Boombastic wrote: » So sorry for having my own personal opinion on my reasons for leaving, thanks for correcting me :rolleyes:
Legs.Eleven wrote: » Not correcting you, merely challenging your dig at the people reading this, it being a discussion forum 'n' all.
biketard wrote: » Left Belfast to go to university in Edinburgh in 1988. I was sick of the political situation at home at the time. After graduating and working for a few years, I moved to Spain to teach English and learn Spanish. I did go back to Edinburgh after five years of that, but almost immediately met my now wife and moved to Taiwan with her (she's Taiwanese) over a decade ago. I'd like to move back at some stage (either to Edinburgh or Belfast) in the not too distant future, but the British Government has made it really, REALLY difficult to do that now if your spouse is from outside Europe. You basically have to have a well-paid job offer in advance (some chance), or savings of over 62,500 pounds untouched for six months (again, some chance). The fact we have property in Edinburgh and friends/family willing to support us doesn't count at all. Luckily the Irish Govt is a bit more sensible, so we may well end up in the Republic if/when we move back.
jank wrote: » When you have a world city like London only 1 hours away then the pull factors there are obvious. There are loads of Australians who live in Sydney who grew up in quiet little towns up and down the east coast who just got bored of doing the same thing day in day out (much like small town Ireland), so they pack up and move to the big smoke Sydney or Melbourne. That isn't called emigration, yet we label young people heading off to London for a few years as emigrants?? There are thousands of Aussies and Kiwis who head off to London and the UK each year for the exact same reasons as Irish people do, yet not once I have ever heard this termed emmigration, EVER (and this include NZ)!
Boombastic wrote: » Nothing sly about my comment, not as sly as people who post comments and then delete them
lufties wrote: » Yea I'm on lantau myself, don't think I could hack the city, especially in summer.
mandrake04 wrote: » I agree with Jank, there are a lot of opportunities in Australia for the right people. Since I have been here I have also Traveled/worked in NZ, India, China and Japan something that I wouldn't have had the chance to do working in the same type of work in England/Ireland the most exotic places I went was usually was Crawley in West Sussex or maybe Germany. Here in Oz I limit my drives to 3.5hrs any further and its FIFO same day or over night, when I was working in Ireland I used to drive from Newry to Galway or Newry to Sligo... no chance of flying and during winter that was mostly in the dark, dangerous roads and crap weather just had to put up with it. Sure its half a world away, but really its only a day (24 hours) which is nothing considering you have 7 of those a week and 365 a year plus you usually asleep 1/3 of that anyway. Its 9 hrs to Hawaii and 14 to California and that where I am meeting my parents next year for a holiday. Lifestyle rules here, the winter is like an Irish Summer/Spring and the summer is the type of sunshine what people in Ireland jump into a plane and fly to Spain for two weeks. I don't really drink anymore, few weeks ago was on holiday never had a drink the whole week was staying up the coast went driving on Stockton Beach and Fingal bay on the Jetski there was 4 of us including my Irish mate who was both a a big drinker and smoker when he first came to Australia and has since give both them up. Went to bed sort of early and got up early... nice fresh head. I cant understand when people say Australia does not have culture, of course it has ....it has a beach culture where in your free time you get the sand between your toes and do cool stuff witch is just a different type of culture to just drinking the face of yourself. The other thing I like about Australia is its a very Liberal country, brothels etc are perfectly legal not that I am interested but the fact that if I wanted to go I can legally do so... In Ireland the politicians and church would be preaching from their moral stool while secretly ripping you off or covering up their own dirty secrets.
Legs.Eleven wrote: » It's certainly not the backwards country people like to make it out to be either. Our lack of extremes in politics would be very progressive in my opinon - one thing I can not abide in Spain is the "You're either left or right" thinking here and there's zero compromise between the two. It seems they do nothing but bicker and stick the knife in. Nothing will ever progress in politics with that mindset. I think the Irish are surprisingly open-minded and outward-looking in comparison to a lot of European countries. We don't have the big country mentality that many countries would and we certainly don't look down our noses at other countries (quite the opposite, in fact ). Women are relatively equal and people are generally not very extreme in their thinking and would consider the opinions of others (I'm talking outside Boards here). We're not voting in far-right politicians into power like most other European countries either. Perhaps things are different in rural Ireland but definitely not in urban areas. One of my students who's a journalist lived in Ireland for 3 years and commented on all I said above saying in terms of open-mindedness, we're ahead of Spain. One thing I've realised having left Ireland is just how progressive it is for a small island and a relatively new nation. You live in Hong Kong right now, yeah? How progressive is Hong Kong outside of business?
maninasia wrote: » Australia is a severely over regulated place with high costs and fees for everything, the last thing I would say about it is 'it's liberal'. The people are not particularly 'liberal' either. But it is a good spot that I know well and I would trade some freedom for a good dose of beach and barbie for a while .
beks101 wrote: » I've lived in many different countries and continents over the years and the one thing I've found to be true about life is "where ever you go, there you are".
lufties wrote: » The thing about emigrating is it is very hard to go back and be content living in Ireland when your mind is open to new places and different ways of doing things. Lets face, Ireland isn't famous for being a progressive, forward thinking country. You will be fine, my advice to any young person would be emigrate if they can.
lufties wrote: » Don't really get that quote tbh:p
BraziliaNZ wrote: » You may say that but my friends in Dublin are the most liberal people I know. I've been away on and off since I was 20. I'm 33 now but any time I go back to Ireland I don't really want to leave. For me home is where the heart is etc and the one place I feel like I truly belong. Plus I get such a kick out of the 1130pm last order Guinness parties where me and my mates have about 1,056 pints lined up in sheer panic because of last orders. And they let you sit there and drink them all!
lufties wrote: » Yea fair enough, I do love coming home, but as a previous poster mentioned, Dublin is a lot different from rural Ireland.
