Anyone thinking of emigrating?

road_high

There’s some body creaming it off and doing very well out of the healthcare system here and it sure as hell isn’t the patients.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444251#Comment_118444251

There were only lockdowns and restrictions in Ireland. You never had to fill in a form to walk the dog in France, nor did you have to stay inside in a small apartment for weeks and weeks in Spain, getting permission to even get the groceries. There was never any curfew in California, Germany, the Netherlands etc etc

Good old non-nanny state USA, until you try ordering a beer while looking under 90, crossing a road in an even slightly irregular manner or falling out with your home owners association over the colour of the fence.

Only in Ireland.

Also only in Ireland is water wet.

The only way our tax take can be considered low is following the same nonsense that the economy grew by 25% in 2015.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118440943#Comment_118440943

" miserable " = Yes

" conservative " = that's funny

growleaves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444489#Comment_118444489

In Ireland they have been extended the longest and have lingered on and on and now appear to be semi-permanent. If you were in Spain or England you could go out til 1am or later right now tonight. Here, quasi-normality gets restored for a few weeks at a time then obliterated again.

I am confident the restrictions will kept and extended here despite that the whole country is getting covid right now and so there is no longer any reason for restrictions.

This speaks to the whole quality of life here, especially since this is a cold country for six months in winter so there is no way around strict bans on night-time socialising.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444482#Comment_118444482

Oh aye. People like the handwaving "useless bloated administration staff" thing but it really doesn't explain things away.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444507#Comment_118444507

Ireland is conservative- the lockdown fiasco illustrated it for me. Anyone outside the group think mentality was ostracised pretty much. You’re allowed an opinion so long as it’s the “right” opinion.

The healthcare system is a joke certainly in aspects of it, but then in others it’s extremely good. If for example, I look at my elderly aunt. She’s entirely in the public system and getting phenomenally good treatment for cancer for the last decade. There have been no delays, no issues, excellent facilities, they’re working with her delivering infusions remotely through the pandemic, in regular contact with her etc etc.

The issue most people hit is patchy, highly self employed and rip off primary care and that rolls high pressure into into A&E.

I also find consultants (including private) have an answer for everything: go to A&E. It’s like the generic dumping ground for all issues. Post operative pain - A&E … chronic illness goes wrong - A&E… mental health crisis - A&E

Amazing place this A&E. it’s no wonder it’s overwhelmed.

They need to also sort out the capacity for elective surgery and so on as it’s just not there in the public system anyway. And that’s why the queues are so long.

My GP offers a subscription service - €17 a month, which I do not use, but it shows how it could be sorted out in terms of real costs if it were setup well. Most people hardly ever go to the GP, so I’m sure those costs would be lower.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444517#Comment_118444517

There’s a penal mentality here that you’d don’t get in other countries to the same extent- you must sacrifice or be seen to for the greater good- even if it offers absolutely no tangible benefits whatsoever. Individual freedoms in Ireland are seen as almost some kind of mortal sin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444540#Comment_118444540

Emm, I think we live in two different Irelands. Are you posting from the 1960s ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444401#Comment_118444401

You're right, pluses and minuses everywhere. But what about those of us that like Vit D?

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444520#Comment_118444520

Those are left wing views you witnessed re_ covid this past two years

The most enthusiastic about lockdown has been progressives, in fact how vociferously pro restrictions you are is a key litmus test for the WOKE

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444540#Comment_118444540

Again, those are left wing philosophies

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444489#Comment_118444489

Actually we have some of the finest rain on the face of the planet. Irish raindrops are wetter, faster, and more beautiful than traditional raindrops.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444627#Comment_118444627

They are indeed but those are what dominate here unfortunately. Seems the left have robbed elements of “Catholic guilt” and moulded them for their own agendas

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444565#Comment_118444565

Instead of dismissing what I say why not detail why you think I am wrong? This is what I’ve observed from Irish society the past few years.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444674#Comment_118444674

So why did you say " Ireland is conservative " three or four posts back?

