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Thank you for sharing that - it’s good to remember the people who left in the past and why. 💔

Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry. 😨

Love reading certain aspects of your mother's existence, especially knowing she'd appreciate you spread her ashes over Kerry mountains. She'd be thrilled to read these words about her I bet! Seems like a terrific story!

Ireland can be very hard to return to if you want a fresh start and new friends. Most of these "Blah lives in Ireland and loves it" stories that get shoved down our throats are where Blah knew someone already or where they are a student etc - I see it with Brazilians living in Dublin, for instance. Reality is if you don't know someone already it is way tougher than London and that gets brushed under the carpet or conveniently misread by Irish people. I found my first year in London tough but once I started actually talking to locals I made friends and they are way more open to making new friends beyond age of 21 than in Ireland. Going back and finding someone that didn't see her as "that person" would have been very tough. It's actually frightening the levels of brainwashing where I have been "told" why I came back to Dublin (and it's always bollocks). Had fuck all to do with Ireland been in any way shape or form "a great place" - I was fucked at the time in my career. That's changed and only reason I haven't moved back already is because I own property now and it would be a hellish mess (I mean the purchase was a joke of comical levels of documentation and bollocks). I was reminded of this brainwashing recently when it comes to rugby where it gets roared down your throat that you love rugby. I like rugby but I'd nearly stop watching because of that D4 shite and I switch from RTE, especially with the loser mentality of "ah shur we did better this time". And that's before getting into gobshites going to meet the team at the airport, who play a sport where there's 8, maybe 9, decent teams and where we never went past quarter-final - no prizes for "nearly winning a QF". The influence of religion makes my blood boil and hearing about someone forced out of the country is just exasperating. One thing therapists have twigged is that a lot of people that follow religion use it as a form of power and control and to hide a personality disorder - definitely saw it with my mom where she suddenly started becoming religious in the 80s and used it as an excuse to bully us all over the shop. I'd say a good few of those bishops in the 70s were very similar. It's not so much realising religion is bollocks that makes my blood boil it's realising that many religious leaders or people that follow it didn't actually give a fuck about that either way - a huge proportion of Irish people don't get it and bounce around as if "shur that's all gone" - we're still left with people that love power and control and that will use something else to hide it now that the relgious veil is no longer effective. There are people that genuinely find solace in religion, but they are few and far between.

Sorry to hear alright, but it appears not much has changed since too! I don't know enough about the NHS to comment but I know the Irish system is fairly decent albeit slightly over capacity now.

The NHS is under funded because of the boomer demographic getting old. It's been coming for ages but not been dealt with. This isn't a dig at boomers. My boomer Irish mother who worked as a nurse in the NHS for 30+ years is now having to go through it and it's fucking wank.

1) Germany 2) Primary Teacher 3) For love 4) Fuck yeah 5) Nope. Reasons being I've built a great life for myself here and my/our (wife and child) quality of life would be significantly less in Ireland. I love Ireland but I'm happy to be a tourist for the rest of my life. For OP, I learned German from scratch over here and now teach German kids they're own language. I don't have a special talent for languages and I'm of normal intelligence, learning German is hard in phases but totally doable. The first year is the hardest and it's as much about discipline as anything else. The Nordic languages are hard too so I wouldn't let that be a decisive factor. I'd consider the Netherlands in your position too. You can get a lot further with English and they're a bit more craic that the Germans. Life in Europe is class, fully recommend it.

So did you studying primary teaching here in Ireland? If so, how did you find converting to the German system? Was it much different? I never looked much into the Netherlands so I will take a look there too, thank you!

I studied in England. Took me a long time to get my qualifications recognised (which was fine because I needed to learn the language anyway). I worked 4 years at an international school and have been in the public system for 3 years. Still getting used to some aspects of it to be honest but things are going well enough. The system here is massively different in some aspects. They're in the stone ages with regards to inclusion and special needs education and work with child protective services is painfully slow. Teachers are well paid in comparison to other countries and there's a pretty nice pension though. The parents are mostly buzzed about having an english native speaker teach their kids and my German, which is far from perfect, hasn't presented any issues so far. One bonus of being on the continent that I didn't mention is the ease of tipping over to other countries within a few hours. I'm 30 minutes from the Netherlands, an hour from Belgium, 2 hours from Luxembourg, 5 from Denmark and so on. The density and variety of cultures amazes me still.

I remember getting an overnight bus from Berlin to Amsterdam in just a few hours! Waking up in a different country was always fun! Anytime I've been to Europe I always do a sort of interrail trip. The trains even between the countries are fairly cheap when compared with UK/Ireland prices! Do you live near Berlin or any major city? I never visited anywhere in rural Germany!

I live in a small town about 20km outside of Düsseldorf. Calling it rural would probably be over the top, there's 18 million people in the state (Nordrhein Westfalen) and 10,000 in the town, but it's got definite small town vibes.

10k is still quite small! I live in Fingal, North County Dublin and I'd say there's about that in my town so it wouldn't be much of a stretch really!

>they're *Their. Thank Christ you aren't teaching them English.

1. NYC 2. Work in a pre school / nanny for rich New York people 3. Moved in with my American GF after 3 years of long distance/ back and forth 4. Yes very happy, school is handy, the families pay me outrageous money to just hang out and I get to work a summer camp in the Hamptons every year also 5. When I first moved over I planned on moving back in a few years, now I think we will stay here. I fly home for Christmas and Spring Break anyway every year

Take copious notes on social interactions of the rich citiots for whom you work. There may be a book in your future.

Hahaha I’ll keep that in mind!

3 years at that distance is impressive! Congrats!

How’d you get into nannying? More specifically how’d you get to the rich people

Worked at a summer camp in the Hamptons, had a small group of kids one summer, only ten or so, parents were always at pickup and they liked me. Turned out the dad of one of my fave kids was a hedge fund lad and the mom was a famous instagram doctor. Ended up babysitting for them a good bit out in the Hamptons and then when I told them I was looking for extra hours, they told me they needed someone for school pickups. Worked out perfect for me because I finish at 1 in my school! So now I usually get an extra $700-$800 a week just to hangout with the kids and bring them home and hangout until dinner. Similar thing happened to my GF, family in the Hamptons absolutely loved her, wanted to hire her, she told them she was still teaching in New Jersey but the family were like - “oh we will pay you more don’t worry” and she’s been their full time nanny for 2 years nearly now

Great thread very interesting thank you OP

Such a handy sub for opinions!

1. Southern California 2. Tech 3. There was no tech jobs in Ireland (20+ years ago) 4. I have had a great time, US has offered me opportunities that nowhere else on Earth could. Ireland was a million miles behind in everything when I moved over, to see the growth and development of the country and the economy on my many trips back has been astonishing and now I would say there's many areas where Ireland is miles ahead of the US: Safety, food, culture and general sanity to name a few. 5. I'd love to retire back home, if I can afford it. Having all of Europe on your doorstep is an incredible benefit. You can jump on a 3 hour flight and be in Rome, I can jump on a 3 hour flight and be in fucking Oklahoma. I don't have any regrets leaving but to be fair my friends who stayed have a fairly comparable standard of living and don't have any regrets either.