BraziliaNZ wrote: » Errrrwhere you go, you always take the weather with you... I think it means like you can't run away from whatever's not working out for you in life. It doesn't always apply though because you could be a person who loves the outdoors and sun and wine etc therefore be much happier in California rather than Dublin. Or a homosexual might prefer the many delights of London's Soho, where you could pick up a different boy every night and have your way with him and most likely never run into him again - whereas in Dublin you have the George. I know where I would go, if I were a homosexual, which I aren't. Srsly.
lufties wrote: » Yes true, In Ireland from my experience it can be suffocating though to a degree, for example If you have a beard, do yoga and holiday in India your a hippy and can't be taken seriously. If you holiday in thailand you are a horny bugger who has to travel to get your end away. If you holiday in Spain or America then you are considered normal. Personally I needed to get away from that kind of small mindedness I encountered back home, call it 'running away' or whatever but it gave me peace of mind so it can't be a bad thing.
jiminho wrote: » Great thread!! I graduated in 2012 and left for Canada immediately after I had finished my Masters. I didn't even go to the graduation ceremony. I had two reasons for leaving: I love to travel and being so far away from home has opened up a large corner of the world for me to explore. Also, experiencing a new culture. While the Canadian way of life isn't drastically different from our own, the longer I live here, the more different it seems. Work experience. Tbh if I tried hard enough, I probably would have got a job in something but it wouldn't have been in the field I wanted. And of course i would have also been underpaid which goes hand in hand with the travelling bug I have. I think every young Irish man and woman should live abroad for a year or two. It gives an insight into a different culture and you can experience so many different places and things. I mean, isn't that what life is all about? I want to visit 6 continents by the time I'm 30 and visit Antarctica (and space??) by the time I die. I will definitely go back home to Ireland eventually. Definitely before I'm 30. I might live somewhere else in the world before I go home. Also, in a strange way I've learned to appreciate Ireland more. I was itching to get out of the country for years, regardless of the economic situation, but now that I'm gone, I've realised that Ireland isn't so bad. That's my two cents anyway.
kuntboy wrote: » Sleepy, can I ask you why you never really "fit in"? Is it because you're too intelligent for these leprechauns?
Sleepy wrote: » Of course... :rolleyes: Honest answer: I've always found myself utterly bored by typical Irish small talk revolving around what the neighbours are up to, english and scottish football, GAA, soap operas and reality television etc. I find the unthinking dedication to the catholic church, the Irish language and civil war politics to be annoying, The growing sense of entitlement from certain groups of society, the mistrust of success and the celebration of cute hoors are particularly galling too...
Sleepy wrote: » Of course... :rolleyes: Honest answer: I've always found myself utterly bored by typical Irish small talk revolving around what the neighbours are up to, english and scottish football, GAA, soap operas and reality television etc.I find the unthinking dedication to the catholic church, the Irish language and civil war politics to be annoying, The growing sense of entitlement from certain groups of society, the mistrust of success and the celebration of cute hoors are particularly galling too...
jank wrote: » Well that’s what makes it unique in some aspects. Great weather and lifestyle. The quality of life one can half if they have a half decent job is outstanding. Opportunities galore. Decent wages, a fairish tax system (top level of 48% only kicks in at $180,000), a culture of work and the 'fair go', no real sense of entitlement where one earns their life by working hard. Success is rewarded and not looked down upon in general. Only smallish flights away from Indo, NZ and the South Pacific if you wanted something different. Yet being on the other side of the world has its drawbacks. To be honest there is no utopia out there. You people who travel intially to another country think that where ever they are is the best place ever initially. Then of course after 6-12 months reality sets in and things about the new place starts bothering them and they begin to question their own belief system. It is engrained and battered into us from an early age that Ireland is a kip and a dump and a ****hole, yet when one wanders from these shores they realise it is not the case. Often those people labelling Ireland one of the above have barely stepped outside their own parish never mind lived in another country. Also we need to get over our perpetual negativity about emigration especially about young people. If I had kids who were fresh out of collage, I would tell them go off and see the world for a few years, you would be mad not to. Other countries call this the "Gap Year" in Ireland we label it as "boo hoo emigration". I recently listened to the Sean O'Rourke on a podcast and he had Paddy O'Gorman interviewing people who were heading off after the Christmas period. Some were genuine emmigrants but there were lots of lads in their 20's who just wanted to head off some place in the sense of adventure and seeing the world. All only had WHV and had no real plan, no jobs lined up and no idea where they would be in a few years time. I would never call these emmigrants When you have a world city like London only 1 hours away then the pull factors there are obvious. There are loads of Australians who live in Sydney who grew up in quiet little towns up and down the east coast who just got bored of doing the same thing day in day out (much like small town Ireland), so they pack up and move to the big smoke Sydney or Melbourne. That isn't called emigration, yet we label young people heading off to London for a few years as emigrants?? There are thousands of Aussies and Kiwis who head off to London and the UK each year for the exact same reasons as Irish people do, yet not once I have ever heard this termed emmigration, EVER (and this include NZ)!
NoCrackHaving wrote: » Am I the only one who simply doesn't recognise this Ireland at all? Never experienced this when I lived in Dublin.
