Returned Emigrants feedback

lufties

Hi guys, I just wondered how returned emigrants have fared out in being back in Ireland? I did 5 months after being 8 years away. As a single thirtysomething, I found it too frustrating and left again.

The main reasons were the lack of opportunities, expense of everything, and if I'm honest, lack of romantic opportunities.
Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

Tom Dunne

I'll be home a year in two weeks. Frightening when you think about it.

I am actually surprised at how smoothly the move has gone. I managed to bag a job literally four days before I returned, in a similar industry, and it has gone well. I was also fortunate enough to have held on to my house while away, so that made things a lot less complicated.

I don't miss the old life at all, so I think that helps too.

David6330

I'm back 10 months now after been away for over 5 years. It took me a while to adjust but doing ok now. Still miss my old life the odd time.

GalwayKiefer

Home now two years, was away for nearly six. I never really settled in Australia to be honest, I never got over the home sickness. Glad I gave it a good go though.

I found it very expensive moving back, more than I'd anticipated. Car insurance caught me totally off guard, and the pay here isn't as good as there.

lufties

GalwayKiefer wrote: »

Home now two years, was away for nearly six. I never really settled in Australia to be honest, I never got over the home sickness. Glad I gave it a good go though.

I found it very expensive moving back, more than I'd anticipated. Car insurance caught me totally off guard, and the pay here isn't as good as there.

I felt the same about Oz, it was nice but never really settled in. Ireland is mega expensive. With low salaries, its hard to save money.

lufties

David6330 wrote: »

I'm back 10 months now after been away for over 5 years. It took me a while to adjust but doing ok now. Still miss my old life the odd time.

Fair play, I lasted 5 months in Ireland, but couldn't stick it so moved back to London.

LeinsterDub

How many romantic opportunities did you expect in 5 months?

lufties

LeinsterDub wrote: »

How many romantic opportunities did you expect in 5 months?

At least one

kevohmsford

I have been home in Ireland 6 months. Planning to leave for Canada in September. Not enough opportunities in Ireland. Cannot find decent work.

lufties

kevohmsford wrote: »

I have been home in Ireland 6 months. Planning to leave for Canada in September. Not enough opportunities in Ireland. Cannot find decent work.

I found this too. Where were you before the six months?

kevohmsford

lufties wrote: »

I found this too. Where were you before the six months?

I lived in the Netherlands for 3 years. Enjoyed it there. Great work life balance but wanted to return home, Had a job to return to but it did not work out.

lufties

kevohmsford wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

I found this too. Where were you before the six months?

I lived in the Netherlands for 3 years. Enjoyed it there. Great work life balance but wanted to return home, Had a job to return to but it did not work out.

I spent a month in Netherlands, Its Ok but wasn't a major fan of the dutch.

lufties

kevohmsford wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

I found this too. Where were you before the six months?

I lived in the Netherlands for 3 years. Enjoyed it there. Great work life balance but wanted to return home, Had a job to return to but it did not work out.

I spent a month in Netherlands, Its Ok but wasn't a major fan of the dutch.

average hero

So I'm actually based in London now. Thinking of coming back to Dublin but unsure about jobs. I'm probably financially better off here by quite a bit but family and friends and my area back home is pulling me back (although it has been for about 3 years ha).
Don't know what I'll end up doing really. Think I'll get in touch with a few recruiters.

lufties

average hero wrote: »

So I'm actually based in London now. Thinking of coming back to Dublin but unsure about jobs. I'm probably financially better off here by quite a bit but family and friends and my area back home is pulling me back (although it has been for about 3 years ha).
Don't know what I'll end up doing really. Think I'll get in touch with a few recruiters.