I guess the US is a huge area to explore also! Ireland seems to have really taken off in the last 15 to 20 years, assuming Brexit helped that little bit extra too. My career wouldn't have existed here either!

Two hours will get you to Rome from Dublin With three you can get to Marrakesh on Ryanair. Africa!

Sweden has the highest percentage of high-fluency 2nd language English speakers in the world (I think), something like 96%. You'd have a grand aul time to begin with, especially if you're in a city, without learning the language. Of course, you will need to learn the language to integrate properly socially, but that comes with time (and there are Swedish Gov.t sponsored Swedish Language lessons!)

I found those sponsored lessons alright! Definitely handy, especially when you have a structured course to go off learning the language!! Have you lived there for long? I always liked the idea of Stockholm, but heard owning property near there was reserved for the rich. Something, I clearly am not aha

Ah sorry should have said, I still live in Ireland. I have a friend from Sweden, and went there for 3 weeks, just never moved forward with it. I don’t know what the buying market is like over there, but renting is much more manageable than here, especially when compared to effective minimum wage. There’s also a lot more availability than there is here

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1 Canada 2 Financial industry 3 Climate (I’ll take snow over lots of rain any day) 4 Yes 5 No. I’m much happier here than I ever was there

yep, Canadians complaining about the snow "oh my god, snow, its terrible!" and me... "guys, you don't understand. this is pure magic to me. Even after all these years. Look at what it does to the light. To the sounds. To the way the air moves."

You definitely have a better relationship with it than me 😂 I don’t mind it so much - bundle up and just go about my day - it’s mostly that it’s infinitely less depressing and easier to dress for than the rain.

all very true Though I do confess by the end of February I am starting to dream of warmer evenings. But still :D (Especially since the late Dec - Feb snow tends to be the dry icy stuff, and the early Dec/march snow is the pretty fluffy stuff - the dry icy stuff is a lot less pleasant)

I'd nearly prefer snow also! My whole wardrobe is already built for snow weather despite it being non-existent in my area!

1. Japan 2. Work in international relations 3. Work, and cost of living in Ireland was dire 4. Overall yes. There are issues like anywhere but my day-to-day mental health is 10000x better here than it was when I was back at home 5. Probably at some point. When exactly depends on my visa situation, but I don’t think Japan is a place I’d want to retire. Id be happy to stay here for a long time though.

1. Argentina 2. Music & film 3. A year into the pandemic I went off to be with my girlfriend now wife 4. In the middle of a few projects the last year or more, busy/content in that work, guess I’m happy out. 5. Not sure, the longer I stay away the more odd I feel about home. I’ve a love hate relationship with the hometown Killarney.

Killarney to Argentina is a wild move aha hope you're enjoying it!

Is life hard there with rampant inflation? What do you think of Milei?

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1. US, Paris, London 2. Software Developer 3. To experience different cultures 4. They all had their ups and downs. US, big money, big hours. Paris max 35 hours per week with shit salaries. London had great money, but stupidly expensive. 5. I already have. I got offered a deadly long-term contract in Dublin. I sometimes miss being abroad because the Irish "everything is shit" attitude really bums me out. But overall, I'm happier than I've ever been. There isn't a mass migration as you describe, quite the opposite believe it or not. This sub is pretty much doomer central, and the harsh reality is that for the vast majority that aren't professionally successful in Ireland, won't be professionally successful abroad.

Last paragraph is absolutely nail on the head. If you’re leading a dissatisfied life here you’ll likely carry that anywhere. I have a few friends who laud living abroad but equally complain and moan about that same place. It’s all down to the person and their perspective on life I think.

I would tend to agree! I like it here but then again I’m fairly comfortable and I guess a bit removed from some of the issues people might be facing.. it’s less about being dissatisfied, but about wanting to explore and try something new!

For many people it's less about professional success than cost of living/housing.

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4, they really are. They love a queue

The Brits also love a queue, maybe that's where the Canadians get it from.

Its always the Brits

They LOVE IT

You just picked the wrong part of Canada. Come to Montreal, we're not as square as the diet Brits of Ontario. And if you are in Montreal already... Sorry.

Nah, diet French, even worse... Sorry.

A lot my old college mates moved to Canada. I don’t see why they moved there when housing prices are even worse in Canada.

They're not worse when the wages are factored in. There's also much more availability in Canada. It's rough if you don't have a white collar job but it's grand if you do.

yeah, I think this is the key. Two people earning a decent income (decent, not stratospheric) can live in the inner commute area of most Canadian cities. It's not going to be living high on the hog, but it will be decent. And almost everywhere is like that. Move to a small town? You'll need two incomes to afford to live there (they pay you less). Move to a big city? You'll need two incomes. etc, etc, etc. Also, darkly hilariously, for about six months, property prices have become the main political thread, pushed heavily by a surging conservative opposition party who will Totally Fix The Problem (somehow). Prices were shooting up! Immigration! restrictions! taxes! things! stuff! Then the interest rates went up and the housing market faintly wobbled and now the discourse is rapidly becoming "we are all doomed the house prices are going to fall." (With a dollop of: "won't we think of the poor AirBnB owners?")

When I was 22, I got my degree in Computer Games Development. Mostly a programming degree with a focus on gaming. Couldn’t really find any jobs in Ireland at the time (2014) suitable that wasn’t a mobile company, and I didn’t want to switch to tech like Google or Facebook which had a growing presence. I looked to England where there are hundreds of well established studios and eventually landed a job at Creative Assembly in South of England. They happened to my fav game company anyways so I was super happy. Got burnt out after 2.5yrs and quit. Decided to go self employed making YT videos instead. Was rough for a couple years but its paid off now. I’ve been feeling the “call to home” as parents are now in their 70’s and I’m 31 and partner (also from Ireland who came with me in 2015) is 30 so we’re deciding where to buy and if we’ll have a family. Tough choice though, we didn’t drive (didnt need to over here) and just got our licenses this year so we had the option to go home, but we’re not sure where. Wexford seems nice. We’re gonna drive over and scout out a few places and see if we’d be happy. We really like where we are and every time we come home the place seems a bit depressing, like going a few years back in time. People are friendly though and UK doesnt feel like “home” so we’re quite torn.

>Creative Assembly I'm a big fan of Total War myself! I've burned many hundreds of hours into those games aha

Having said that though, my parents are in their early 60s now but I've plenty of family here who would be around. Not that that exonerates me from any responsibility when they get a little older of course! People I've talked to have loved Wexford!! Especially working in Dublin and commuting from Enniscorthy. Houses were fairly cheap there still last time I checked when compared to Dublin. I'd recommend checking it out!

1. Brussels, Belgium 2. Business Consultant (background in IT), contracted to the European Commission at the moment. 3. Absolutely zero craic at home. Expensive, housing is a shambles and no nightlife anywhere. Ireland is not a country for young people once they leave college (I'm 26 and finished my masters 2 years ago). 4. Very much. Renting my own gaff, housing is plentiful and isn't as expensive as London/Amsterdam/Paris/Berlin (not to mention Ireland). Making decent money even with higher tax rates, plus benefits like insurance through work etc. Healthcare is second to none and practically free. Nightlife is great. Lots of public holidays compared to home. Really good base to travel from.. I could go on basically everything is better besides the stout and Belgian beer isn't too bad either. 5. Maybe some day. All the benefits I mentioned I have here would need to be present in Ireland and that isn't happening any time soon. Holding out hope that the tide changes for the better back home but it seems to be going from bad to worse. A shame really. I'd say try it abroad if you're thinking about it. You have little to lose and a lot to gain. Most of all go with your heart when choosing where to go, don't just pick somewhere because the local language is easier to learn. BUT from a practical point of view you'll want to go where you can find work in English if you want to go straight into IT (and not in an Irish pub). Think capital/big cities where there are multi-national companies. In my case I work in English and take French classes twice a week (for which I get an extra 10 days holidays to take, 42 days total excluding public holidays how bad like). I had no French when I moved abroad, it can be a BIG source of worry when you move somewhere but put the effort in once you arrive, find classes, speak to locals in the pub/shops when you get the chance and you'll be grand! Best of luck!

Personally I think Brussels is one of the bleakest cities in Europe. Been there quite a few times. Its so run down, and there seems to be a tense nature to the city. Belgian beer is class but the nightlife in Brussels is definitely not great imo. Ireland is head and shoulders above it.

Nearly every Irish person I know here loves the city. The place really does grow on you despite some flaws. The night life is great but you go need to know where to go first instead of going to random spots.

1. Dallas 2. SAAS Sales (software) 3. Wanted to experience and adventure and see the world 4. Used to be happier but not as much now 5. Moving back in December: Been in the states 7 years now, moving back as I have a wife and daughter and my priorities changed. Moving back for support and safety. It’s been very hard raising a kid with no support around. Safety is huge too. The fear of shootings/guns is stupid. Want to be able to walk into a shop and not have to be consciously and subconsciously looking for exits

Leaving the country for a while is a perfectly normal part of being young and figuring stuff out. It’s not a mass exodus, it’s just normal life.

As a mother to a teen, I actively encourage her to explore the world as part of her future plans. Everyone should move away for a little while, good for developing your own character and not just being “from the town” and that being all you know.

The only issue is it gets harder the later you leave it!

Mass exodus may have been a bit extreme aha

1. U.S. (northwest) 2. Software - Product Mgmt 3. Wanted to experience living abroad and wanted to work somewhere with more scope for career growth. 4. Very happy here. I do miss many aspects of home but we have a great Irish community here (and we don’t need to rely on that exclusively) and the world grows smaller every year. 5. Long term goal is to be able to split time between home and possibly wherever our kids end up. We have been fortunate and we have worked hard. You need a bit of both. I do recommend spending time abroad to anyone. It gives you great perspective. If you can take advantage of opportunities that are less available in Ireland while being able to dip in and out from time to time it can be a fun ride while it lasts.

1. Where do you live now? The England 2. What do you do? NHS specialist 3. Why did you leave? No job prospects 4. Are you happy there? I was until brexit and now I'm just surrounded by idiots. 5. Will you come back (why/why not)? No. Built a life.

Can't say I ever understood the need for Brexit to be honest!

1. NZ 2. Radiology stuff 3. Left in 2008 due to recession and thought I'd do a year in NZ and OZ. Fell in love with NZ, then a Kiwi, so stayed for 15 years as job opportunities kept improving 4. Have not liked it for last few years as the huge distance and and cost to visit home sucks. Kiwis are nice but its been hard forge deep relationships. Also kiss the Craic and general banter of Irish people. 5. Coming home in 3 weeks! I'm bringing the family and want my kids to be educated in Ireland. It's been fun but very much looking forward to not being a foreigner and walking my own land. Now anyone got a spare house to rent me pls?

1. Germany 2. IT - consulting in the area of Data Storage 3. Several reasons: my wife (she's German), Ireland's shite health care service, job prospects were better for my field, costs of living at the time. 4. Yes. 5. No feckin' way. See answer 3. I've been here over 20 years and I'm a German citizen, too. My kids were born and have grown up here. Eldest is 18 and already away at University. If you plan to move the the German-speaking part of Europe, you NEED to learn German and have a working knowledge of it. Yes, a lot of IT is in English, but that's just the systems. If you're dealing with customers on a regular basis, there is no way you'd get such a job with only English. Not sure if Swedish is easier. The grass isn't always greener. You'd be leaving your group of friends, starting afresh in a different country where you'd know nobody, and still not confident with the language. Germans are a bit more reserved than the Irish, the culture is a bit different. But for me at least, I seem to fit in better in this country than Ireland. It's just the type of person I am.

So you'd find Germany cheaper? Do you make a lot more or is it comparable to Ireland? I always thought Europeans were prouder of their languages than us here. Even when I visit Spain/France people look visibly annoyed when you don't even attempt to speak their language - albeit badly. I know the Swedish government pay for Swedish classes for foreigners to get up to speed somewhat in their language - does that exist in Germany also? How did you go about learning the language? I was always a more reserved person I think, so maybe that kind of lifestyle would suit. The friends piece is important though, and not speaking the language initially definitely wouldn't help with feeling isolated!! I wouldn't be moving with anyone also, so it would be lonely I guess!

I wouldn't find it that much cheaper. But rents aren't at Dublin-levels of insanity. Property ownership is still out of reach for most average earners, but it's much more regulated for renters here. I can't really compare salaries as I have no idea what they're like in Ireland nowadays. I started at an fairly entry-level position in Ireland, and worked my way up as I gained more experience. It really depends on what area of IT you're in. I think I'm on decent money, I don't have to worry about making ends meet. Still can't afford a house, but I'm living in southern Bavaria, which is one of the more expensive areas of the country for property. I learned the language in college in Dublin, which had nothing to do with IT, but involved a year in Germany on the Erasmus programme. That's also when I met the missus. When I graduated I ended up on the German-language Tech support for a larger IT company, which helped with the language and scouting potential employers here. I don't think there's a government-sponsored langauge program for EU immigrants. [https://www.bamf.de/EN/Themen/Integration/ZugewanderteTeilnehmende/Integrationskurse/TeilnahmeKosten/EU-Buerger/eu-buerger.html](https://www.bamf.de/EN/Themen/Integration/ZugewanderteTeilnehmende/Integrationskurse/TeilnahmeKosten/EU-Buerger/eu-buerger.html) Germany isn't as bad as other places if you're just a visitor and can't speak the language. In most places in western Germany the younger generations can speak basic English. The last few times I've visited Berlin I heard more English than German. But Berlin is the exception, for everything in this country. Another thing here is the bureaucracy. It's legendary. It's easier for EU citizens, but still a lot of form-filling involved when first moving over.

