Has anyone ever worked/lived in the UK and preferred it to Ireland

susieball · 19-02-2020 10:31PM #1

I am on holiday again in UK. I went to college here 22 years ago, and only returned to Ireland 19 years ago, as I didn't want to bring up my children here at the time - at that time, you had to buy a house in an expensive area to get a half decent State school - I don't know whether it is still the same. However, I have spent almost 20 years missing the UK. Every time I come back on hols, I still miss it. My career really flattened when I went home. It felt that a lot of the time, though I had really good qualifications and experience, that it was someone who knew someone, who knew someone that got the job in Ireland. I also made some good friends in UK. Hard to get to know them, but once you made friends in UK, they were long-lasting. Much less begrudgery also. Am I seeing it through rose tinted glasses. I still have job offers here. Would like to return when my children start college - both will be gone to college in less than 2 years. Bit scared though about the pension stuff etc. Has anyone else felt the same for many years after moving back to Ireland. Am I seeing it through rose-tinted glasses?

EmmetSpiceland · 19-02-2020 10:32PM

Yes and no. Thank you.

19-02-2020 10:33PM

Yes and no. They’re a world apart from most of us, and not for the better.

The English especially are extremely thick in a common sense type of way. In my younger years I often heard it said that someone working in a bank over there wouldn’t be fit to work in a shop here and there was never a truer word spoken.

listermint · 19-02-2020 10:36PM

Aye yes a fine country.

So fine they elected a right wing Tory racist government that really is a reflection of the electorate.

And your concerned about begrudgery....

It's a mad kip and going to go to the dogs over the next few years. Especially the NHS. Steer a wide one.

jetsonx · 19-02-2020 10:41PM

OP, looking at your post from a deeper perspective, its possible you're missing that time of your life when everything was optimistic and bright. A time when the world was your oyster.

If you had been in Angola at the time, you might still be missing Angola now.

You have to separate the place from the feelings.

JPCN1 · 19-02-2020 10:42PM

Did live there 25 years ago and spent a good deal of time there last year. Had changed a lot and not for the better.

Much prefer living here.

kravmaga · 19-02-2020 10:47PM

susieball wrote: »

I am on holiday again in UK. I went to college here 22 years ago, and only returned to Ireland 19 years ago, as I didn't want to bring up my children here at the time - at that time, you had to buy a house in an expensive area to get a half decent State school - I don't know whether it is still the same. However, I have spent almost 20 years missing the UK. Every time I come back on hols, I still miss it. My career really flattened when I went home. It felt that a lot of the time, though I had really good qualifications and experience, that it was someone who knew someone, who knew someone that got the job in Ireland. I also made some good friends in UK. Hard to get to know them, but once you made friends in UK, they were long-lasting. Much less begrudgery also. Am I seeing it through rose tinted glasses. I still have job offers here. Would like to return when my children start college - both will be gone to college in less than 2 years. Bit scared though about the pension stuff etc. Has anyone else felt the same for many years after moving back to Ireland. Am I seeing it through rose-tinted glasses?

Sorry OP, your post is a bit confusing, are you living in Ireland or England?

I lived in London for 6 years, made good friends, had a good career with excellent future, NHS medical, Doctors, Dentists, all seemed more advanced than Ireland.

I was on the housing list in city of London and was near enough to being offered a council flat in the City of London district / postcode.

That said , was very homesick, missed friends and family in Dublin.

Like the Wicklow mountains for hiking, the Sea, plus did not like the crime /terrorist stuff going on in London , plus the pace of life was frantic.

To me London is a young persons city, live there for a few years, then get out before it too late

I moved back to Dublin when I was 35, bought a property here immediately, got back in touch with old friends, Im happy being back here in Ireland , life is good,

Thelonious Monk · 19-02-2020 10:49PM

London is amazing, but moved back and bought a property at 35 like the guy above. I miss the transport and the buzz of the place and all the endless things to do but I feel more at home here and I guess I just don't like the feeling of being an immigrant at the end of the day!

branie2 · 19-02-2020 10:50PM

Nope

Church on Tuesday · 19-02-2020 10:51PM

Yes and... yes.

I'm back living in Ireland now but I've always found it to be small time. Beautiful country, mostly decent people and a great and proud cultural history but run horrifically badly for the most part in nearly every single way.

I found in England you always know where you stood with people and there was no ****ing around, which I like. On the other hand that bit of common decency was sometimes missing.