Its all relative, Ireland tends to be a bit cabin feverish, and just really frustrates me generally. Yes my family and friends are there, but they have their own lives, wives, kids etc.
London for all its faults, offers me a more colourful life than Ireland ever could. Ireland these days is a constant assault on the pocket. Things are bad when you have to move to London to save money!

zweton

lufties wrote: »

Its all relative, Ireland tends to be a bit cabin feverish, and just really frustrates me generally. Yes my family and friends are there, but they have their own lives, wives, kids etc.
London for all its faults, offers me a more colourful life than Ireland ever could. Ireland these days is a constant assault on the pocket. Things are bad when you have to move to London to save money!

yeah it is sad when you have to move to london to save money. will you stay in london for good do you think. considered london myself for a bit but ended up in edinburgh, good career move.

lufties

zweton wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

Its all relative, Ireland tends to be a bit cabin feverish, and just really frustrates me generally. Yes my family and friends are there, but they have their own lives, wives, kids etc.
London for all its faults, offers me a more colourful life than Ireland ever could. Ireland these days is a constant assault on the pocket. Things are bad when you have to move to London to save money!

yeah it is sad when you have to move to london to save money. will you stay in london for good do you think. considered london myself for a bit but ended up in edinburgh, good career move.

I don't think I'll stay for good, I consider it a short term option. In the meantime I'm waiting for inspiration to identify somewhere that ticks most of my boxes like work opportunities, friends, proximity to home, language, etc..For the moment, London is the best option. One thing for sure is Ireland is completely off the cards.

David6330

I lived out the countryside near enough to Cambridge and really liked living there. I could never live in London, but that's me.

The fact houses are so unaffordable/overpriced in the south east (both to rent or buy), it put me off living there long term otherwise I would have stayed on. The heart called for home in the end so made the move. The longer I am back in Ireland, the less I want to go back to the UK.

I found it hard to save any decent money when in the UK. Putting a roof over my head was my biggest expense and I was essentially paying someone else's mortgage. Fair dues if you can save when living in London. A lot of people can't and live paycheck to paycheck

lufties

David6330 wrote: »

I lived out the countryside near enough to Cambridge and really liked living there. I could never live in London, but that's me.

The fact houses are so unaffordable/overpriced in the south east (both to rent or buy), it put me off living there long term otherwise I would have stayed on. The heart called for home in the end so made the move. The longer I am back in Ireland, the less I want to go back to the UK.

I found it hard to save any decent money when in the UK. Putting a roof over my head was my biggest expense and I was essentially paying someone else's mortgage. Fair dues if you can save when living in London. A lot of people can't and live paycheck to paycheck

Do you think Ireland is less expensive? Dublin is pretty much similar to London for the cost of housing. Also, London have far more opportunities career wise. For me, Ireland was an assault on the pocket, car insurance, bank charges, GP charges , tax bands. The list is endless.

zweton

Would you consider Lisbon? Have been looking at it myself recently. Seems appealing, economy doing well also.

lufties

zweton wrote: »

Would you consider Lisbon? Have been looking at it myself recently. Seems appealing, economy doing well also.

I work with guys from Portugal and the wages (in my industry) are horrendous.

Portugal as a retirement option maybe

Tuesday_Girl

I'm back 3 years after 16 years in the Netherlands, the move back went smoothly enough and I'm close enough to still visit friends a few times a year. Biggest issue was the expense of pretty much everything in Ireland and needing a car after 16 years on a bike. No regrets though.

lufties

Tuesday_Girl wrote: »

I'm back 3 years after 16 years in the Netherlands, the move back went smoothly enough and I'm close enough to still visit friends a few times a year. Biggest issue was the expense of pretty much everything in Ireland and needing a car after 16 years on a bike. No regrets though.

Wow, well there is clearly a difference in my priorities, seen as everyone that has replied is happy they moved back.
I love seeing family, I'm in touch with them daily and will prob see the once every 2-3 months while I live in London.

It feels great to not have to pay 60euro every time you see a GP, that and the fact I'm saving more money.

