Is Ireland a good place to live?

My fiance is swiss ...
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My husband is also Swiss and, although he really likes it here, he finds the littering disturbing.

I think the difference between Switzerland and here is that the people there are self-policing. For example, they have strict laws on dogs soiling pavements and green areas. You have to pick up your dog's poo or face the possibility of a fine and the wrath of anyone who sees you walking away from it. My father-in-law has no qualms about berating people who litter or fail to clear away the dog mess. Would I do it here? No. I'd be too afraid of the consequences.

We decided to stop travelling 7 years ago and had the choice of living in Switzerland or here. We chose Ireland and, despite the shortcomings, we both feel we made the right choice for our family. We're hoping to eventually retire to Switzerland - mainly because of the weather and the high standard of health care on offer.
 
Hi Delgirl or should I say grueezi, Wie gohts!!!

Wow, that is really interesting (for me at any rate)! We are currently looking into coming back! I love Ireland and obviously family and friends are really important. For my fiance the hard things are tax (we currently pay 18% tax in Zurich, my poor fiance fell off the chair when I mentioned 42%) and Mountains (no snowboarding, skiing at weekends).
Strange as this might sound its also kind of difficult for me to move back, much and all as I want to, while Switzerland is famous for being expensive there is actually so much free/sponsored stuff you can do there and if you like sports at all it really is great (snowboarding, wakeboarding, skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, sailing), its odd but those activities are cheap and easily accessible there. The seasons are great, the people are nice (yes really) and its very clean :)
We both have a fear that we'll come back to Dublin and with the exception of the odd (potentially expensive) trip/hike outside Dublin all we'll do is go to pubs at weekends. If I won the lotto Id spend 6months of the year in Dublin and 6 months of the year in Zurich and Id be very happy.

Anyway this is off topic. I might PM you sometime with swiss irish relocation questions if that is ok?

cas.
 
Ireland is a great place to live.

We can send children to school in the morning and know that the likelyhood of them being gunned down by one of their peers is not an issue. Give me Ireland over the USA any day.
 
Ireland is a great place to live.

We can send children to school in the morning and know that the likelyhood of them being gunned down by one of their peers is not an issue. Give me Ireland over the USA any day.
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I've addressed this issue before. It is probably the single biggest red herring thrown out by people discussing America.

America is a HUGE place. It has LOTS of states, they are more or less the equivalent of different countries in Europe. If someone get's shot in Colorado it has as much relevance to school kids in Florida as a school shooting in Scotland does to kids in Ireland.

The VAST VAST VAST majority of parents sending their kids to schools in America...

"know that the likelyhood of them being gunned down by one of their peers is not an issue".

America has it's problems with gun crime, and there's a very powerful gun lobby so things won't change soon. But I have never known any body who was affected, I've never heard from anyone that they knew anyone who was affected.

I feel a hell of a lot safer in US cities than I do on O'Connell St.

So if you want to compare Ireland with America, at least have the decency to pick one State, or a county within a state. Because you need to get down to that level before you can make a fair comparison.

You wouldn't accept me saying "Ireland sucks because of the 10% Unemployment in Germany". Or "Ireland is great thanks to the French Healthcare System".

Oh! and for the record I expect a little more from a country than a better than average chance of not getting shot. If your standards are that low then of course you'll love Ireland.

-Rd
 
I take your point Daltonr regarding the USA but I do think we take for granted out liberty ... the freedom to live in a society where we are free to express our views without fear of reprisals.
 
Ironically a child was accidentally shot and seriously injured in a school playground in Fermanagh earlier this year.
 
Henny Penny, you really do have a very dim view of the rest of the world, if fear of being shot and freedom of speach are what's keeping you here.

Keep in mind that there are pleanty of people walking the streets of Dublin who have no qualms about shooting their way to what they want. And there is a Political Party in the Dail that is one arm of a movement that will happily shoot someone for no other reason than their political opinion - Although they seem to be more discerning lately.

I like Michael Moore but he has done a real disservice to us all if he's given us such a bad impression of America that we are happy to put up with the things that go on here.

I said in my very first post that there are many countries in the world that a worse, thats obvious. But that wasn't the question. In absolute terms is Ireland a good place to live.

My answer is that it's OK. It doesn't offer it's citizens value for their Tax Euro, but for most people moving isn't an option and they should probably be glad that if they're stuck somewhere it's here rather than Iraq, Afghanistan, or even India, China, etc.

For those for whom moving is an option you can do a hell of a lot better, nad you don't have to look too far.

Maybe there's a really clever strategy behind the governments actions (inaction). Seeing that they can't afford to pay for the retirment of the Baby Boom generation, they're hoping a chunk of us will retire abroad.

-Rd
 
Hi,

Busy in work so I apologise if I'm repeating anyone after a cursory scan.

My main problem with this country, or Dublin since this is where I live, is aggression. I find scumbaggery impinges on your day-to-day life a lot more than in other places. The only comparison I can find is Belfast where, after living there for a while, you come away realising a slight but noticeable tension relieved when you leave. I always said it was a good city to live in while I was there, but now I would never go back. I suspect the same might be true of Dublin.

I should leave it there but a couple of observations about scumbags. Nobody says a word when they create a scene, except me (usually when it's safe) and the intervention seems more of a curiosity than the misbehaviour. They take such pride in their unintelligible dialect and seeming dumber than dumb. They have a dress code: tracksuit; peroxide; imitiation Tag Heuer; etc. Drunkenness and aggressive behaviour is admirable.

Anyway, apart from the gratuitous slagging, I think there is a serious point in there: We need to take more responsibility for the actions of others. Other societies do, it doesn't take much once you spread the workload. Why should three or four dirtbags terrorise a full DART carriage of ordinary people?

"I feel a hell of a lot safer in US cities than I do on O'Connell St."

Damn straight. Worst capital city main street in the western world.
 
Is there any sign of the ASBO coming in?

If you were looking for somewhere to move to in Ireland and ASBOs was our thing, something similar to this UK [broken link removed] would be a useful guide. But of course, the usual residents soc.s would kick up and say property prices would be affected if it was (which it probably would).

This post might be better served in a separate discussion, so see what comes of it.
 
Safety and the right to express ones' views are two fundamental rights. There are many other things keeping me in Ireland.
I like the weather ... not too hot and not too cold. I like the fact that we have enough rain to keep the countryside green. I think Ireland has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. I think we have beautiful skies.
I like the people in Ireland. I like the irish sense of humour and irony. I accept the fact that Ireland is a small country and that nepotism is rife, but it's nice to have a sense of belonging too.
It's all too easy to point out the negatives about our country, like the corruption, the short-sighted planning of infrastructure, inadequate health services and substandard educational facilities, but I do believe all of this will change ... and I do believe that there are enough people out there willing to work towards change for the better.
 
Henny Penny,

Thanks for adding those other things. I was worried that you felt that Ireland was somehow Much safer than other equivalent countries. Obviously it's safer than Iraq, but that's not who we're comparing with.

I was also worried that you felt Ireland was somehow more "Free" than other equivalent countries.

It's all too easy to point out the negatives about our country, like the corruption, the short-sighted planning of infrastructure, inadequate health services and substandard educational facilities, but I do believe all of this will change ...
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I don't believe it will. I guess that's where we differ.
I should be more precise, I don't see the point in waiting on the off chance that Ireland improves, when there are countries out there that are better right now.

I think it's more likely that Ireland will have a worse society in 10-15 years than it does today. Oh! on some economists scale of standard of living we'll achieve some ratio that shows we're better off. But we don't live in a spreadsheet.

-Rd
 
Nice to know we don't live on a spreadsheet! I think it is up to each individual living in a country to make it a better place to live. We each have a voice and as citizens what we choose to do with our voice is up to us. We can fight corruption by setting standards of morality for ourselves and our children.
As regards public services we can vote out of power the politicans that are ruining them. We can vote with our feet by getting involved in community lobbies for better schools/childcare/infrastructure etc.
When I did my leaving certificate 11 years ago, we had a discussion about the future job prospects of our class ... 90% of whom thought that they would have to emmigrate in order to find a job. I think we sometimes forget how recently our economy has improved ... and that the prospect of getting a job is not such a big issue any longer. My point is a lot can happen in 10-15 years, and in the meantime it's not all bad.
What countries are better right now than Ireland? I am interested to see the basis on which the comparisons are being made?
 
I thought I gave a couple of (historical) examples ..?

I still have a lot of Irish friends living in France and elsewhere, and while some of them would like to move back home (closer to aging parents, etc.) - they unanimously say they could never afford to do so, the way things are.

I admire your idealism about 'fighting corruption'/'making it a better place to live', etc., but the events of recent years don't give me much cause for optimism...:(
 
When I did my leaving certificate 11 years ago, we had a discussion about the future job prospects of our class ... 90% of whom thought that they would have to emmigrate in order to find a job.
I don't know what kind of depressed school kids you were. I did my leaving cert 13 years ago and by then it was clear that something was changing on the emigration front. By the time I left college in 1996 jobs were almost as easy to find as litter on O'Connell St.

I also admire your figthing corruptions etc, etc, beliefs. I give you another year before reality starts to sink in.



"If you are not an idealist by the time you are twenty you don't have a heart but if you are still an idealist by thirty you don't have a head."

- Randolph Bourne

-Rd
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How very cynical you are Rd. You are two or three years younger than me (by the looks of it) and I have maintained by youthful idealism whilst not falling into Mr. Bourne's latter category!
 
>>>whilst not falling into Mr. Bourne's latter category!

In your opinion.
If you had a head you'd know better. ;)

-Rd
 
It is hard to look at life in any country without being subjective. I have friends and Family in Ireland and they are the main reason I am here. I have lived in Australia, America and Germany. What irks me most is that we in Ireland have had 12 years of boom and we have sweet FA to show for it compared to other countries that have had similar booms in the past. Does it show that Ireland is immature as a society? Or are we simply incompetent? I purposely use the word 'we' because I don't believe in blaming the government, or the invisible 'they' that people constantly natter should be doing something about it. Our government reflects us as a society, so I think that whatever we say about the government accurately reflects how we feel about the country.
We should have good rail and road networks. We should have well equipped schools and brilliant healthcare. We should have indigenous Irish industry with superb R&D. We should have leisure facilities in every town.
Until we have these things I can only say that Ireland is fine, or ‘grand’. It’s alright. It will do. There are better countries for sure. And there are worse.
 
Always feel like quoting my late father on this one:- "if God had located the Dutch in Ireland they would be feeding the world. If He had located the Irish in Holland it would be under the sea".

It is sooooooooo sad to see the latest wasted opportunity for what I call "quality of life" - including clean sustainable environment, sensible non-contaminant farming and stockbreeding; intelligent town/civic planning with emphasis on affordable frequent public transport, health and educational infrastructures; development of an economy sufficiently mixed to withstand recessionary troughs and international lability.

Unfortunately the opposite has come out of a decade of unprecedented prosperity; the poor are even more screwed and disenfranchised, the rural/urban balance skewed, economy over-focussed on artificially-engineered, jobs produced from ephemeral multinational 'slash-and-burn' type employment.

There is no inspired leadership (or followership). As oil-prices soar and there are daily warnings that supplies from current sources will run out within this decade what can Ireland do with its hundreds of thousands of imported vehicles when transporting produce from one part of the island to the other (from the food-producing - what's left of it!) to the food-consuming part (Dublin) is a major feat.

If I could set aside these apprehensions, take advantage of the wonderful new restaurants, spas, shopping malls and life-style innovations to be enjoyed in the State, it would be 'a good place to live'. Perhaps the question is "good for what?" W.B.Yeat's poem about the lotus-eaters springs unbidden to mind....or might there be a possibility of a steep learning curve? The will to kick out embezzelling politicians and guzzling developers (of their own rather than the nation's interests) and change course?
 
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