moving to derry

asho123

Hi all,

i've received an offer of a postgrad from University of Ulster in the Magee Campus. Before I accept I could really do with some information about Derry. I'll be moving up from Dublin on my own and I'll know noone so any advise would be great;

* What's the city like to live in, is it a welcoming place, are people friendly?
* Is there anywere I should avoid renting in?
* Has anyone studied in he University, particularly as a mature student? What was their experience like?
*What's the public transport like if I was to rent a bit further away from the campus?

Any other advise/tips?

thanks a million

RadioCity

The main University building is on the Rock Road, but no public transport operates on this stretch of road, but it is quite frequent on the roads on either end of it, Strand Road and Northland Road. Try and stay within the City bus area to keep to the cheapest fares.

There's a lot of students living in the Rosemount area which is a short walk from the university building. There's also some student accommodation (Rock Mills and Coppin House) on the Strand Road end of the Rock Road. Theres probably a lot more, I think on Duncreggan Road, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

It might be (possibly) cheaper living on the opposite side of the river (the Waterside). There's lots of pleasant areas to live in all over the city. If you have you eye on a few places to live, you should ask on here and some of us "Derry wans" will give you our opinion on the areas and suggest areas to avoid.

GAAman

Been livin here for four years now and on the whole i love it, derry is great craic and there is always something to keep you amused even if it is only a pint or two

Radio forgot to mention duncreggan student village as another student accommodation, given your accent i would advise against moving to the waterside, and the best thing about derry is it is small so you wont have to worry about transportation as coppin, rock mills and duncreggan are within a two minute walk of the university

If you want anymore info let me know

asho123

thanks lads, that's a great start. I'll be going up for a couple of days over the next few weeks and I'll probably have more questions after that but as of now I've accepted the offer!

cheers:)

DoireNod

GAAman wrote: »

Been livin here for four years now and on the whole i love it, derry is great craic and there is always something to keep you amused even if it is only a pint or two

Sweet.

...given your accent i would advise against moving to the waterside...

I know plenty of lads in the 'Waterside' that wouldn't have a problem with his accent, but you are probably right; areas such as Nelson Drive and Lincoln Courts should be avoided just in case. Ye won't have a problem in Top of the Hill or Srath na feabhail (which isn't actually in the Waterside, since that ends after the Caw Roundabout) though

Derry is a city with a small-town atmosphere - be wary of the local rumour-mill! It's generally sound, but ye might have to adjust your 'sarcasm-meter' and get used to getting slagged! haha

Essexboy

Derry men do not like to work - at least that is what Derry women tell me.

DoireNod

Essex men are c unts.

Trendkill97

The Essex "boy" has a cheek to slag Derry men haha

muffler

Careful lads.

Back on topic please.

DRakE

i'm in UU Magee..

its ****ing awesome

GAAman

DRakE wrote: »

i'm in UU Magee..

its ****ing awesome

Hmm wonder if i know you

DRakE

first year multimedia computer games

DRakE

hmm joe?

dlofnep

Bring a raincoat! And something warm. Derry is wet and cold. But great craic for nightlife!

DoireNod

dlofnep wrote: »

Bring a raincoat! And something warm. Derry is wet and cold. But great craic for nightlife!

Haha It's not always wet and cold! But this is Ireland, so I assume you have a raincoat anyway!

With regard to the nightlife... the entertainment tonight was a riot...

dlofnep

DoireNod wrote: »

Haha It's not always wet and cold! But this is Ireland, so I assume you have a raincoat anyway!

With regard to the nightlife... the entertainment tonight was a riot...

I live in the sunny south-east lad! All we get is tropical weather.. At least, compared to arctic Derry!

DoireNod

dlofnep wrote: »

I live in the sunny south-east lad! All we get is tropical weather.. At least, compared to arctic Derry!

Haha! Now that you say it...point taken. :pac:

GAAman

DRakE wrote: »

first year multimedia computer games

DRakE wrote: »

hmm joe?

Ha no, i know a lad from galway at magee must be more then one of you so cos he is doin law

pow wow

I went there for undergrad and hated it...but then I'm big city girl (not a big girl before anyone says it!). Try th mature zoned accom. in Duncreggan, they weren't great at the 'zoning' when I was there but I hear it improved in later years I lived on the Waterside with my Cork accent and got on fine.

I won't move this to NI/GB colleges for now as I don't think anyone who posts there goes to UUM (GAAman excluded of course!)

][cEMAN**

Move it? Wtf? I'll lay the smackdown if you come up in 'ere and be all like "Yeah, whatever", and i'll be like "PUH! WHA? BAM!!!!!", and you'll be all like "Owwww".

F'sho!

pow wow

' wrote:

[cEMAN**;61334002']Move it? Wtf? I'll lay the smackdown if you come up in 'ere and be all like "Yeah, whatever", and i'll be like "PUH! WHA? BAM!!!!!", and you'll be all like "Owwww".

F'sho!

Bring it :cool:

smashey

pow wow wrote: »

Bring it :cool:

Stop stealing my lines. :cool:

j0e

GAAman Drake!?

Whats this?

fellow UU Magee

going into final year of computer games development

interesting

back up in a few weeks

beers anyone?

asho123

Hi all,

thanks for all the advice! All sorted now, will be moving up next week (both me and my raincoat!)

cheers:)

keith_donaghy

Magee is full of steps so make sure your fit!

GAAman

keith_donaghy wrote: »

Magee is full of steps so make sure your fit!

And derry city is full of hills so bring the climbing gear

smallgarden

hiya,im just wondering whats the best way to get from the airport to magee campus,was thinking bus or taxi but buses are really limited on ulsterbus site

][cEMAN**

Get the bus to the city centre. Magee is about a 10-15m walk from there. You could ask anyone directions, or use google maps from the Ulsterbus depot in Foyle Street.

smallgarden

are there other buses to centre than ulsterbus,they are really irregular from looking at online timetable

pow wow

I don't think there are any private buses go there (the map on the Airporter website suggests it does but I don't know if that's true or just bad graphics).

Outside of that taxi would be your only option, although the airport isn't that far outside the city it is kind of isolated. You could catch a taxi into town and then walk to Magee or just hop a taxi all the way to Magee (it'd only be an extra £2 or £3 on top of the fare from the airport to town). I had to do the same for my interview.

Or you could rent a car for the day...

smallgarden

thanks,i might just ask at the airport and the bus station and try get bus one way and taxi back if cant get bus both ways,ive sen taxi estimated at around 12 pound just to the city centre so would be around 30 pounds taxi for round trip

GAAman

smallgarden wrote: »

are there other buses to centre than ulsterbus,they are really irregular from looking at online timetable

Hi there dont look at the printed timetables they are usually way outta date, go to http://www.translink.co.uk/ and in the journey planner on the lower left hand side put in city of derry airport for the from field and foyle street in the to field

I would copy the results here but have no idea what time or day you are looking at but here is an example of today from 7 am's results

aDeparture 8:48 10:00 12:35 13:00 15:43

aArrival 10:06 10:21 13:06 13:21 16:46

aTravel Time 1:18 0:21 0:31 0:21 1:03

Ignore the bolded ones they go to limavady, the shorter duration ones go straight into the town itself

As for the magee part, depending on how many bags you have it is a straight ten minute walk from the bus station to magee or there are taxis outside at most times of the day and evening

if you need more help pm me

smallgarden

hey thanks for the help,i had "fun" on the buses.i went to limavaddy as timetable suggested go there and get connecting bus to city centre, not realising i was going miles awat fro it to go right past airport again.bus driver was useless as explained what i wanted to do but never told me there was a bus stop just outside the airport
heading to magee campus next in sep so any advice on places to stay etc would be really appreciated
bit worried about the recent activity up there but hopefully itl settle down again

irish_goat

smallgarden wrote: »

hey thanks for the help,i had "fun" on the buses.i went to limavaddy as timetable suggested go there and get connecting bus to city centre, not realising i was going miles awat fro it to go right past airport again.bus driver was useless as explained what i wanted to do but never told me there was a bus stop just outside the airport
heading to magee campus next in sep so any advice on places to stay etc would be really appreciated
bit worried about the recent activity up there but hopefully itl settle down again

Ulsterbus drivers can be a nightmare at times, watch out for the dirty looks some of them give when you say "Derry" instead of "Londonderry".