David6330

lufties wrote: »

Do you think Ireland is less expensive? Dublin is pretty much similar to London for the cost of housing. Also, London have far more opportunities career wise. For me, Ireland was an assault on the pocket, car insurance, bank charges, GP charges , tax bands. The list is endless.

Yeah Ireland is more expensive in general.

Rental accomodation in Ireland was cheaper but doubt there is much different in it now if you compare Dublin and London for example. The quality of the housing stock in Ireland is generally better though.

For most other stuff like food, alcohol, running a car etc, the UK is cheaper.

lufties

David6330 wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

Do you think Ireland is less expensive? Dublin is pretty much similar to London for the cost of housing. Also, London have far more opportunities career wise. For me, Ireland was an assault on the pocket, car insurance, bank charges, GP charges , tax bands. The list is endless.

Yeah Ireland is more expensive in general.

Rental accomodation in Ireland was cheaper but doubt there is much different in it now if you compare Dublin and London for example. The quality of the housing stock in Ireland is generally better though.

For most other stuff like food, alcohol, running a car etc, the UK is cheaper.

The quality of housing stock? You must be joking, housing standards in Ireland are awful. I'd much rather own a place in England.

arccosh

I'm getting closer and closer to the point of where I won't own a house unless I get some sort of windfall of cash from somewhere...

In Ireland, I wouldn't have a hope.... in the UK, with 5% mortgages and help to buy schemes, I have more chance, but looking at a mortgage to my mid to late 60's

lufties

arccosh wrote: »

I'm getting closer and closer to the point of where I won't own a house unless I get some sort of windfall of cash from somewhere...

In Ireland, I wouldn't have a hope.... in the UK, with 5% mortgages and help to buy schemes, I have more chance, but looking at a mortgage to my mid to late 60's

Where are the 5% mortgages?

arccosh

** 5% deposit
most banks have them

Lloyds, Halifax, Natwest all have

davo2001

So OP, according to yourself, Ireland is overpriced and no know wants to give you the ride, The Netherlands is full of people you don't like and Portugal is full of retired geriatrics.

Yes, Ireland is the problems here....................


:rolleyes:

Good luck with your future endeavours.

lufties

davo2001 wrote: »

So OP, according to yourself, Ireland is overpriced and no know wants to give you the ride, The Netherlands is full of people you don't like and Portugal is full of retired geriatrics.

Yes, Ireland is the problems here....................


:rolleyes:

Good luck with your future endeavours.

Nice snarky comments there. Perhaps I'm just insightful. I lived all over the world and never had a problem romantically. I guess I wasn't interested in 36 year old overweight girls. I never said that I'm Brad Pitt, but I seem to do better outside of Ireland.
Yes perhaps I'll take a 50% pay cut and live in Portugal. Good Idea!
The Netherlands is ok, but they are a leftist society predominantly which isn't my thing.
Hope I cleared that up for you. Twat!

zweton

to be fair the comments are insightful and useful to others who may be looking to move to other places.

redcup342

lufties wrote: »

Nice snarky comments there. Perhaps I'm just insightful. I lived all over the world and never had a problem romantically. I guess I wasn't interested in 36 year old overweight girls. I never said that I'm Brad Pitt, but I seem to do better outside of Ireland.
Yes perhaps I'll take a 50% pay cut and live in Portugal. Good Idea!
The Netherlands is ok, but they are a leftist society predominantly which isn't my thing.
Hope I cleared that up for you. Twat!

If you are choosing a place to live on a "hot girl" index maybe try Prague ? :pac: good infrastructure and cheap living, if you can find a decent paying job.

Or perhaps Singapore ? It's Asia light, everything works properly, weather is good pretty much all year round, gateway to asia and all that. It's not all as strict as it's made out to be, beer is hella expensive though

Or if you can Contract perhaps work somewhere with a high pay and commute ? That's what a few of my mates do, work in London/Zurich/Geneva and live somewhere cheap (Barcelona, Madrid, Porto) if you can work remotely that's a bonus !