It's a very different country to the one you left all those years ago OP. The shutters where starting to come down when I was there and it's a shame because it's a happening ( well was happening because Brexit is going to bite fairly hard) place full of opportunities you mostly don't get here.

19-02-2020 10:52PM

Anyone who calls a house or a flat a property probably belongs there anyway.

uch · 19-02-2020 11:22PM

Lived in London around 1990, Absolute **** hole, still is, The North of England however is a beautiful place with lovely genuine people

Rufeo · 19-02-2020 11:38PM

I hear you about career flattening. Mine's gone a bit pear shaped. I want to try and change for something a bit more satisfying. I think the good thing about the UK is there is a lot more interesting opportunities and people aren't as fear-blocked by someone who wants to change career. People here have a bit of tunnel vision to be honest.

elperello · 19-02-2020 11:46PM

Lived there a good while and regular visitor.

Met some lovely people, ignored some nasty ones.

Big regional differences.

Some things I prefer there but mostly prefer it here.

Wildly Boaring · 19-02-2020 11:54PM

Really enjoyed a few years in oxford.
Nice part of the world.
Tip into london on the train for a Saturday or whatever.
Never felt fully on same wavelength as the real southern english.
My workplace had a lot of Welsh, Scots and brummies. Got on great with them all. Keep in touch after a few years.

Prefer it here but by here I mean, Ireland outside dublin.

road_high · 20-02-2020 12:03AM

As a much bigger country it has way more career opportunities than Ireland can offer, though I think we’ve improved a lot on that score. Never lived there but the biggest thing for me would be missing the Irish sensibility and general ease we do have with people. There’s more of a hard edge to the English in some respects. Oddly I find them a lot more nosey than Irish people in a work environment? Via social media etc where as here we are more private on work life mixing with personal lives. Only my experience of U.K. teams, I didn’t actually live over there

Graces7 · 20-02-2020 09:04AM

JPCN1 wrote: »

Did live there 25 years ago and spent a good deal of time there last year. Had changed a lot and not for the better.

Much prefer living here.

So true. I am English and came here about 20 years ago. Before that as the country changed beyond belief I moved further and further from the main parts of it. First furthest Cornwall, then to an Outer North Sea island.

Now watching programmes from the UK I do not recognise it as the land I was born and raised in

One small point also; you cannot assess a country from holidays. Many US folk make that mistake.. Living is very different

El_Duderino 09 · 20-02-2020 09:28AM

I went to uni over there in a North East England town as a mature student. Worked in pizza shops and mixed with working class folk who were so parochial and small minded it was incredible. Loads of potato jokes as they knew fcuk all else about Ireland or the rest of the world. Class is a real thing over there. People feel really limited by their class.

Then I moved to Newcastle or work in a middle class job with middle class people and the difference was incredible. The people were really interesting and interested in the world.

What I'm saying, OP, is that England and the English are so diverse that you could have a completely different experiences depending on what job you're looking to take and where in England you are thinking of moving. The regions are genuinely different. I've only really experienced the North East and I work in London occasionally. Newcastle is great. People are sound, made great mates, always something to do. You still need to buy in a nice area to get a good school. School catchment areas are a premium on house prices.

London is like another country entirely. I've an aunt who lived in London for 20 years and she wouldn't say she knows anything about England, just London.

It completely depends on what you're looking for but there's a good chance England has it for you somewhere. It's a pretty big country with lots of opportunities. Hope it works out whatever you decide to do.

razorblunt · 20-02-2020 10:39AM

Yes, still here.
Yes and no.

I live in Edinburgh so it's pricey enough but still cheaper than Ireland.
Live in a beautiful house that would be massively over priced in Ireland, I pay less tax and my cars are cheaper too.

Now we've started a family though I think we will move back at some stage but we've both said.
Home is home and our Scottish hame is still our hame. I know for a fact we'll miss Edinburgh but right now we miss home too.

PommieBast · 20-02-2020 10:39AM

London and the home counties are OK but overall England has gone down-hill a lot over the last decade or so.

20-02-2020 10:46AM

Long time ago when I lived in London, but I loved it then, probably because there was so much possibility there compared to Ireland of the time.
When I started pushing the 30 mark I was in a good position financially and felt I would be better off coming back to the west of Ireland and have really never regretted it. There's good and bad in both countries, but I'd definitely prefer Ireland. Hard to say this, it sounds very condescending to the English, possibly even a bit racist, but here it goes; I find people here are a bit more grounded. To be fair wen I'm talking about England I lived nearly all my time in the UK in London and I know it's very different away from there.
Still have loads of English friends and it is a great country for sure.

