Pro's and Con's of the north west

nanook

I have just been reading the previous thread of everyones location. One thing that came of it was that letterkenny was a ****hole, ballybofey smelt and killybegs, well killybegs is killybegs.

I have spent alot of time in both donegal and leitrim and while they do suffer lots of abuse, leitrim especially (my favourite line, and i swear this woman was serious when she asked me where i was from and i replied leitrim and she responded with "what county is that in"). But there has to be some positives.

Lets start with leitrim, unspoilt, beautiful scenery, fantastic place to raise a family, low crime (within reason) but to name a few. I know that ppl are going to state back of beyond, does it have its own currency etc but you have to admitt it is unspoilt, under commercailised some would call it.

Donegal, all i can say is what a county, from spending 4 years in letterkenny to working the whole county for a year. I could never fault the county, the ppl or the smell in killybegs, you do get used to it.

that is my rant, paddy 20 you can even go further with your view of the smell in ballybofey, if it is a negative of ballybofey then mention.

Tar.Aldarion

i love the scenery of where i live in sligo...much better than living in a city.

Paddy20

One Pro for Donegal is the fact that it is as far away as you can possibly get from Stinkypoo 'DUBLIN'.

As for the smell in Ballybofey, unfortunately the Director of planning & services in Donegal County Council thinks he is God . So we have ended up with a massive family owned factory estate slap bang in the middle of an officially designated 'Residential Zone'.

They manufacture a range of fruit juice's for international retailers, and they are also Alcohol wholesalers and 'bottled mineral drinks' manufacturers. They are now also working 24 hours per day 7 days a week and I have been forced to abandon my back garden completely.Recently they also started producing sachets of Vinegar & Tomato sauce for our National Airline.

They not only STINK , but the NOISE and floodlights at night! are unbelievable. Yet they have been allowed to get away with it, so far!. I am now about to put the whole unprecedented illegal scandal in the hands of some of the EU's best legal eagle's, and I believe the result will be that :- Either they move out of the Twin-Towns or they will be forcibly closed, as a business without customers is in reality bankrupt.

All thier expansion was also funded by a massive EU grant, but they neglected to reveal that they were going to build massive ugly metal factory estate of aroud 30 giant monstrositie's behind house's/ people's home's that used to be surrounded by green field's with horse's grazing in them.

Is Donegal corrupt or what, I think the 'McBrearty case' is only the tip of the Iceberg ?... Watch this space :eek:

P.

odonaghue

Definately agree with the rest it has to be the scenery. I live in Dublin but i'm home most weekends and it's only when you're away for a while that you appricate the scenery you have around you. I mean in front of my house in Donegal I have a long beach, tory island horn head penninsula and at the side ya have muckish and errigal. But I have to say these things aren't so appealing in winter time when the weather's sh*t. So i'll have to say weather's good plenty to do, if it's bad there's nothing to do but sit in the pub and get BLIND!!!

Sin scéal eile

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

i love the scenery of where i live in sligo...much better than living in a city.

Yep,

Sligo is the best ('specially North Sligo - where I'm from)

muffler

Obviously I would think Donegal has a lot more to offer than the other counties.

Sadly we are poorly marketed and the old "rip off Ireland" is alive and well here.

Tar.Aldarion

Sin sc&#233 wrote: »

Yep,

Sligo is the best ('specially North Sligo - where I'm from)

*looks around...* i dont see you

Goodshape

Paddy20 wrote:

Is Donegal corrupt or what, I think the 'McBrearty case' is only the tip of the Iceberg ?... Watch this space :eek:

That all sounds pretty typical alright.

Plus side - great place to live at the best of times. nice people, good atmosphere, beautiful scenery. I couldn't live in a city for too long I think..

down side - as Paddy20 says, the apparent corruption (or is it just incompetence?) at the 'deciding level'.

nanook

so only one mention of leitrim. People can say what they want about the big cities, the large towns etc, but you can not beat the peace and quiet of the country side. You work all day and listen to people complain about the whole rat race and the value of their new car with the massive mortgage but when it gets dark you see the stars and hear the people come out of the pub.

The country area is for me.

SO LEITRIM IS KING

Tar.Aldarion

don't see you proudly stating it as your location.../wheres me traffic light

nanook

I come from leitrim, the small village of drumkeerin but i am now living in wicklow.

Civilian_Target

Donegal is nice - its just a bit boring to live in...

Plus Friday/Saturday night in Letterkenny is like a primetime special -the streets flowing yellow with puke.

i know drumkeeran well!my mother is from that area!im living in carrick at the moment

Lafortezza

I've just moved up to Inishowen in the north of Donegal. Grew up in wicklow, have livedin Dublin for the last 6 years or so.

