Ireland - best place to live in the world

[The Blegard]

Ireland is probably the best country to live in and deserves to be. When you think about all the emigration to build other countries it was about time we did our own. Me personally could never survive Oct-Apr as lets face it its just depressing. rain, wind and talking about rain and wind, turf (good burning turf) etc

[the Deel Rover]

Ireland is probably the best country to live in and deserves to be. When you think about all the emigration to build other countries it was about time we did our own. Me personally could never survive Oct-Apr as lets face it its just depressing. rain, wind and talking about rain and wind, turf (good burning turf) etc

ah come on blegard what about games of 25 for the turkeys at Christmas surely you'd miss that

[Star Spangler]

Yeah but I could afford a 3bed semi in Dublin even at those interest rates and on an average industrial wage. Health service was better in 1985 than it is now in relation to waiting lists, cleanliness,MRSA.

No harm to you Declan, but you must have a fairly selective memory.  Nobody could afford decent houses in the 80's cheap and all as they were.  That's why we all grew up sharing bedrooms with 3 or 4 siblings.  How many kids today share bedrooms?  Look at all the cheap, crap looking bungalows that were built around the country at that time.  It was all people could afford to build and they were building them for £15K!  Nobody built big houses then - and I mean nobody.  A two story house was something only a solicitor or a doctor could have built.  Look at some of the megastructures around the country these days - some by people who work as van drivers (no disrespect to van drivers. )

As for waiting lists, I know someone who waited four years to get a hip replacement in the late 80's/early 90's.  The same operation is a three month wait today.  That's a huge change.

I'm glad the "good old days" are long gone!!

[mannix]

I have decided to move home when finished on my current assignment.
Having considered nyc again I decided its faults were too many for me, my poor brother is suffering badly paying for the house and education.I Am sure he would move home to less hardship and less hassle earning a living in a heartbeat(american wife,would never live in ireland because it sucks).Luckily for me I have the option and will be using it wisely.
Mayo here I come, i have decided to earn less but pay less for a higher standard of living.

[The Blegard]

ah come on blegard what about games of 25 for the turkeys at Christmas surely you'd miss that
[/quote]

if you played 25 with some of the sharks I have youd realise that its far from a pastime. Some of the worst rows I have seen were over a turkey. Can you imagine it. catholic Vs prod,  Coalition of the willing Vs the not so willing, 2 "good" neighbours going to battle over a 50p game for a bird, That could be fun but most of the time its disturbing and of course ,raining outside.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

Blegard, for feck sake why did you put your knave into me. You could have reneged and let me take the trick and I could have bate his king with me ace of hearts. Now he's a horse and a hoop and with the trick coming into him he's bound to win the turkey

[The Blegard]

"youve some cheek coming into a short corner like that". That should have been the dealers trick. For years I thought the game should have been called 20 as well dare you upset the school by winning the first trick if your not the dealer.
The best one still is "why the f**k did you lamp your partner" Get married and the answer becomes obvious

[ludermor]

Fair play Mannix best of luck with it.

Blegard your young lad is an expert at de auld 25 these days. We had a job coaching him though

[Guillem2]

Is there an on-line 25s/45s site? Could be good craic.

[Declan]

No harm to you Declan, but you must have a fairly selective memory.

Not at all SS. I did buy a decent 3 bed semi in 1989 when I was earning the princely sum of 12.5K punts in Dublin. The equivalent house is now 800K which I couldn't afford after 20+ years working so it's not all gravy.

As i said materially most people are better off but if you're trying to tell me the health service is in a better state then sorry can't agree.

[mannix]

Certain parts of the country is much better than other parts.Dublin and its surroundings are nice but traffic and costs are astronomical.Apart from these areas Ireland is a good place to be.People in dublin are not making that much more money than people in the south or west, yet housing is twice or 3 times the price.
God help anyone trying to buy a semi d in lucan or the like, a concrete jungle that is way overpriced.

[lynchbhoy]

remember working on a building site in maynooth in 1991 and saying to my father  - who the hell would pay 40k for a 3 bed semi out here.
Sister was trying to buy a 4 bed detached for 820k there recently but it was just too much for them - we all told her not to , it was way too much.

Ireland has followed the USA. I recall being astonished at the yanks getting up at 6am to get into the office and home again 12 hours later. That would never happen here I thought. As for bad traffic, well the log jam of cars has replaced the battered  20 year old cars going 20mph flat out, and the tractors on main roads at a similar speed, so getting from A to B quickly was never really easy around Dublin at least.

The gas thing lads, Dublin wages are a bit higher, dublin traffic is worse, but the cost of living around the country is not signifficantly lower. It used to be, but somewhere in the last few years - since 2000 (blame the y2k and euro changover) the rural non dublin areas are not charging almost as much - with rent and wages not as big a factor, yer prob getting ripped off more than the dublin metro based folks.

Ireland is almost a state of mind, we are used to its culture and faults , and know how to ride the waves here and work the system if necessary - unlike when we are in foreign lands.
but this place is far from perfect. Its the draw of being 'home' that keeps most here. I wonder why myself at times. I suppose family and GAA. Thats about it.
Education maybe if I had kids.
As for blether saying he couldnt live here from Oct to April ...jeez man, we have hardly seen the sun since may - so you would be depressed ALL year round !