20-02-2020 10:53AM

kravmaga wrote: »

Sorry OP, your post is a bit confusing, are you living in Ireland or England?

I lived in London for 6 years, made good friends, had a good career with excellent future, NHS medical, Doctors, Dentists, all seemed more advanced than Ireland.

I was on the housing list in city of London and was near enough to being offered a council flat in the City of London district / postcode.

That said , was very homesick, missed friends and family in Dublin.

Like the Wicklow mountains for hiking, the Sea, plus did not like the crime /terrorist stuff going on in London , plus the pace of life was frantic.

To me London is a young persons city, live there for a few years, then get out before it too late

I moved back to Dublin when I was 35, bought a property here immediately, got back in touch with old friends, Im happy being back here in Ireland , life is good,

Just out of interest, how does someone who loves hiking and had money to buy a house in Dublin get offered a gaff in the city?

Stevieluvsye · 20-02-2020 10:54AM

Depends. All about the area you located yourself.

Yes for the following
Chester
York
Bath
Parts of Herts
Most of Sussex/Kent

No for pretty much the rest.

London is great, but for a short hop only!

Millicently · 20-02-2020 11:15AM

I lived in the UK for a long time and there are pros and cons just like there are with Ireland. I preferred the North to the South as people seemed more down to earth up North, I don't like even passing through London. I think you are missing your times when you didn't have the responsibility of children etc. Would I return to live there, no way, but then again if I could leave Ireland tomorrow and live somewhere else I absolutely would. My husband is English and we never had any problems over there can't say the same about Ireland as we've had Sinn Fein knuckle draggers shouting abuse at us a number of times over the years.

Mad_maxx · 20-02-2020 11:30AM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Yes and no. They’re a world apart from most of us, and not for the better.

The English especially are extremely thick in a common sense type of way. In my younger years I often heard it said that someone working in a bank over there wouldn’t be fit to work in a shop here and there was never a truer word spoken.

You think the English - British lack common sense?

As a people, they have always been known for it. Very practical and hard headed, the Scots even more so

Johnny Sausage · 20-02-2020 11:32AM

Lived in Liverpool for nearly 5 years, still go back every few weeks

lovely place, lovely people

AlphabetCards · 20-02-2020 11:40AM

listermint wrote: »

Aye yes a fine country.

So fine they elected a right wing Tory racist government that really is a reflection of the electorate.

And your concerned about begrudgery....

It's a mad kip and going to go to the dogs over the next few years. Especially the NHS. Steer a wide one.

Lol. We don't pay to see our doctors over here, no charge for A&E and prescriptions are limited tona certain amount of pounds a month. What health service are you comparing it to?

Stevieluvsye · 20-02-2020 11:42AM

AlphabetCards wrote: »

Lol. We don't pay to see our doctors over here, no charge for A&E and prescriptions are limited tona certain amount of pounds a month. What health service are you comparing it to?

Agreed

NHS pis!es all over the shambles we have and they have a leader who gets things done unlike the pr!ck we last had

AlphabetCards · 20-02-2020 11:47AM

I have lived here a good few years, no intention of returning unless the partner gives up her job for kids, her qualifications are UK specific and won't travel well.

The people have a lot in common with the Irish, in terms of family, friendship groups. One huge thing is that so many Irish have come to the UK, liked it and raised families here. So a lot of Irish descended here who can't understand why so many people in Ireland hate the English - rather than lets say, hating the governments of the day who carried out past atrocities. I can see some of this in this very thread.

Great place, I have lived all over the UK and I have been treated wonderfully. Don't mind the BREXIT and government elections, unless you have lived here for a while you might miss out on the underlying causes of people turning against left wing causes and Labour, which is primarily due to the individualistic liberal movement... Which in all honesty, is pulling any Tory opposition apart.

beazee · 20-02-2020 11:48AM

AlphabetCards wrote: »

Lol. We don't pay to see our doctors over here, no charge for A&E and prescriptions are limited tona certain amount of pounds a month. What health service are you comparing it to?

he said:

... is going to go to the dogs over the next few years.
Especially the NHS

AlphabetCards · 20-02-2020 11:50AM

beazee wrote: »

he said:

It would have to fall verrry far to fall beneath most health systems, globally. I have gone in for surgical consults on a thursday, and been operated on the next day under GA. FOR FREE.

Has anyone ever worked/lived in the UK and preferred it to Ireland

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