Brussels Sprout

Two different friends of mine are in the process of emigrating. Both of them are in the 35-40 range and wanted to stay but they couldn't afford to get mortgages and were sick of being gouged on rent. If people in that age category, with stable jobs, are deciding to vote with their feet I imagine younger people with more precarious employment will be leaving in droves.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444690#Comment_118444690

The left are conservative with regards to personal freedoms- they only “allow” them within the confines of their beliefs. I never equate the left with being anything progressive or non conservative. Very much the opposite in fact. They crave authoritarian conformity, in Ireland at any rate

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444712#Comment_118444712

What line of work are they in that they can't get mortgages and where are they emigrating to

pauliebdub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118440976#Comment_118440976

Yes. FF in particular are very conservative, patriarchal and only work for older people. They have nothing to offer the young people of this country which is why very few under 40's would ever consider voting for them.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444804#Comment_118444804

That's populism, most Irish people support spoiling pensioners so it's easy cheap politics to engage in and no one does cheap populism like FF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444804#Comment_118444804

Look at when they were looking to means test medical cards for pensioners with high incomes. Protests, every other party going on like it was the most egregious suggestion ever and they backed down.

Meanwhile they put the college fees up from 800 a year to 1500 to eventually 3k per year I think? Students protested and were ignored and scoffed at. Pensioners are always an important voting block but it's outsized in Ireland. Unlike the rest of the population they're a lot more homogenous and Irish. I've made this point before, our population has been fragmented and it makes effecting change pretty much doomed from the outset. In the under 40 group we have Irish (who can be split into scum and not-scum) and immigrants (who can be split into mobile who can move off elsewhere when things get **** and the ones who land and claim straight away) which leaves a pretty small proportion who both care about fairness and truly have skin in the game.

SuperBowserWorld

We fucked up during the Celtic tiger and **** up again after huge bank bailouts etc etc etc. Huge house prices on a pretty empty island. Mad. I guess it's fine if you have a house and don't have kids. Then it's a big laugh.

Also we are spending billions on a public health service you can't use unless it's an absolute emergency. This has been going on for decades.

Despite the above, even if the place was nirvana, it still makes great sense to emigrate when you are young and free to experience other perspectives on life, expand your worldview, and you know, live a little and enjoy life while you can. Forget about kids and houses and marriage and careers and tax ... Just go and enjoy your life. You can always come back and you probably will.

Except if you are a doctor. You need to stay. 😀

TomTomTim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444804#Comment_118444804

What exactly are the old getting out of this? They may be in a better position that most, but most of these policies hurt all of us in someway.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444857#Comment_118444857

My experiences with the health service are more routine than absolute emergency. And occasional as they are, they have always worked out as planned. The same goes for family members. There could be millions of such experiences not being reported in the media.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444441#Comment_118444441

We do not have a low tax take, it's a numerical impossibility; when you have 37% of income earners not paying tax, one the highest rates of VAT, almost the highest rate of death duties in the world, one of the highest rates of CGT in the world and the highest marginal rate cutting in very early comapred to the OECD average.

There are even taxes no other country has, like DIRT and that imputed CGT for ETF's nonsense. We have the second highest costs of car ownership in the EU and it's mostly due to tax. The average cost of car ownership here is over €10K per year.

There is also a significant trick whereby legislation is used to force subsidisation of cherished and protected industries, causing significant costs to consumers, while subsidising the beneficiaries. This scam doesn't get measured as tax but has the same net cost effect on consumers as if the money were raised as tax and paid out as subsidies to the beneficiaries, like the pharmaeceutical and legal industries, NCT, RTE, etc. Something like Becoanase nasel spray for hayfever is 500% more expensive here than in the UK due to legislative protection.

Our public sector pay rates are amongst the highest in the world, another impossibility if it's a low tax regime.

AyeGer

If I was 20 again I would probably try and move to Australia. The weather here is crap and it’s just something Irish people get accustomed to.

Arthur Daley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444712#Comment_118444712

Just speeding up the inevitable replacement of the Irish. RTE and practically every politician will just say: 'and your problem is...'