++
Scenery, if you're into that kind of thing.
People are generally nice, more openly friendly than Dublin.
Cost of living is waaaay cheaper than dublin, €50 per week for a room in a really new, nice gaff. Food/drink is much cheaper as well.
Life is alot more relaxed, less stressful, less traffic.

--
Petrol prices, 111.9 is the average.
It's very very quiet, not alot to do.
The people kinda close minded about 'foreigners', especially those coming from dublin.
It's far away from everywhere else in the country.

Dagon

I've lived in the Co.Sligo most of my life, and I love it here. I'm in the town at the moment, but it's very close to the countryside and Strandhill. I lived in Dublin for a few months, but found city life isn't really for me. It's nice to visit the city every now and them, but living there is constant running and racing... and don't mention all the fumes and pollution. And it's so expensive (for what you get, like!). I don't know why people drain their energy and their bank accounts just to live in the rat-race. And there isn't really *that* much more to do than here.

Life is what you make it though, it doesn't really matter where you live, you can find interesting stuff to do everywhere if you open your mind. If your imagination can't extend any further than getting mangled in the local pub, then the country isn't for you!

Sin scéal eile

Dagon wrote:

I've lived in the Co.Sligo most of my life, and I love it here.

....

but found city life isn't really for me.

Hear hear, lived most of my life in Co. Sligo too, now in Berlin!

Hoping to move back to good auld Contae Shligigh wihtin the next two years.

It's good to get away see new things and that, but there's no place like home...

Dagon

One of the interesting things I've noticed about people our age in Sligo is that we are starting to stay at home to build our own county up, and make it more successful. This is largely because, we can! Years ago younger people didn't have a choice, they had to bail out to either Dublin or England because there really was *nothing* here. Now we have the choice, and a lot of people are discovering that maybe the big city lights aren't what they thought they would be... and are coming back home to contribute to the thriving economy of smaller towns / cities.

Galway is the best example of this, and Sligo is following in the same direction. The quality of life is better and your family and friends are all there to boot! And I live in a lovely house out the scenic Strandhill road for just €45 per week, as opposed to living in a kip in dublin for €100 per week!

Tar.Aldarion

i find galway to my tastes,in between sligo and dublin.pretty good all round.

Civilian_Target

I don't know how you's can do it. Letterkenny's nice, Donegal's beautiful, life is relaxed, things are cheap. Its a great holiday. It was a nice place to grow up, and could be a nice place to retire to. But I'd die of boredom actually living there, bring me to the big lights!

Dagon

I don't think it actually matters where you live, if you are content within you won't be always looking outside for contentment. You can live in the most beautiful and exotic place on earth, and still be miserable!

goodgod3rd

pro.... i live here...
con... i only live in the lower half .. so ..

letterkenny is big town for me.. bvallybofee.. is .. odd...

and killy begs has two kinds of youg people... rockers/cool.

or skangers... who are alcos.

im friends whti the coolies

GG66

I'm from Sligo and moved back 12 months ago after 10 years, mostly spent in Dublin. I've always believed it was a great place to have an excuse to come back to.

I'm living 15 miles from Sligo and about the same from Carrick on Shannon. Lot's of interesting people here, artists, photographers, designers, farmers, office workers etc. who literally come out of the hills for a few pints mid week. You'd never meet such a variety of people in a pub in Dublin where ppl tend to all dress and look the same in most pubs. Everyones chilled and friendly.

Scenery is incredible, unspoilt beaches (no sellafield waste), some of the best surfing/kayaking beaches in western Europe (Strandhill, Easkey, Bundoran) fishing llakes, forest park (boyle, roscommon) fresh air, less traffic.

As for getting bored, never have, too many things to do. Dublin's only 2.5 hours by car/train so can check out gigs if I want to. Galway's only 1.5 hours for some weekend entertainment. There are lots of different towns around with Restaurants, pubs etc. Okay I might travel 30 miles in some cases but it probably takes less time than getting the bus into the City centre in Dublin.

Sligo has two Theatres and a Cinema, http://www.leitrimcoco.ie/Services/com&ent/cinema.htm which travels around towns. I rent my DVDs online and delivered by post.

I have a pet German Sheppard which I could never have had in Dublin and he swims in the lake beside us most days.

I work from home so no commute.

Houses are cheaper. Booze is cheaper 3.20 in the local for Guinness.

I could go on but suffice to say, it's great here!! best decision I made in a long time.

CONS??? Drink Driving laws.

nanook

GC66, juding by your post i am taking it that you moved into the ballinafad area.

How are you settling in, being a local to the county always helps, hop it goes good for ya.

BTW welcome to the north west forum also

GG66

GC66, juding by your post i am taking it that you moved into the ballinafad area.

Close, the opposite side of Lough Arrow, near Heapstown

Thanks for the welcome