Ireland: Home or Away??

rwilson_ie

Years back when I was a teenager etc, I used to think that Ireland was great but that I'd love to visit NYC, LA etc but then to return to raise a family here.

Now, I am in my 30's with a 2.5 year old and an 8 week old. Looking back, it was fine being in Ireland when younger because we were on the piss and I played basketball. So, didn't need weather or anything else.

When we used to go drinking, we used to be quite sensible (in terms of violence etc, not the amt of pints!) and just had a laugh. Nowadays, there is an aggression and violence that goes with drink.

What is it we are proud of with Irish pubs/craic ? is it the alcohol ? or the craic you can have with the Irish ? or - now, brace yourself - are Irish not able to have craic without alcohol !!!!? Take a few mins to ask yourself this - if you answere No, then do you not think that it is sad to think that "you can't have fun without being pissed ?".

I used to be under pressure to have x pints and keep up in rounds etc - now, if I go out, I have one or two - or even have a coca-cola and drive home ! I'm proud to be able to have a laugh with my friends and not need drink. If I had that sense when I was younger, I'd have saved a fortune in $$$ and not had those mornings after.

I'm not saying to get rid of drink - I'm just saying, have one or two - if your friends are real friends, you shouldn't feel the need to have loads to enjoy their company.

Anyway, I'd leave because :

1) Ireland, for me, is a drink fuelled and dangerous place to raise kids
2) weather is s***e
3) you'll value relations more when you/they visit

Outside of drink/craic, what does Ireland offer ??

Just on the culture thing - we have had Spanish students for the last few years and they are so like kids "should be" compared to our youth, who hang outside the Spar and ask "Mister, would you get us some cans"?

When I was 14/15, I was playing Rounders, Squares, football, Relevio !
Every Summer, our residents association would have Summer games for two weeks. Saturday mornings, one of the Dads, used to come out to coach us (not a team, just kids from our estate) in Football. At New years, the parents were out in the streets, wishing each other a happy New Year. There was Community Spirit !! - parents were concerned about raising families !! Now, parents are concerned about their daily commute, making more $$$, just so they can pay ridiculous childcare costs. Everyone is stressed so much, there is no place for morals, manners and community spirit.

Bring all this back and I'd stay - otherwise, I'm outta here as soon as I get a job in Spain.

Will Spain have flaws ? yes, it will ! But I'll address them slowly but surely, from the comfort of my swimming pool, every weekend. Eating Al Fresco every evening .....

Rob

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Mc Love

Would love to live in Santa Cruz or any part of California, had a great J1 summer experience, but i voted no in the poll, because I love Ireland and would miss everything about it

Tom65

I'm surprised the weather is such a big factor for everyone. I'm sure I'd dislike the rain a lot more if I hadn't spent the last 21 years living year and getting used to it. For me, if there's less rain - it's a bonus, but rain is the norm.

I always thought if (when?) I move away, I'll go somewhere with a decent amount of rain. None of this sunny crap for me.

Mc Love

I actually like when it rains!

Canis Lupus

I left in 2006.... I think. I go back less and less.

I'll probably go back to retire but at this stage in my life I couldn't be paid to go back. Best decision of my life to leave.

Myxomatosis

64% of the voters would rather live in any country other than Ireland for the rest of their lives.

Probably the moany "I'm ashamed to be Irish" brigade. Stop whinging and **** off if that's the case.

I am Irish so I'd stay. Simple really.

shane86

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

and I do love the west of ireland, it's beautiful.

I credit the fact I had a belter of a NYE to having avoided a trip to Galway. I would sooner spend my life in Baghdad if forced to choose.

Azureus wrote: »

tho the damn women would outshine me and id have to learn the language. effort!

The Italians in work love Irish birds- men like a bit of whats different


Im back from a month holiday in Oz, Im moving back in February for at least a year, maybe two. I like Ireland and am proud to be Irish, but I just cant hack a third wet summer in a row, or blowing a quarter of my wage on socialising (a pint of decent Aussie beer in Sydney city centre is 2.70 euros. A dbl vodka and coke in a nightclub is about 7 euro)

Oz, Amsterdam, England/Scotland, Spain and Germany are places I would consider living. I wouldnt live in the US if you paid me- yank lads are generally sound but yank women are some of the most boring reserved people I have had the misfortune to meet (mind you they were mostly WASPs and upper class Irish Americans. Maybe it is a bit like judging all Irish women from meeting some self obsessed D4 airheads, but the ones Ive met here were geebags generally)

AckwelFoley

The Majority have so far voted to go.


The Majority need a serious fcuking reality check or else need to get out more.

Ireland is a great country.. oh go on.. mention corruption and the health service i dare you. :rolleyes:

Trinity

PillyPen wrote: »

This might work out. I do love your accent, but would prefer to keep mine as the natives love it. Plus you'll need yours in America. It will get you laid. :pac:

It'll get me laid? Jaysus Thats a first it usually has the opposite effect over here

shane86

rwilson_ie wrote: »

then do you not think that it is sad to think that "you can't have fun without being pissed ?"

A bit like saying it is sad to watch 11 Irishmen you dont know play a football match on your behalf. Drinking is a hobby- in my 7 years of drinking I have never assaulted a randomer, vandalised property or driven a car, so where is the problem?

If I had that sense when I was younger, I'd have saved a fortune in $$$ and not had those mornings after.

Most of the best nights of my life have involved a rake of drink.

When I was 14/15, I was playing Rounders, Squares, football, Relevio !
Every Summer, our residents association would have Summer games for two weeks. Saturday mornings, one of the Dads, used to come out to coach us (not a team, just kids from our estate) in Football. At New years, the parents were out in the streets, wishing each other a happy New Year. but surely, from the comfort of my swimming pool, every weekend.

It is looking increasingly likely that climate change is going to do away with this. We simply no longer have the summer weather for all the above, and I feel sorry for the kids what with the way alot of this country simply doesnt get snowfall anymore. Even Australia, when I was there in November/December the weather was maybe 50% good Irish summer standard, 20% crap Irish summer standard and the remainder scorching med type weather. They had a poor summer last year as well

shane86

dSTAR wrote: »

To hell with those pokey little toilets.

What you need is adult diapers. Problem solved on both fronts!

Can you imagine the bird beside suggestig yis nip to the jacks to do the mile high thing, then seeing that yoke?

The flight to Oz is pretty cool, 21 hours of free beer

The flight back is hell.

jester77

Left 7 years ago. Not much to entice me back but it's still good for a visit.

seraphimvc

daveirl wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

exactly.

exactly why i am so gonna leave ireland :P

challengemaster

snyper wrote: »

The Majority have so far voted to go.


The Majority need a serious fcuking reality check or else need to get out more.

Ireland is a great country.. oh go on.. mention corruption and the health service i dare you. :rolleyes:

I think you need a reality check there, snyper. Not everyone likes grey skies and pissing rain 300+ days of the year. I like summer, not fúcking constant rain and flooding. Not everyone is an alcoholic that spends all day in the pub. Not everyone likes the ****ty services the government provide, and overcharge for. Not everyone likes this country, because guess what, there's a lot better out there, and many people have experienced it at one stage or another. Oh and people don't like being ripped off for every little thing.

I think you need to remove yourself from that little high horse there mate. You may like what Ireland has to offer. I for one don't. Compared to America, this place is a fúcking joke.

Do you really pride yourself saying you're Irish when the reputation all around the world is we're nothing but drunkards? Of course, they're hardly wrong. The Irish start drinking age what, 14 now or something? It's definatly an issue of nurture not nature here.

Húrin

No question; I'll never leave. I love this land so much that I even like the weather. Who the hell wants perpetual heat? All seasons are beautiful. They all have their own feel. The casual humour present in Irish life is, as far as I have found, unique to here.

I don't mind if people want to go. Less complaining here!

challengemaster wrote:

I think you need a reality check there, snyper. Not everyone likes grey skies and pissing rain 300+ days of the year. I like summer, not fúcking constant rain and flooding. Not everyone is an alcoholic that spends all day in the pub. Not everyone likes the ****ty services the government provide, and overcharge for. Not everyone likes this country, because guess what, there's a lot better out there, and many people have experienced it at one stage or another. Oh and people don't like being ripped off for every little thing.

It rains 7% of the time here even in the west, and less in the east.

Bad government services are found in every country, and not least in America, where they often do not exist at all.