Expand your horizons man, learn the local language, invite people out, organise stuff, the locals don't have to invite you to things if you invite them first

And you'll never meet someone if you are looking for someone, forget about meeting a girl and go out and have fun

lufties

redcup342 wrote: »

lufties wrote: »

Nice snarky comments there. Perhaps I'm just insightful. I lived all over the world and never had a problem romantically. I guess I wasn't interested in 36 year old overweight girls. I never said that I'm Brad Pitt, but I seem to do better outside of Ireland.
Yes perhaps I'll take a 50% pay cut and live in Portugal. Good Idea!
The Netherlands is ok, but they are a leftist society predominantly which isn't my thing.
Hope I cleared that up for you. Twat!

If you are choosing a place to live on a "hot girl" index maybe try Prague ? :pac: good infrastructure and cheap living, if you can find a decent paying job.

Or perhaps Singapore ? It's Asia light, everything works properly, weather is good pretty much all year round, gateway to asia and all that. It's not all as strict as it's made out to be, beer is hella expensive though

Or if you can Contract perhaps work somewhere with a high pay and commute ? That's what a few of my mates do, work in London/Zurich/Geneva and live somewhere cheap (Barcelona, Madrid, Porto) if you can work remotely that's a bonus !

Expand your horizons man, learn the local language, invite people out, organise stuff, the locals don't have to invite you to things if you invite them first

And you'll never meet someone if you are looking for someone, forget about meeting a girl and go out and have fun

Yeah cheers for the advice. Tbh I'm happy in London for the moment. I can focus on my studies,career, social life, and fitness. I'd be afraid to live somewhere like Prague, work your bollocks off for peanuts.

Trust me, I work with Czechs, Bulgarians, Italians, Spanish, portoguese, Greeks etc. If they could live at home they would. The last place they want to be is in London away from their families.

Best solution for hot girl index, the odd trip to eastern Europe throughout the year I read a statistic recently that 80% of women here to for the top 20% of men. London dating can be very difficult, female hypergamy only cares about wealth and status,which leaves slim pickings from the ordinary fella

seachto7

I want to get out of Ireland. Italy or Spain. I don't care about the money. It's about the quality of life, and the lack of a summer here. I've had enough. Used to live in Rome. I wouldn't go back there, but to Italy, yep.

Board.surf

seachto7 wrote: »

I want to get out of Ireland. Italy or Spain. I don't care about the money. It's about the quality of life, and the lack of a summer here. I've had enough. Used to live in Rome. I wouldn't go back there, but to Italy, yep.

I'm a little confused by this. Spain and Italy are amount the lowest for standards of living in the EU. Maybe you enjoy the sun?

bennyineire

lufties wrote: »

Wow, well there is clearly a difference in my priorities, seen as everyone that has replied is happy they moved back.
I love seeing family, I'm in touch with them daily and will prob see the once every 2-3 months while I live in London.

It feels great to not have to pay 60euro every time you see a GP, that and the fact I'm saving more money.

How many times do you go to a GP in a year, seems like an odd deciding factor and a strange thing to say

Board.surf

bennyineire wrote: »

How many times do you go to a GP in a year, seems like an odd deciding factor and a strange thing to say

Try paying $1,600 a month for health insurance in the US. Having been around, I would say that Ireland would be in the top 10 in the world for health care. If you don't like the public healthcare, get a job and use private or just visit a private hospital and it's still relatively cheap in comparison. The issue is, that people compare Ireland to the UK which has one of the cheapest systems in the world!! Irish people love to compare to the worlds best and expect Ireland to be No.1 at everything while they pay no tax, and won't even mow their lawn.

bennyineire

Board.surf wrote: »

Try paying $1,600 a month for health insurance in the US. Having been around, I would say that Ireland would be in the top 10 in the world for health care. If you don't like the public healthcare, get a job and use private or just visit a private hospital and it's still relatively cheap in comparison. The issue is, that people compare Ireland to the UK which has one of the cheapest systems in the world!! Irish people love to compare to the worlds best and expect Ireland to be No.1 at everything while they pay no tax, and won't even mow their lawn.

