever government does that will lose a lot of votes).

Alcohol is usually slightly cheaper in the country than in Dublin. Expect to pay about €3.50 for a pint of guinness in most pubs.

You can get a lot of information on living in Ireland from the state's own information portal, Oasis. (http://oasis.gov.ie)

stag39

Stephen wrote:

Currently you'll pay about €1.10 for a litre of petrol in Kilkenny.

get on yer bike an head to waterford ....unleaded = 1.02euro in tescos!!!;)

Stephen

The petrol I'd use up on the trip would wipe out any saving!
I currently get my petrol for 1.06 on my fuel card, which ain't too bad. Cheapest at-the-pump price I've seen in Kilkenny recently is 108.9 at the esso at the end of vicar st.

ocean

Thanks for your help, ive read various articles and info on numrous websites but its more helpful and realistic if you get some info from an actual person living there than straight of a website if that makes any sense........anyway stephen......thanks for the in depth reply......very very helpful.......and if you think of any other info which i may be able to take on board and use then please just give me a shout.
see ya !!!