The best place to live is highly subjective, but there's a well known study you might have forgotten about.

challengemaster wrote:

I think you need to remove yourself from that little high horse there mate. You may like what Ireland has to offer. I for one don't. Compared to America, this place is a fúcking joke.

Not really. Except in the hotter states, most parts of the US get snowed in in the winter.

politics is even more inaccessible and business dominated than here. The two parties system is a disaster. I like being able to personally contact my TDs.

Do you really pride yourself saying you're Irish when the reputation all around the world is we're nothing but drunkards? Of course, they're hardly wrong. The Irish start drinking age what, 14 now or something? It's definatly an issue of nurture not nature here.

The reputation of Ireland for heavy drinking is mainly a result of years of racist British propaganda against us. Constant stereotyping was the intellectual justification for the colonising of Ireland.

robindch

Húrin wrote: »

The reputation of Ireland for heavy drinking is mainly a result of years of racist British propaganda against us.

Complete and total rubbish. Irish-produced stats are here:

http://www.ndc.hrb.ie/attached/3863-4118.pdf (page 5)

From which, of the 26 countries measured, Ireland comes in at number three.

The "racist British propaganda" is in your head alone.

kraggy

dlofnep wrote: »

I love Ireland. I don't want to move out of here, but house prices are extremely high. My friend paid $140,000 in the States for a near-mansion of a house, in a nice area, in a lively mid-sized city.

You wouldn't get a shed for that here.

When? And what city?

dSTAR

shane86 wrote: »

Even Australia, when I was there in November/December the weather was maybe 50% good Irish summer standard, 20% crap Irish summer standard and the remainder scorching med type weather.

Give me winter in Australia any day. I love the 'cold' and the (occasional) rain. When it rains here is pisses down not like the piddly rain you get in Ireland. But then it doesn't rain for months on end sometimes :-(

On the flip side you have really hot summers. Most Irish people who haven't been here before think this is bliss but guaranteed after a string of 35 plus degree days / nights in a house without air con and you are over it. It makes soft Irish weather seem like heaven.

Someone compared Ireland to America. Don't get me started on this sh!t. Only in America do you have to step over stoned crack whores in your hallway on your way to work and be hustled by the local dealers offering you one and ones at 7am outside the subway. On nearly every street corner homeless people beg for a quarter and down the alley ways, shoeless black people with their front teeth missing lying in their own excrement. But apart from that its lovely :rolleyes:

alyuciao

Left the country for the first time when I was 18.
Had no intention of ever going back the last time I left, 16 years ago.

But now, with children of my own, am trying my best to return.

The grass is always greener on the other side.
But, the voice in your head is always calling you home.

Tuesday_Girl

I've been away for 11 years now, haven't ruled out moving back but no plans at the moment. I can get back regularly to visit and I love to do so, but nothing right now makes me think a permanent move back would be a good thing.

Overflow

I already left, moved to Norway 2 years ago, and im loving it, nice healthy economy over here, cheap house prices and great weather, well down the south of Norway where i am. Plus its always great to go home for a holiday at least 3 times a year. Dont think ill be coming back anytime soon

DenMan

dSTAR wrote: »

Give me winter in Australia any day. I love the 'cold' and the (occasional) rain. When it rains here is pisses down not like the piddly rain you get in Ireland. But then it doesn't rain for months on end sometimes :-(

On the flip side you have really hot summers. Most Irish people who haven't been here before think this is bliss but guaranteed after a string of 35 plus degree days / nights in a house without air con and you are over it. It makes soft Irish weather seem like heaven.

Someone compared Ireland to America. Don't get me started on this sh!t. Only in America do you have to step over stoned crack whores in your hallway on your way to work and be hustled by the local dealers offering you one and ones at 7am outside the subway. On nearly every street corner homeless people beg for a quarter and down the alley ways, shoeless black people with their front teeth missing lying in their own excrement. But apart from that its lovely :rolleyes:

There are parts of Dublin that are like that. Think the ho's start at 8am. Not sure about that one.

tedstriker

I'd love to know how many of the people saying that Ireland is such a great country have ever lived abroad for any considerable length of time. While Ireland is familiar and we all know how things work it is in no way comparable to other countries in terms of living standards. You need a fortune to live well in Ireland. The level of education and intelligence in some parts of Ireland is an embarrassment. People don't know how to socialise unless there is a pint in one hand or a joint in the other. Other societies don't socialise like this.

This country is not as good as you think, it is just very ****ing familiar. That is why celebrities are on every advert on tv. They are familiar and therefore you feel comfortable buying the **** product they are selling. Ireland is a bit of a **** product right now.

tedstriker

dSTAR wrote: »

Someone compared Ireland to America. Don't get me started on this sh!t. Only in America do you have to step over stoned crack whores in your hallway on your way to work and be hustled by the local dealers offering you one and ones at 7am outside the subway. On nearly every street corner homeless people beg for a quarter and down the alley ways, shoeless black people with their front teeth missing lying in their own excrement. But apart from that its lovely :rolleyes:

I live on tara street in Dublin and on my 7 minute walk to work everyday, i mean EVERY SINGLE DAY, I see at least 10 heroin addicts dealing and the odd time shooting up. I see homeless people every day and I've seen tourists getting punch in the head for walking straight. In Dublin, in general, there are homeless people everywhere, heroin addicts line the streets and on top of this there are hundreds of drunk people looking to fight whoever looks at them with a crooked eye.

I'm not sure what episode of CSI you've been watching but look out the ****ing window once in a while.

BaconZombie

Step 1: Learn Germany.

Step 2: Learn Japanese.

Step 3: ???????

Step 4: Profit.

Neamhshuntasach

I don't think i could ever leave Ireland with a view to leave it permanently. But i will live abroad for periods of time. I'll probably move to Guatemala in 2010. Either there or Colombia.

Randomness

One of the biggest problems I can see is our " agh sure it's grand" attitude. Until recently (protest marches and the like) we never challenged our ideology as a society.

If something isn't right e.g infrastructure, government etc our answer to everything is "agh sure it's grand" or "there is nothing I can do about that".

We had unprecidented economic success but when it came to the crunch we hurt those most vunerable in our society first.

We laugh off political crime as "fair play to them".

The majority can't have a social life unless it involves drink or drugs.

We spend our days off in shopping centres instead of going to a museum, a play, up the mountains, visiting family, having a laugh.

Of all of this is not true for everyone but I think alot of this adds to the feeling of "apart from the friendliness and *free* education" what is there really to offer in Ireland?"

Papad

dSTAR wrote: »

Someone compared Ireland to America. Don't get me started on this sh!t. Only in America do you have to step over stoned crack whores in your hallway on your way to work and be hustled by the local dealers offering you one and ones at 7am outside the subway. On nearly every street corner homeless people beg for a quarter and down the alley ways, shoeless black people with their front teeth missing lying in their own excrement. But apart from that its lovely :rolleyes:

What a load of bullcrap. The same ****e: people with little or "limited" travel experience bitching about the States. It's gas when a person's perception about a place comes from TV shows like the Shield. And if you did spend some time in America, why did you live in the ghetto?

Begrudgery ("the Irish disease") is still ripe in some quarters I see.

I spent years in the States, came back to Ireland a few years ago and could not adapt to the scumbag mentality and weather. Now I"m back in the States and heading off hiking shortly as it is 20 Degrees (C) here.

For the 2/3 of you who were honest about your feelings on leaving the country, I have only one piece of advice: go for it.

Ulysses Gaze

The best place to live is highly subjective, but there's a well known study you might have forgotten about http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4020523.stm.

A survey from 4 years ago? Love to see it re-run today.....I'd say you'd get slightly different results.

One of the biggest problems I can see is our " agh sure it's grand" attitude. Until recently (protest marches and the like) we never challenged our ideology as a society.

If something isn't right e.g infrastructure, government etc our answer to everything is "agh sure it's grand" or "there is nothing I can do about that".

We had unprecidented economic success but when it came to the crunch we hurt those most vunerable in our society first.

We laugh off political crime as "fair play to them".

The majority can't have a social life unless it involves drink or drugs.

We spend our days off in shopping centres instead of going to a museum, a play, up the mountains, visiting family, having a laugh.

Of all of this is not true for everyone but I think alot of this adds to the feeling of "apart from the friendliness and *free* education" what is there really to offer in Ireland?"

+1