I absolutely agree, my son broke his wrist a couple of weeks ago, he broke it in school at 2PM and was in and out of A&E,X-Ray and had his cast on and on his way home by 4.30PM. He has had 2 checkups since then and will have 1 more in 3 weeks time to take the cast off.

All for the princely sum of €100 (this was actually paid for by the school insurance which cost us €10 for the year)

TBH this thread appears to be just another Irish immigrant Ireland bashing thread by the OP

seachto7

Board.surf wrote: »

I'm a little confused by this. Spain and Italy are amount the lowest for standards of living in the EU. Maybe you enjoy the sun?

Yep. I do enjoy the sun. I would prefer the med lifestyle long term.

Board.surf

lufties wrote: »

The quality of housing stock? You must be joking, housing standards in Ireland are awful. I'd much rather own a place in England.

Houses in Ireland and England are both awful! Radiators! Crappy boiler systems, no insulation etc. Rentals are the worst. It's like as if landlords think they will get a decent tennant who will upkeep the place, by handing them the keys to a steaming pile of ****z. And the mold!! Don't even get me started. These issues are the worse in Ireland. It's all housing related. People/ landlords won't put in a clothes dryer, so they dry their clothes inside which causes mold and then they wonder why their houses smell, are rotting and have plaster issues.

Afroshack

I returned a year ago from 3 years in London. To be honest, I figured the grass was always greener at home, but I was totally wrong. I was happier in London. Quality of life was better, more to do, totally free healthcare, excellent public transport. Life just felt more alive. I came back to rural Ireland because I have family/friends/a partner here but its so quiet and small in comparison. Even though its just as expensive as London, the quality of life isnt great, there's very little to do, im paying 60e for a GP again and job prospects are meh.

bennyineire

Afroshack wrote: »

I returned a year ago from 3 years in London. To be honest, I figured the grass was always greener at home, but I was totally wrong. I was happier in London. Quality of life was better, more to do, totally free healthcare, excellent public transport. Life just felt more alive. I came back to rural Ireland because I have family/friends/a partner here but its so quiet and small in comparison. Even though its just as expensive as London, the quality of life isnt great, there's very little to do, im paying 60e for a GP again and job prospects are meh.

Do you expect excellent public transport and have good job prospects in Rural Ireland

Move to city for that

Afroshack

bennyineire wrote: »

Do you expect excellent public transport and have good job prospects in Rural Ireland

Move to city for that

If I am paying the same price as living in London, then yeah to an extent I do.

Board.surf

Afroshack wrote: »

I returned a year ago from 3 years in London. To be honest, I figured the grass was always greener at home, but I was totally wrong. I was happier in London. Quality of life was better, more to do, totally free healthcare, excellent public transport. Life just felt more alive. I came back to rural Ireland because I have family/friends/a partner here but its so quiet and small in comparison. Even though its just as expensive as London, the quality of life isnt great, there's very little to do, im paying 60e for a GP again and job prospects are meh.

In fairness, you can't compare London to rural anywhere! Rural Ireland, compared to most rural places is quite accessible and nice. Then Dublin as cities goes is quite nice. London, being the 2nd largest city in the world, might be an unfair comparison to anywhere, let alone, a quiet rural place. :eek:

The obsession with the GP fee is unreal. Get a GP card. Also, it won't be free for long in London. Also, you couldn't POSSIBLY be paying the same price as in London!! Rent in London is monstrous.

.......

This post has been deleted.

Afroshack

Board.surf wrote: »

In fairness, you can't compare London to rural anywhere! Rural Ireland, compared to most rural places is quite accessible and nice. Then Dublin as cities goes is quite nice. London, being the 2nd largest city in the world, might be an unfair comparison to anywhere, let alone, a quiet rural place. :eek:

The obsession with the GP fee is unreal. Get a GP card. Also, it won't be free for long in London.