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444659#Comment_118444659

We also have some of the worlds finest black mold, slugs, wood rot and wood lice.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444942#Comment_118444942

I don't want to sound unpatriotic, but our black mold is pathetic by international standards. hands up though... The peoples of the tropics and subtropics outsmarted us on that one. You are correct on the rest though, particularly the wood lice. Irish woodlice curl into a perfect sphere when threatened, while foreign woodlice form an imperfect geoid. I don't like to look down on any country, but in some respects our pests are simply light years ahead.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444800#Comment_118444800

They might be in low paid positions and/or unable to save much due to paying very high rents.

Thelonious Monk

I for one, have a good life here. Weather in Dublin is grand for the most part and there are loads of things to do apart from the pub. I've lived in a few different countries, the grass is not always greener, and pretty much every rich country that people would be emigrating to have housing crises these days - Oz, Canada, NZ etc. Even places like Amsterdam and Berlin.

zell12

We have one of the fairest voting systems on the planet, the PR-STV. We get the public representatives and government we choose. The make up of the Dail accurately reflects us as a people, or at least the 63% who voted in 2020. Hence we get sleevens like the Healy-Raes. The government's actions reflects what we want

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444800#Comment_118444800

Also can be possible to get a mortgage here but getting one that equates with being able to actually buy a house to live in are two very different things.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444825#Comment_118444825

The masterclass in stealing a living off a broken system are cute independent Kerry hoors getting stuff for their voters that they're entitled to anyway.

Fred Cryton

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058226733/anyone-thinking-of-emigrating

Total nonsense. Housing only expensive if you want to live in prime parts of Dublin. Try living in Kildare, Meath...get a house for €250k.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445033#Comment_118445033

€250k for a single person is still a lot of money. That’s €60k gross salary territory and the reality is a lot of people just aren’t on that kind of money. You’d also need €40k in savings for a deposit. With taxation as it is in Ireland you’ll already have paid a fortune in taxes to get that money. Invest it in some kind of policy and there’s DIRT tax on the earnings….

Tony EH

...and a 4 hour daily commute to and from your job.

Crocodile Booze

Grass is always greener in full flow in this thread. Weather aside, Ireland is one of the best countries to live in the world.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445137#Comment_118445137

Our weather is fine really.

Never too hot, never too cold, never too dry, never too wet.

The reailty is we have about 4 months where the weather can get a bit dodgy and our coldest months are limited to January and February. There's many countres that would absolutely love that kind of weather.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445158#Comment_118445158

Never rains in Dublin really, but I don't think I could stick the constant rain in places like Galway and Mayo, don't know how they do it.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445137#Comment_118445137

Going against the grain here on the weather but ours is actually a good one in lots of ways- very little extremes of temperature or extreme events. It’s very benign and safe. Especially where I live in the south east it’s good, up west the wet would grate on me I think

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445003#Comment_118445003

I had a far better quality of life when I lived in Australia; and I for one, can't wait to get out of here, so each to their own.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445176#Comment_118445176

Thanks for letting me know.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445168#Comment_118445168

The spring and summer months in Galway can be some of the nicest in Ireland. Cork gets some fantastic weather too. Kinsale can be stunning at times.

The Brother in law is a farmer in Galway. He bemoans the rain at times. But when it's not there, it's much, much, worse for him.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445176#Comment_118445176

Never lived in Australia myself, in what way is much better? Salaries appear higher, no idea of their taxes though. Bigger country more opportunities?

Also their outdoor life is much more of a thing, self evidently! I hate Irish winters!

Crocodile Booze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445176#Comment_118445176

Why did you come back and why are you not gone again then instead of wasting your life in this terrible place?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445158#Comment_118445158

Never thought I'd hear anyone defend the weather in Ireland....

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118445191#Comment_118445191

yes Galway area seems to get the best of the heatwaves but statistically they get almost twice as much rain as Dublin, and it's not like it comes in downpours, it's rainy all the bloody time. Would drive me nuts.