Catholic Ireland mentality- we are only still here as some kind of penance !

[mannix]

lynchboy,
you really ought to price car insurance in dublin and ballina, house prices in dublin and ballina and rent prices in dublin and ballina.I spoke with a girl that rents a room in a house on baggot st for 550 euro per month.Her sister has the same type legal job in castlebar and earns 4/5 of the girl in dublin,her expenses are a lot less and she has no commute to speak of.It is very possible to but a new 3 bed semi d in ballina or castlebar for 175,000 to 185,000.I bought a small townhouse with a back garden and very nicely decorated for 138,000 and you can walk into the town center for work,shopping or socialising.I rent the house and the people in it are dubs, relocated and loving it,though they still wear the arnotts jersey.
Now we do not have all the big stores,restaurants or croke park in ballina but there is a lot to do and see if you want to.Sports,hiking,fishing,museums and plenty of pubs and places to get good food at normal prices.

[lynchbhoy]

lynchboy,
you really ought to price car insurance in dublin and ballina, house prices in dublin and ballina and rent prices in dublin and ballina.I spoke with a girl that rents a room in a house on baggot st for 550 euro per month.Her sister has the same type legal job in castlebar and earns 4/5 of the girl in dublin,her expenses are a lot less and she has no commute to speak of.It is very possible to but a new 3 bed semi d in ballina or castlebar for 175,000 to 185,000.I bought a small townhouse with a back garden and very nicely decorated for 138,000 and you can walk into the town center for work,shopping or socialising.I rent the house and the people in it are dubs, relocated and loving it,though they still wear the arnotts jersey.
Now we do not have all the big stores,restaurants or croke park in ballina but there is a lot to do and see if you want to.Sports,hiking,fishing,museums and plenty of pubs and places to get good food at normal prices.

apologies
I left out the biggest cost - the houses
although some areas in the country are not cheap either
The sister was being railroaded into moving to the Ballina area by her Crossmolina husband, but after she weighed up everything, she thought she would be no better off and then went looking at that mad exp house in maynooth (where she currently lives anyhow).
I'd really doubt that my car insurance would be too much less down the country. In fact it dropped when I stopped registering it in kildare at the folks house and signed up at my own Dub residence.
Certainly houses are a lot cheaper. But the question now has to be asked, why is our mindset so oriented towards buying houses when rental is as good and accepted in all other countries as being the norm.
the Famine and evictions of that time have left a huge scar on the Irish psyche !
I still say there is not much diff in the cost of living between Dub and the rest of Ireland (south of the border - although the Northern prices are spiriling too).
I pay my preium to live in Dub and the better job market /wages it gives me access to.

I would love to be in a career wher I could live down the country. But sin e.

[the Deel Rover]

lynchboy,
you really ought to price car insurance in dublin and ballina, house prices in dublin and ballina and rent prices in dublin and ballina.I spoke with a girl that rents a room in a house on baggot st for 550 euro per month.Her sister has the same type legal job in castlebar and earns 4/5 of the girl in dublin,her expenses are a lot less and she has no commute to speak of.It is very possible to but a new 3 bed semi d in ballina or castlebar for 175,000 to 185,000.I bought a small townhouse with a back garden and very nicely decorated for 138,000 and you can walk into the town center for work,shopping or socialising.I rent the house and the people in it are dubs, relocated and loving it,though they still wear the arnotts jersey.
Now we do not have all the big stores,restaurants or croke park in ballina but there is a lot to do and see if you want to.Sports,hiking,fishing,museums and plenty of pubs and places to get good food at normal prices.

apologies
I left out the biggest cost - the houses
although some areas in the country are not cheap either
The sister was being railroaded into moving to the Ballina area by her Crossmolina husband, but after she weighed up everything, she thought she would be no better off and then went looking at that mad exp house in maynooth (where she currently lives anyhow).
I'd really doubt that my car insurance would be too much less down the country. In fact it dropped when I stopped registering it in kildare at the folks house and signed up at my own Dub residence.
Certainly houses are a lot cheaper. But the question now has to be asked, why is our mindset so oriented towards buying houses when rental is as good and accepted in all other countries as being the norm.
the Famine and evictions of that time have left a huge scar on the Irish psyche !
I still say there is not much diff in the cost of living between Dub and the rest of Ireland (south of the border - although the Northern prices are spiriling too).
I pay my preium to live in Dub and the better job market /wages it gives me access to.

I would love to be in a career wher I could live down the country. But sin e.

Jesus Lynchboy i don't know where your sister was looking in around the ballina area but you would buy some house for €400k never mind €820k. I love living in the west i can drop my kids to school in the morning school is only 5 minutes away and another 5 minutes to work, no traffic jams ect home at 6 oclock. Then there is loads to do within 10 minutes drive gaa, soccer, rugby basketball clubs, if your in to fishing there is the river moy and lough conn also close.Good restuarants  night clubs in Ballina and if you want to go to a lively town westport is only 40 minutes away all in all i'd never move back to Dublin again and i lived there for about 6 years.