I'd not worry about recent bomb, Derry is as safe as anywhere else as long as you stick to areas you know/don't act the eejit.

When you say "places to stay" I assume you mean accommodation? Have you checked out the Magee halls?

RadioCity

Word to the wise...don't use the Translink Journey Planner! It can throw up some chaotic travel suggestions.

Ring Derry bus station and ask for help- or ask on here.

owenc

irish_goat wrote: »

Ulsterbus drivers can be a nightmare at times, watch out for the dirty looks some of them give when you say "Derry" instead of "Londonderry".

I'd not worry about recent bomb, Derry is as safe as anywhere else as long as you stick to areas you know/don't act the eejit.

When you say "places to stay" I assume you mean accommodation? Have you checked out the Magee halls?

eh? Nearly everyone i know says derry and they are unionists except for a few bigoted losers, its really not like that, just ignore the ones who give you a dirty look as they really don't have a clue and are in the back beyond, from council estates and haven't been educated and are looking to shove their unionism up your throat or should i say orangeism, real unionists aren't like that.

GAAman

smallgarden wrote: »

hey thanks for the help,i had "fun" on the buses.i went to limavaddy as timetable suggested go there and get connecting bus to city centre, not realising i was going miles awat fro it to go right past airport again.bus driver was useless as explained what i wanted to do but never told me there was a bus stop just outside the airport
heading to magee campus next in sep so any advice on places to stay etc would be really appreciated
bit worried about the recent activity up there but hopefully itl settle down again

Well places to stay wise the university accommodation would be your best bet if you dont know anyone. There are loads of student houses around the uni but as i said halls would be best for your first year to get your bearings and its also a good way to make friends if you want info on places to go for student houses send me a pm dont wanna put info up here will look like a schill

As for the recent activity, i have been here for five years now and there have only been a few incidents like it, they have been and usually are directed at the strand road barracks which are a fair bit away from the halls and uni itself so dont worry about that

Edit the link for the uni accom page is right here

Hopping The Border

smallgarden wrote: »

hey thanks for the help,i had "fun" on the buses.i went to limavaddy as timetable suggested go there and get connecting bus to city centre, not realising i was going miles awat fro it to go right past airport again.bus driver was useless as explained what i wanted to do but never told me there was a bus stop just outside the airport
heading to magee campus next in sep so any advice on places to stay etc would be really appreciated
bit worried about the recent activity up there but hopefully itl settle down again

I was a student at Magee for four years - can safely say some of if not the best years of my life (live in Belf & have lived in Dub too).

As regards accommodation it depends what you want - if you're an undergrad and don't know too many heading up Duncreggan is the way to go - you can choose to live in the tenements "no en suite" or the posh blocks "ensuite". All flats have internet access and is usually five/six to a flat. I would recommend the tenements since they have sitting rooms instead of combination sitting room/kitchens and are generally far better craic!

if you don't fancy on campus your options are the Argyle Street Area, Duncreggan Road, The Glens area or further up towards/into Rosemount.

Tip some great houses I know of are 96 Duncreggan Road and 1,3,4 & 5 on Grafton terrace beside Gibbons chippie, but these houses are usually some of the first to go

While I was there there was one major agent who looked after all the houses for the Landlords - doubt I'm allowed to name him but his office is located beside BBC Radio Foyle which is behind the library at the top end of the campus. He's decent enough but as with all landlords/agents be firm, fair and aware.

As for recent activity, I wouldn't be too concerned, its nowhere near as dangerous/terrifying as the media makes out!!

Berns

I miss Derry & uni there Was in duncreggan too Like .... years ago

Carson10

Went to Magee and lived in Duncreggan..Its a good spot to stay and has really good security and carparking.4-5min Walk to the Campus and its in a Nice residential area..good student pub/club just down the road called 'Earth'...

Would go back anyday..Derry people are really sound from what i encountered.