I didn't say I wanted rural Ireland to be like London, I'm pointing out that the 1,200 pounds I spent on an apartment in London equates to a small apartment in the commuter-belt zone in a rural area (think Athy, Athlone etc.) Like, I'm paying the same for a substandard quality of life. That's all.

Also, I'm not obsessed with GP fees and I don't qualify for a card.

bennyineire

Afroshack wrote: »

I didn't say I wanted rural Ireland to be like London, I'm pointing out that the 1,200 pounds I spent on an apartment in London equates to a small apartment in the commuter-belt zone in a rural area (think Athy, Athlone etc.) Like, I'm paying the same for a substandard quality of life. That's all.

Also, I'm not obsessed with GP fees and I don't qualify for a card.

2 bed apartments in Athlone go for around €800 a month so don't get you point there

dont bother

why in the world anyone would prefer London to ANYWHERE in the world is beyond me. it's a soulless kip full of worker-zombies who dont have ANY time for themselves, or anything else. worked like slaves, paid good money for it yeah, but it's not worth it. it's also becoming a ridiculous place for terrorist attacks and general disasters - always was i suppose, but still it's a grim awful place - and the "buzz" you said exists there, isnt real. it's hype - most londoners are dead inside and hate the city it has become.

i'd take a shed in longford over living in London anyday! total utter kip.

the baghdad of europe

Help!!!!

Lived in London for 20 years, left as a 20 year old in 1995 returned in 2014

London is great when your young and single, plenty of places to go out pubs/clubs/theater's/museum's etc all easy to get to because of the great public transport ( except rush hour ) I have to agree with one of the other posters its much easier to pull over there as well, mainly to do I think that most people live there away from family so can get up to whatever they want. I wasn't the greatest at school did OK in the leaving, went over tried a couple of jobs before I got work at a well known fashion designers, working in their distribution warehouse. Worked my way up to being a manager on a very decent wage. Met my wife there everything was great. Wife started getting bullied by another manager & his assistant which was allowed by the director. Anyway wife ended up being forced to leave, she sued got a bit of compensation I ended up working for another 6 months there in the same office as the others that bullied her until I had a stress related breakdown, so we returned to Ireland

We are now living in rural Ireland & for the most part loving it, was a bit hard at first as we didnt have a car. Things are expensive here but we shop in Lidl or Aldi, actually better than whats in the same stores in the UK. We are renting a house for half what we were renting a one bed & we now have a large garden My wife is working, I worked for a year on TUS was diagnosed with depression so been trying to sort myself out. Although I have well over 10 years of management in a warehouse setting I cannot get a management job as I'm over experienced but under educated. I am in the process of do the back to work enterprise which has been great, I have received so much help & guidance something I'd never get in the UK

All in all we are happy, its nice now not being stuck in the rat race. Hoping that the business gets the OK so I can get busy again.
Things though havent really changed in Ireland from when I left to coming back. People still vote for the same parties that keep screwing them. The government still does nothing for the youth, amount of scumbags seem to have gotten larger & younger. Less Gardai (unless your a politician stuck in a car ) more crime. More suicide. Still happy to be back though

lufties

....... wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Where the hell have you been going out?[/quote]
I'm surprised a lot more aren't leaving to be honest

bennyineire

lufties wrote: »

Nice snarky comments there. Perhaps I'm just insightful. I lived all over the world and never had a problem romantically. I guess I wasn't interested in 36 year old overweight girls. I never said that I'm Brad Pitt, but I seem to do better outside of Ireland.
Yes perhaps I'll take a 50% pay cut and live in Portugal. Good Idea!
The Netherlands is ok, but they are a leftist society predominantly which isn't my thing.
Hope I cleared that up for you. Twat!

Yet your still single, mmmm :pac: