Did you emigrate by choice?

Faith

When you moved from Ireland, was it by choice or by need (for example, a job transfer)? Why did you go if it was by choice?

For me, I always knew that I wanted to get out of Ireland. It was just too limited for me. There's very little to do there and it was, for me, a boring place to grow up. But I knew that if I stayed in Cork for college, I'd never get out of the place, so I upped and went to Edinburgh at 18. I figured Scotland is like Ireland away from Ireland, and I wasn't taking a huge risk with it.

If I'd had a REAL choice, I would have gone to California, but for now, that's still somewhere in my future!

Rabies

Meh, various reasons. Work was one of them. Needed a long break and a change in direction.
No better way than to leave the country. Probably go back some time at the end of next summer when my visa runs out. But for now I'm staying here.

Although, I am thinking about going back to America for a few months next year

cujimmy

couldnt wait to get the f**k away from Irl

Jimoslimos

Well I didn't have to be dragged kicking & screaming out of the country but still needed to move for opportunities lacking in Ireland.

Ruu_Old

I couldn't wait to get out of Ireland but over the last few months I wasn't sure. I was home in November and it put my mind to rest. Things were just not happening for me in Ireland and I was miserable. I moved into a new house in the US now and things are looking fairly bright for the future.

g-punkteffekt

I lived in edinburgh for a year, and couldn't wait to get back to Dublin. I think they're not as friendly there and the old saying that scots are tight bastards certainly comes to light in Edinburgh!!! I'd have to say there was even less to do in Edinburgh than dublin.

Sangre

Well, it is a lot smaller

Ajos

I kind of tricked myself into it. I went for the Green Card lottery because I thought that it would be cool to head over to LA for a couple of months of the year if things were slow in the Irish film industry. It was only when I got the letter that I had won the lottery that I really researched it and realised that it just doesn't work like that any more - the only way of being sure of holding on to the card is actually to commit to it and live here full time.

I vacillated a lot - things were going ok for me in Dublin, but I was in a bit of a rut career wise and personally, so I thought "why the hell not?" It's not like it's the 19th century when once you were here it was next to impossible to go back - if I didn't like it I could go home and pick up where I left off.

Three years later and I can't imagine having stayed in Dublin. Coming here was the best thing I ever did.

To answer the question, it was entirely optional, to the point where I almost didn't.

motormatic

No, I had no choice in the matter at all. My parents split up and my mother whisked me away on a plane to Canada. I thought we were just coming to visit her parents but we stayed. I was 13, so a little young to really know what was going on or do anything about it. My dad stayed in County Mayo and eventually moved back to Manchester where he was born. It was a big, big change, especially since it was completely unexpected, but now I think it was all for the best. Still hoping to move to Dublin in a couple years though:)

BEAT

Rabies wrote:

Although, I am thinking about going back to America for a few months next year

make sure you stop at cleveland ohio on your way through and we'll have a few drinks
may be going to NZ in may, depends on how the funds look ...

BEAT

Ruu wrote:

I couldn't wait to get out of Ireland but over the last few months I wasn't sure. I was home in November and it put my mind to rest. Things were just not happening for me in Ireland and I was miserable. I moved into a new house in the US now and things are looking fairly bright for the future.

well I am glad to hear about the move of house, I dont have a pc at home right now so we cant caht but keep me updated by pm will ya
I may take a trip to chicago, how far away are you?

FatherTed

I was not looking to leave Ireland but my US-headquartered company decided to close their office in Ireland where I worked and offered a few of us to move to headquarters. A few of us came over, I had just planned to stay the summer and then go back. That was almost 15 years ago. For some strange reason, I found I fit in better here.

miss niamh

I was so sick of the irish weather and having nothing to do for 9 months of the year except go to the pub or watch tv, thats no life.
So it was by choice and weather was definately the deciding factor. The sun shines all the time here, it would be the best place to live if i could bring all the irish people with me and ship all the aussies over to ireland

r3nu4l

Not by choice but although I sometimes miss home a lot, I'm getting used to it all now

The gf finished her PhD and was offered a job in a world renowned research centre in Cambridge so she took it straight away. I was happy in Ireland but was not staying if she was going.

I changed career but ended up working for a dreadful company for 15 months, really hated it but then last January got a new job, love it and that has made things a lot better for us both

Gandhi

>> Did you emigrate by choice?
Yes I did. Never going home.

Well, not permanently. Love it here.

eiretamicha

For my husband and I, it was a little bit of both. We couldn't start our lives in Ireland...there were no jobs in his town, and we couldn't afford a car. We weren't married yet, so I couldn't work legally, and nobody would hire me under the table. He had a good job in his field, but the pay was crap. We couldn't afford to get our own place, we couldn't afford to go out anywhere, we couldn't afford clothes/books/fun stuff. We lived paycheck to paycheck having enough only to buy food and personal items. So we chose to move to Florida (where I'm from) and start our lives there (here, lol).

We don't regret it...we had a beautiful outdoor wedding (which I've always wanted) that we wouldn't have been able to have in Ireland, we got our own place for real cheap (although that was more luck than anything!), we got a car, and we both (finally) have very good government jobs.

But it's been tough. We both miss Ireland like crazy...yet every time we plan a time to move back, something comes up and we have to postpone everything. We're kind of in a rut: can't afford to get a decent house (rent or buy) here, can't afford to start over again there. We're stuck. Gotta stay here in this same situation and save save save until we have enough money to move back. Which is taking forever. Not even sure if we'll make it back by October now.

yossarin

does your girlfriend deciding it count as 'choice' ?

Came over to london three years ago - mostly for work experience.

Love it here now - there's always so much going on here that its completely ruined me for going back to dublin. I'm really lazy about making my own fun.

Bought a flat 4 months ago and everything. Don't think i could afford a flat back home.

Guess_Who

I left by choice initially and lived in Edinburgh for almost 4 years. In that time the longest I spent in Ireland was 2 weeks and by the end of that I was itching to get back out of there.

Then I decided to travel for a year and moved home for 8 months to save. I surprised myself and quite a few others with how happy I was in Ireland.

I'll probably end up settling back there, but who knows?

Abbey Lass

I moved because hubby wanted to come back to the states. We were barely surviving in Ireland, he said it would be better over here, and he was right. Miss home now and again but would never go back to live. Love it over here.

Tuesday_Girl

I was offered a job in Amsterdam and decided to do a one year contract and then head back home. That was 9 years ago and I'm still here in the Dam. My long-term plan is probably to move back, but financially I would be mad to do it now, as my standard of living would have to take a drastic drop. Plus the weather is slightly better, public transport and social life and great, and I love my job.

I go back home a lot to visit but I just can't see myself living there anytime soon.