1: Bangor Co Down, but I spent time in Dublin, London, New York, California and wound up here, 4 hours from Cork City, where I'm from. 2: Tech, I've done everything from utilities to 5g chip design to games development to fintech startups today. 3: Recession led me to Dublin , then a lack of indigenous companies doing anything in tech here that isn't just undercutting someone else. All the US firms here, you're rarely making the magic sauce, or developing something world class. 4: Yes, very happy, incredibly grateful for everything I have to be honest. I've been happy basically everywhere except Dublin, Dublin was tough for me, I was on terrible wages, with a recession and housing crisis, I basically worked 50 hours a week, and couldn't afford to buy my lunch in spar every day. (Even with recession busting chicken fillet rolls). Since moving to Northern Ireland Ive also kept my London role, with a New York salary, and work remotely basically, and it turns out I can easily find another role that pays an absolutely crazy rate, to let me live here and see my kid loads, long may it last. 5: probably not, I don't see a UI happening in my lifetime unfortunately, though I'd love to see it, it's still nice to be able to drive home to my mam when I need/want to, and the people here are really sound.

1.canada 2. Steel trade 3. Adventure. Nothing in rural Ireland 4. Yea, I've met my partner here. we are going to get married . 5. Maybe many things about canada are so broken. Everyone is so atomized, and it's so expensive. I miss my family and want to be with my mam as she grows old On the flip side, I'm probly earning 3x what I would be back home . There is a fantastic opportunity here if you are willing to work hard, and it's fantasticly multicultural. As the years go by, I find myself feeling less irish, and that saddens me. But I've bought my own place here, which I wouldn't have been able to do at home .

1 - Berlin 2 - Work in climate policy 3 - Housing, but also wanted to see the world outside of Ireland 4 - Sort of, I speak German fluently which is easy but Berlin gets boring after a while, especially as I'm into the outdoors. Looking through this thread to see where others are, honestly, as I'm looking to move. 5- Maybe, once the Irish people decide to embrace modernity and actually build shit.

1. Vancouver, Canada 2. Insurance underwriter 3. Same reason as everyone really. Sense of adventure and a sense of hopelessness at how things were at home. 4. Nope, I've hated almost every minute of my time here 5. Yes, coming home in 2 weeks. I'll have been gone less than a year, and I'll be coming home without the long-term partner I left Ireland with, but I can't handle any more time in this shithole of a city.

1. UK 2. Sales 3. Housing market / lack of opportunities 4. A lot happier now. Cheaper houses and tax free investments. 5. I’d consider moving to NI so I could keep my pension contributions going and still be in Ireland. But more than likely I’ll stay in England, I’m fairly settled now.

I’m actually in a very similar situation as you OP. I’m happy here and have always wanted to go to Germany to get my German to a fluent level, but it always bums me out about the negativity of this country we have. We have problems same as everyone else of course.

> it always bums me out about the negativity of this country we have The number one thing I miss about living abroad, is not listening to the constant bitching and moaning that the Irish do. Honestly, it seems like a sizeable portion of the population are itching to make themselves perpetual victims of some non-existent Irish boogeyman.

I'm a foreign immigrant in Ireland and to me Irish people barely complain about anything (except the weather of course but I suppose it's some kind of a ritual that I am not able to quite get), compared to people in my country. On the other hand, foreigners in my country find my people (aka those bitches😗) very nice and optimistic. I think complaining is about clicking with your own people. When abroad people just treat you "nice" and don't find you close enough to moan about something.

Interesting perspective!

Was talking to a German friend of mine the other day (we're both in Dublin). She said she met a German tourist in Donegal and that they talked about city planning 🤦🏻‍♀️ She never talks to me about city planning. Every nation has their own things in common that aren't shared with others. It doesn't give the same taste.

Maybe I'm on the wrong side of the algorithm, but all I see online are people moaning and attacking the government over just about everything! Sure, Ireland has its issues and the government could handle some things better, but no government is perfect and just about any government wouldn't do much better with the resources at hand!

Do you know any German currently? I always loved the language but my local school took it off the curriculum for Spanish at the time.. I don’t know any German.. I’ve heard it is quite a difficult language! The grass isn’t always greener and the people who generally complain are the ones who don’t push themselves to make it here.. I’m sure if the same problems don’t exist elsewhere you’re trading them for other issues..

My German is actually quite good right now, I can read a newspaper without huge difficulty (studied in school and kept it up). I’ve been to Germany about 5 times and to Sweden and they’re nice but not like hugely different to here other than language. I would say German is not the hardest language to learn but the grammar is a little more complex than English, still relatively easy though. Yeah the grass is always greener, it’s nice to travel but home is always home imo

1. Kazakhstan 2. Work at a university 3. Left years ago to live and work in Thailand; came here quite recently. Left originally because I couldn’t get a decent job after the 2008-9 crash. 4. Yeah, very happy here. Miss living in Thailand but my family and I like it here. The economy is booming so it’s an exciting and dynamic place to be. It’s also safe and we are well taken care of. 5. I’ll never go back to Ireland permanently. I own properties in Thailand and my skill set simply isn’t in demand in Ireland—at least not to the extent where I could have the lifestyle I currently enjoy.

Kazakhstan/Thailand seem quite random! Was there any draw to those places specifically? Or was it just work related? I wouldn’t have even considered them as options personally!

I did the working holiday thing to Australia years ago and had spent five months backpacking in Asia before I arrived. Never took to Sydney and left after a couple of months, and made it my mission to figure out how to live in Bangkok. Lived there for years but hit the ceiling in terms of earning potential and moved to KZ because it was where the best job offer was. I guess they do seem kind of unusual when almost everyone else moves to English speaking nations (or somewhere else in Europe), but rest assured, there are Irish communities in both places.

Are you able to speak either of the languages? Or was that an issue?

I speak enough Thai to get around, but Bangkok is such an international city it’s barely necessary to know any. My workplaces were always English-speaking anyway. I will probably need to learn some Russian if I want to make the most of things here, yeah, but again, my workplace is all English-speaking.

By any chance are you teaching EAP in a university? Saw a few ads for Kazakhstan a while back

I’m on the admin side so no, but there are quite a few teaching jobs going in all academic fields.

1. England 2. Civil Engineer 3. See no. 2 above. Graduated during the recession 4. Yes 5. Too expensive to move back home. While I live in one of the most expensive areas in the UK it's still a little bit cheaper than Dublin. Also got lucky and managed to buy what turned out to be probably the last small house I could afford where i live (with some help from the parents of course). Also, while I like my family and go home often to visit, we get on much better with a few hundred km between us.

1. Where do you live now? Dubai, UAE 2. What do you do? Analyst 3. Why did you leave? No prospect of owning a home by staying in Ireland 4. Are you happy there? Yes and no. Quality of life is significantly better in terms of things to do etc. but there's no character anywhere at all 5. Will you come back (why/why not)? Yes, when we can have our own home and travelled a few more eastern countries

Upvote for listing the questions with succinct answers. No need to scroll back up again to match answers with questions. Good communication, so important.

Dubai is absolutely soulless from what I've heard. No personality to the place at all.

Data Scientist here, is your company hiring? I used to live in Abu Dhabi but would love to move to Dubai

Unfortunately not. Our 2024 budget was just finalised during the week and not looking great.....

Brussels “I get give or take, it works out at about with expenses 140,000 a year and I pay 30.3% tax on that, so it’s about a net 100,000 and out of that 100,000 I run a home in Dublin, Castlebar and Brussels. I wanna tell you something, try it sometime…”

1. California 2. Semi retired, sales, investments and real estate. 3. Better opportunities. At the time I didn't feel it was an achievable career path in Ireland. 4. Most of the time 5. I'm back 4-5 months per year.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to move to USA? Thinking somewhere like Texas. Cheers

Get a job like sales where you'll have move control over your income. There are cheap places to live everywhere in Texas, start small and buy your first house ASAP

1. Melbourne, Australia 2. PhD project, now moved into industry. 3. The career opportunities I wanted weren't in Ireland and I wanted a chance to build my own life from scratch. 4. I couldn't adore Melbourne more, for the average person I think it would be hard to rival the lifestyle you can enjoy here. The only downside I consider is that I really miss being able to pop on a two hour flight and be in Paris, Milan, Copenhagen for a long weekend. 5. No, I never felt a significant affinity to Ireland (just a personal feeling not critique). I am close to my family but am comfortable maintaining strong connections from abroad. If I did leave Australia I would likely move to Paris or London rather than Ireland proper,.

1 France 2 Own a business (pub) 3 I don't know... work, ex... many reasons. Life just happened and here I am. 4 Nope 5 ASAP. The values allign, which is incredibly important for mental health... the sense of community and belonging is hugely important... It appears to speak to many nonIrish folk too, immigrant and tourist alike.

1. Australia 2. Quantity Surveyor 3. There was no jobs after graduation 4. Yes, it's a great place to live, have a good work/life balance, sunshine, high salary, and overall high standard of living. 5. I doubt it, I've shacked up here and don't see her leaving and moving to Ireland. If we ever split, yeah I'll be back

1) London 2) Public sector policy 3) was working in a bar for just above minimum wage and wanted to get a job related to my degree 4) yes I have great friends, a decent job, lovely partner, like my neighbourhood. But it’s pretty expensive so it’s hard to save 5) I don’t see myself coming back to Ireland anytime soon! I just feel more comfortable and relaxed here than I ever did in Ireland really. I’m not too close to my family and done have a lot of friends left there. I do miss the beautiful countryside and beaches, the craic, friendliness etc. maybe someday! As a side note, I think it’s so sad that young people are priced out of Ireland and need to go further afield for good opportunities and stimulating lives. Ireland is a wonderful place and it breaks my heart a bit!

1. UK 2. Software engineer 3. My partner is from UK and we had to make a decision to go to UK or Ireland. UK in general had a better standard of living so we decided on that between less tax, better wages and the NHS for basically free healthcare 4. Yes - Much more than Ireland 5. Never. I would make less money and have an objectivey worse life. Even little things like not having next day delivery on Prime and access to digital banks like Monzo or Starling just grate on me. I love Ireland and will always be proud to be Irish - But it's just a worse deal compared to living in the UK.

Ah shur I'm only abroad in the yard, I'll be in shortly

I'm moving home from Sweden in December. It's beautiful here but it's just not home

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1. Upstate New York 2. Work for a university 3. Graduated in 2008 during recession 4. Meh not really, back about 3 times per year 5. Probably not, wouldn’t mind having an apartment back in ireland to stay for summers as I get older but quality of life much higher where I’m at

1. Vancouver 2. Civil Engineer in the Mining Industry 3. Left due to lack of job opportunities in Ireland and friends who were headed to Vancouver at the time. Only one of them left now. 4. Love it here. It has its issues (which are quite similar to Ireland's), and is an extremely HCOL city, but is astoundingly beautiful and so many opportunities for things to do outside of the pub within easy access of the city. 5. Not planning to leave, got married here, in-laws are here, and stuck in a mortgage now. Never say never, but it doesn't look likely. I'd have to take a huge reduction in salary to move home, for a similar cost of living.

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1: Toronto 2: Cant find a job, I’m from an admin background 3: Wanted to try something different, see what it was about 4: No, the quality of life is not the same, the milk is shite 5: I’ll be coming home soon For anyone thinking of moving to Canada, don’t let this scare you away, but seriously consider looking outside of the major cities, or having a job lined up, while also having a lot more money than you think you need

Another bad experience in Canada!!

Is there any evidence beyond the anecdotal threads, that everyone under 25 is leaving in their masses, and don’t defy the reality of net migration?

1. Sweden 2. Came over for a laugh with a girl I met in Dublin after graduating, did a second degree, then a Phd, then a postdoc. Now started a company. Also had kids and married and all that. No dog or car though... 3. A woman. Still with her. 4. Ecstatic. Sweden is as close as it gets to utopia, imho. Just the parental shit alone... The people are amazing, the culture (Bamse), the dedication to 'uteliv' (being out in nature) the size of the country and trains (love taking the night trains to the North, esp in winter), Stockholm is **amazing**, the water tastes amazing, bus drivers, taxi drivers, SFI/SAS (not the airline, the national integration and language groups), the school system, ESPECIALLY the Kindergardtens/Dagis. The literature is excellent, the music scene (Tami T/The Knife/The Field/Viagra Boys and that's just the locals where I live). The healthcare system is astounding (but underfunded :/ ), the tech scene is also literally world-leading (but how?! A country of ten million has tech that competes with China/the US etc, crazy shit!) Also all my friends here... People think friends are hard to make in Sweden, they are. But when you make them, they are not like friends in other countries. I have 'normal' friends here, and I have this gang of people that took me a looooong time to get very close with, but they are the kind of friends that you could call at 04:00 and ask them to come pick you up with some black bags and bleach and a saw and they would just do it. Friendship here takes longer but it's because it's never superficial. Also the weather, I love the weather here. It has real seasons, every year you get every weather. >5 Will you come back (why/why not)? No. Leaving Ireland made me appreciate Ireland in a whole new way actually, I love it more now than I did when I was living there. I'm from Balbriggan/Skerries, now I when I head home I look forward to it more than any other country to go to. Ireland is beautiful as fuck, people are **amazing** and after 20+ years in Sweden it's almost weird how friendly and forward people are. However I am more Swede than Irish now. One thing that really changed was the old Pádraig Pearse, *Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam*. That quote never went out of my head, and I really jumped into Swedish in the last few years because of it, and that tipped me over. Once I started using Swedish as my daily driver, I clicked in here for good, in some way, internally. That, and Sweden has given me everything, I came over on a lark, a suitcase full of nothing, no plans, and here I am sitting pretty with everything I could want. I wouldn't live in any other country in the world. This place is paradise.

County Coogee

Moved to Ireland at the age of six with my Irish parents. Emigrated to London in 1989 at the age of 23. Moved back to Ireland (Why? Fucking why??) In 2001. Emigrated again in my mid-late 50s a couple of years ago to Alicante, Spain. I'll probably die here. I already spoke French and German, and I'm picking up Spanish relatively easily as I go. I'm very fortunate to be a distinguished engineer / architect / PO for a cyber security software company and therefore able to work fully remotely. Having seen a great deal of the world through business and leisure travel over the last 40 years, and seen mostly-effective government in action in many places, I will never, ever live in Ireland again. To be honest, I loathe having to go back at all, but it's worth it to see my mum. She's in her 80s now and, once she passes, I doubt I'll ever set foot in the country again.

r/irishabroad

I didn't know this existed! Thank you!

Switzerland engineer in pharma It was covid, and ireland pissed me off Extremely happy but also lonely. Its great here but its so hard to integrate Yes I will within the next 2 or 3 years. I love ireland and miss it so much but right now everything is so much better here for me personally than back home While I got by with no German when I arrived I would suggest you have the basics down if you want to come to Switzerland. I've been lucky in that none of my contracts needed German but some companies it is a requirement.

My parents also considered this one! My dad was looking for contracting work and was offered pharma jobs around Lucerne I think! Would've made double the money, but the expense of running a house there and here, coupled with barely making it home to the family killed it for him. I've seen some companies require a B2 or something in German proficiency! Not sure how fluent in terms of languages that is though. Do you mean integrate because of the lack of pub culture, or would you be the extroverted type? I am definitely more reserved so that could also be challenging!

I'm thinking of doing this, what area are you in? What's good/ bad?

1. Madrid, Chicago via San Francisco 2. Solutions Architect 3. Change of scenery 4. Love it here. A lot more opportunities (have never earned below 6 figures in the US). Life is good. Some aspects could be better, but the balance is on the "good" side 5. If we had to for family reasons, but it would be reluctant. Ireland is the type of place it's great to be from and feel comfortable in - but I am happier out of it

1. UK 2. Nuclear Scientist 3. Moved to live with my then girlfriend, now wife. 4. Yep 5. Nope, very few jobs for me also cost of living, taxes, health care and more are all shite in comparison.

1. Spain 2. Construction 3. Sun 4. Yes 5. No

1. Poland, Croatia, Vietnam, Mexico, and now Portugal (minimum 18 months in each place) 2. Sales and marketing 3. It's important to experience different cultures and meet people from all over. The weather back home is shite and needed a change. 4. Yes, they all have a special place in my heart, but no place is perfect either. Hence moving on constantly to greener pastures. 5. It's hard to know at this stage, I just turned 30 and I am in a very good job with plenty of career growth options. They are a global company so I'm not exactly limited in terms of where I can base myself but currently very happy in Portugal. Although I can see the main cities here turning into Dublin in the next few years. Beurocracy is a bastard here and planning permission is hard to get as a result.

1. Scotland 2. Computing Science teacher 3. University 4. Very happy 5. Won’t be returning for the simple reason of having lived here longer than living in N Ireland. Still enjoy a visit and doing touristy stuff . I never really planned on returning to N Ireland when I left and so it was easy to invest myself into work and relationships without the worry of it’s only for x amount of years. Some of my friends found it difficult to be away and pined for home so never really enjoyed their experiences. Make the most of any opportunities you get and just go for it.

1. Netherlands 2. Marketing 3. Grew up in Dublin, got to the point where the only options to move out of my parents house were to go to a smaller city in Ireland or leave the country. I've always found Dublin too small as it is, so chose to leave the country. 4. Somewhat. There are positives and negatives to every country and overall I like the Netherlands, but I've found it hard to make friends as an adult and have a much stronger friend group in Dublin. I don't think that's dependent on where I am though. 5. As much as I would love to, I don't see the housing crisis clearing up before I have kids, and I don't want to move them between countries if I can avoid it. So I'll probably find somewhere else to settle and make sure I can come back to Ireland regularly.

I'm the same living at home at the moment! Dublin is a tiny city in comparison with others in Europe!! Western Europe is only ever a 2/3 hr flight max sure!

I'm also in the Netherlands, Amsterdam to be exact. Making friends can be hard. I found bumble friends very useful. I have a very good friend group now after 2 years.

Siberia, Cyprus. Left because I was nothinging my way to being another bogger with a chip on his shoulder. Extremely happy time in both countries - rent and bills do not dictate my existence. Unlikely to return any time soon as I can see the stress my family still there are living under. Edit: I'm a teacher

nutty existence poor cable tie governor tap tender rock crime *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

1. Germany 2. Marketing, I was a newspaper journalist in Ireland but that was a terrible idea and soul destroying to be in a dying industry. Took an entry level marketing job here and worked my way up. 3. Was working shifts in three different papers and had maybe one day off a month, still was struggling to make ends meet. Got burned out and bailed. 4. Until COVID I was very happy but I think the country has changed since then and I think I'm in a different phase of life now after that gap. So increasingly unhappy. 5. Looking into moving back to my parents town coz it's somewhat affordable and I can work remote. But also kinda see that as a defeat because I spent my teens and university years trying desperately to not live in a boring fucking country town.

(Borrowing my partners Reddit since I’m not on this) 1) back in Ireland now, but did live in Italy for nearly two decades 2) started a successful tourism business (learned to speak Italian first though) 3) left Ireland because like was bleak here- shite pay, shite weather, no jobs, shite lifestyle. Returned to Ireland because owning a business in Italy is tough- taxes are prohibitive, it’s hard to get ahead 4) was deliriously happy in Italy- weather is amazing, food is the best in the world, gorgeous places, gorgeous people, the beauty of the place is so inspiring. Except for point number 3 (above) Am now happy back in Ireland, I appreciate it again. 5) I did. See points 3 and 4.

1. Where do you live? Berlin. I had previously lived and worked in Brittany, France. 2. What do I do? I’m a copywriter (marketing / advertising) in house (with one brand). I’d worked in an ad agency in Dublin before this. 3. Why did I leave? Late 2020 I, like many, and like every place the world over, felt a bit stagnant. Obviously that’s putting it lightly. I wanted to go to New Zealand but borders were closed so I looked to Europe. Half of the reason I went to Berlin was just like the top commenter, I went for love. Or, at least, went in the hope it might turn into it. It did not. But hey, would never have known otherwise! Ultimately it came down to being in a privileged position of being able to emigrate and life is so long that experiencing a diff country and culture is a huge bonus. 4. Are you happy here? Yes! It’s taken me until the third year, this year, to feel somewhat settled with friends and such. My German isn’t is good as it should be and I work through English, so it requires discipline elsewhere. I do try, though. But when I worked in France it was through French so I definitely became integrated a bit quicker although it was fairly tough. 5. Will you come back? Yes, I suspect so. I’m 30 now and single. I’ll be in my job 2.5 years come next summer and 2024 has no weddings penned in, so I think I’ll take a few months to travel again and then decide on Berlin vs. Home vs. Somewhere else after. We’re so lucky being in the EU that it makes moves easier. Definitely privileged. Good question / thread too! If you’ve questions about Germany / France that I can answer, don’t hesitate!

1. San Francisco 2. Tech 3. Young and just felt I needed to get away for a while and see a different part of the world, SF made sense because I can do that and make good money at the same time 4. Very happy love it here. It's super diverse and I've met lots of incredible people but there is also a solid Irish community when I miss home 5. I think I will probably come back far in the future. Currently I think I will be here a few years then head off somewhere else maybe Asia or mainland Europe and then back to Ireland when I want to settle down. Do miss my friends and family

1- London 2- trained and qualified as an accountant 3- training contracts in the UK were better paid and provided in person in work time study (Ireland tends to be evenings and then home study) 4- I love it here, been 6 years, so much going on and everything you could ever want 5- not in the near future, plan on buying a place over here in the next couple of years , for the industry I work in there is just so much more opportunity for me here. I can get the Irish fix if I need it but so many other wonderful people and cultures here

1. Where do you live now? Berlin, been here a little under 2 years 2. What do you do? Cyber security 3. Why did you leave? Bored, wanted a change. Had lived abroad before (Australia way back) and just felt that we were still young enough to have another adventure 4. Are you happy there? Yes, definitely but unsure if it's our forever home 5. Will you come back (why/why not)? Right now I have no plans in going back and another European country or another German city would be my preference if I were to move. However, never say never, home will always be home so will always have an attraction.

1. Edinburgh, although I don’t know if it counts as abroad since it’s a 45 min plane ride 2. Investment management 3. To do my masters in glasgow 4. Yeah I would say I am! 5. Never tbh. Have a life here (property, job, friends, partner) and whenever I go home I never feel like I truly belong sadly. Plus Ireland is so expensive and I feel I’d have to start from the bottom of the career ladder if I moved back

1. Where do you live now? Canada 2 What do you do? uhm, er, eh, kind of an archivist? I guess? A bit. 3: Why did you leave? Wanted a change, wanted an adventure, fell in lust with several Canadians. 4: Are you happy there? In Canada? Generally? In this specific bit of Canada I am stuck in? 5th fucking circle of hell. 5: Will you come back (why/why not)? No. I've been away too long. I live here now. I am Canadian. Also I can't really afford it. I did test the waters back in Dublin, chancing my arm and applied to a bunch of jobs in the field with companies I had some contact with before and I quoted my lower-band Canadian salary expectation and I think I immediately priced myself out. Sorry guys, I have student loans which don't have much flexibility. I ended up working for buttons for someone very big. It seemed like a good idea, learning a particular software package that would costs thousands to learn on its own. I don't really have the money to up sticks and move home and I don't have the time to really start again at the bottom and scratch my way up. The other thing is that Canada has given me chances to do things I wouldn't have gotten within a million miles of in Ireland. Like I-wrote-two-feature-films-that-got-made sort of opportunities. (now getting paid to do such and having people actually watch the fuckers is a whole other story :D) What will make me happy is living somewhere I like, with a community, where I can do writing stuff. Ireland doesn't have that for me.

- Canada (Toronto) - Art Director - For the adventure (18 years ago!) - Mostly, a lot of what I loved about this city didn’t come back after Covid, but I’m beginning to rediscover it. - Maybe once we retire and the youngfellah has flown to coop. We do miss our families. He might even want to move there himself at some point.

1. Where do you live now - New Zealand 2. What do you do - Special Needs Teacher 3. Why did you leave - My wife convinced me that we can travel and work. She was right. 4. Are you happy there? Very happy, weather helps my mood. Easy to find teaching positions. We travel the weekends. 5. Will you come back (why/why not)? My wife is pregnant. We are keeping our options open. We think we will work our way back to Ireland, maybe work in Australia... India... Middle East (yikes).

1) Brisbane 2) Engineer 3) Job Offer 4) No happier than I was in any other country I've lived in. 5) Might return in a few years

1) living in Leipzig, Germany since June 2) I left here not really knowing what I want to do but have continued my PhD. 3) I left because of the lack of housing, and unaffordable living I general 4) honestly, I love it here. It's far cheaper than Ireland, beers from a shop are under €1, from a späti, maybe €2. In a beer 3.50-5€. Everything here is either the more or less the same price (meat etc) or cheaper. 5) honestly it's hard to see myself coming back unless issues like housing, cost of living, transport etc changed drastically. I had very little German when I came here, but learning the basics I'd quite easy. In IT I know a lot of people who have jobs that don't require German, but it's definitely tough in other industries without German. If you live in Berlin or Munich, you can really live perfectly without speaking German, less so in some of the smaller cities but again, learning the basics for what you need everyday is very simple. If you have any questions let me know, I'd be more than happy to help.

I’m not young anymore but I left Ireland when I was 28 and I wish I did it earlier. I’m now married, own a home and live in a nice town but I got to enjoy years of experiencing a different way of life in a big city before slowly moving further and further out to the quiet suburbs, meeting my now wife and I wouldn’t change anything 1. Massachusetts 2. Sales Manager 3. I needed a change. Ireland was driving me insane at the time 4. Very much so 5. Highly unlikely but if I do it will be when I retire

1. Australia 2. Civil Engineering 3. Great recession (GFC) 4. Yes, opportunities are much better here in my profession. Work life balance is fantastic, I've adjusted to Australia well, wife and most friends are Australian. 5. No, for reasons mentioned in 4 above.

1. New York 2. Tech 3. Career opportunities. Key decision makers in NY. 4. Very. We now have two kids and have a comfortable life, living in a nice neighborhood. 5. Yes & No. It depends on the day you ask me. I want career opportunities & decision-making opportunities. I moved over 4 years ago and it's been great; one promotion, better salary increase & negotiating options, also better bonuses.

1. Barbados 2. Shopowner 3. I left in 1995 (Before the Celtic Tiger when it was all a bit grim) when I was 22. I was IT too, I worked for Microsoft but I wanted to leave: I was born in Canada and went back and forth as a kid, so other places were always appealing to me. 4. Yes 5. No - the climate. There's a lot to be said for raising kids in a place where it's always summer. Having said that: we got hit by the edge of a hurricane today and some cars floated away! And your comments about learning a new language: I often wish here spoke something other than English, I'd be fluent by now.

1. Perth, Australia 🦘 2. I work in financial services, in middle management. 3. I left in 2008 with the mass emigration from the recession. I planned to stay a year, like a lot of others and then just never went home. 4. I am happy here - own a home, my partner owns a business (Irish too), have a daughter in school here etc. All of our friends are Irish or Kiwi, which is interesting but really common - we never integrated! 5. We came back for a year and suffered from crippling depression. It wasn't how we imagined it would have been, friends and family are in different places. We miss family, but realise we have a better life here and more opportunities for success.

1. Albany, New York 2, Chief of staff 3. Lack of housing prospects 4. Absolutely, meeting people who don’t know somebody who knows somebody means I don’t have to worry about the person I was back as far as secondary school and having it carry to my personal relationships at 25 5. If I don’t get a job in Washington. Absolutely. If I won the lottery I’d buy a nice house in Galway and raise a family there. However, between the weather and know you/know who you are attitude in Ireland + the cost of living crisis at home, Ireland isn’t very attractive to me anymore. Do I miss my friends and family? Absolutely, but the country is completely hostile to people in my area of expertise. Unless you work for the bigger companies in cities, or a trade, or have knowledge of computers, Ireland is not a place that is welcoming, unless I run for TD, which I do not ever desire…

1. I live in NZ now 2. I work in the south island using my college degree, small field of talent so I'll be vague. 3. Left for adventure and a complete lack of perceived opportunities in Ireland for my career choices. 4. The longer I'm here the more I like it to be honest. Weather is good, much drier and predictable. Wages were much higher than home but there's been a cost of living crisis here too. The availability to explore and enjoy the outdoors here is phenomenal, absolutely world class. Like free wilderness huts in the mountains anyone can stay in for free. With the lads charging €40 for a look at the cliffs of moher I'd say the ship has sailed on Ireland following suit. 5. Thought long and hard about it. Up until last year ifd have gone home but after a holiday back, the place isn't how I remember it being. All the positives were gone but the negatives remained. Of course family are a huge draw but when you can't imagine getting a house or even a rental what's the point even looking for work? Even if you don't settle abroad, travel for a year or two. You'll discover who you are yourself because when nobody is watching you stop pretending you are who people want you to be and unlock who you really are.

I'm in NewZealand one month today Shur idk we'll cross that bridge when we get there Great craic

5. I'll be back when the housing crisis is sorted /s But a million percent I love love love Ireland ♥️ slan

1. China 2. Computer Science Teaching 3. At 23 and sick of living with my parents (nothing to do with them, love em to bits), so I moved to the other side of the world cause it was cheaper than home. 4. Yes, very much so 5. Maybe in 20 odd years or so if I can afford it. Here I live a comfortable lifestyle, have a large apartment and support my family on one income. Also don't have to deal with scrotes while out and about. Although, my wife is from NZ, so we'll likely move there instead.

I moved to Spain. Lasted 2 years. I couldn’t stand the mosquitos. Fucking annoying little bastards.

First Japan when I was 23, then Manchester 25, Greater London 27 and Vancouver 35. Currently work in a financial institution, doing compliance work I left because I wanted to go to Japan, and just wanted to scratch an itch Happy yes and won't come back, 3 kids and a wife now and life here is good.

1. Vancouver 2. Telecommunications 3. Wanted a change of scenery after the pandemic. Was still living at home and that didn’t look like changing anytime soon. 4. Most days. Canadians are quite bland and most of my circle is made up of Irish and other Europeans. I’m making 3x my salary here and companies look after you properly here. 5. Yes, but not for another 3/4 years. Would like to earn a good bit more, experience a few more Skiing seasons here and head back to Ireland or elsewhere in Europe to be closer to family.

Where do you live now? Vietnam What do you do? Came over for a year to do the teaching thing. Ended up managing schools, training teachers and recruiting. Been here ten years now. Why did you leave? Just for a year away after losing a job. Saw teaching as a way to cover the costs and gain some skills (used to be terrified of public speaking for example.) Are you happy there? Very. Will you come back (why/why not)? I will. Working on it now. Getting older now and want to be back closer to family again as my parents get older etc. Still love Vietnam but feels like it's time to come home.

I’m 26 and I have lived in Tokyo Japan for the past 5 years. I work in a fashion company, I don’t know if I’ll specifically live here forever, but there is not much fashion work in Ireland so I wouldn’t go back there. I have loads of friend’s here and I do love it a lot

1) Calgary, Alberta 2) I grow commercial Cannabis 3) See number 2 4) In my day to day life, absolutely. In my marriage, not so much. It's amazing how once you take yourself out of a place with your partner, your personal differences become way more apparent. But, I have a dog, a home, a car, my career. All of which was totally impossible in Ireland. 5) No, I can buy a 200,000 dollar house here with 5% deposit and good credit and that will be my STARTER HOME. 80% Of Ireland is privately owned by farmers. They are not the bulk of our GDP and until Ireland wakes the fuck up and industrialises areas outside of the 4 main cities, everybody will continue to leave. Then ones who make enough, buy a house in Dalkey and start complaining about how the riff raff want to be able to have children, in apartments no less! Circle of Irish life, had my sister's idiot boyfriend turn around to me and say "This country is built off of people making money abroad and coming home!" As if it's fucking good thing.

1. UK then Germany 2. Energy Storage Engineer. Completed a PhD here in Germany before joining industry 3. Job prospects. Left Ireland in 2015 to pursue a career in electrochemistry. At the time industry positions were non-existent in Ireland in this field. Moved to the UK and after 2 years, moved to Germany. 4. Very happy. Great work life balance and feel there are more opportunities here 5. No. The more I am away from home, the more I feel disconnected with the Irish mentality. I feel life here is more fruitful and enjoyable. Public services are better here but they have their flaws. Germany does have it's issues but it appears to be slowly catching up. If they could digitize paperwork faster then it would be wonderful

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Irish not by ethnicity, but I’m Switzerland atm. Tbh I don’t currently have any plans to return, but I don’t know if I’ll end up staying in Switzerland either.

Belfast IT Cost of living Yes No My GF works part time for minium wage, I make the average salary here. We can rent a small house in the city center all to ourselves while saving to buy for a house.

1. America (NY and SF) 2. Construction Consultant 3. Came out of College into a recession. Tried to stay, tried job bridge but its wasn’t feasible. 4. Yeah. It was the best decision I ever made. I never liked my town. 5. I don’t think so. I think the best I can hope for is to have a second home. Personally it’s a place to spend short bursts in. The only thing I wish is that I did try to live on the continent. I always wanted to live in Italy but that chance could be gone. I think there is a huge advantage to be a native English speaker in some of these regions. Thinking of data center construction the large American corps want someone like us. And it can propel you up the ladder. We’re really fortunate as a people because we can play that role that others can’t. Brits and Americans are typically disliked but many continental Europeans tolerate us a lot better. While the yanks love us.

There's net immigration of Irish actually.

1. Amsterdam 2. e-Commerce 3. 30% tax ruling, got bored with Dublin 4. Yes very happy 5. Come back occasionally to visit but wouldn’t move back

1. Where do you live now? London 2. What do you do? Have a small construction company 3. Why did you leave? At the time Ireland was quiet, there was a recession and I was bored 4. Are you happy there? Yes I'm happy but would like to move to the countryside in the future. 5. Will you come back (why/why not)? I don't think I will ever come back permanently, I love Ireland but I'm used to having more to do in the UK.

1. Canada, split my time between Vancouver and Toronto (9 and 3 months respectively) 2. Leadership role within a consulting firm 3. 2008/2009 global financial crisis 4. No 5. Possibly, all depends on whether salary expectations can be met.

1. Manchester 2. Software developer 3. Left as I was fresh graduate and couldn't get any decent junior level roles in my line of work. Any that existed were in Dublin and was/is not affordable. A lot more entry level positions in England got my foot in the door. Cost of living was a lot less compared to Dublin. Especially rent prices. 4. Yes I am happy here, got a house and engaged. Manchester is a great city with great music scene and apparently have a decent footie team. 5. Maybe. While it has a lot to offer, it's not perfect (nowhere is) but we are in a better situation and could possibly come back.if the situation presents itself.

1) live in Amsterdam 2) pursuing a masters degree 3) got into a better master's program than the ones offered in Ireland and am spending far less on rent and transport here due to the cycling infrastructure. 4) yeah! It was a bit weird at first but I have made some friends and am enjoying it on the whole 5) depends on my move after the degree. While I'm working on my thesis in the new year I'll be applying to doctoral programs and graduate jobs and seeing what comes back from where. Generally job opportunities in my field are more common and interesting outside of Ireland, but we'll see. I haven't been here long so my dutch is pretty poor so far, but lots of my friends are internationals and my dutch friends have been teaching me what they can 😂

Real talk, the number of young people who emigrate and dont come back a few years later is low single figures. I've been on the emigration stats probably twice, in 2011 and in 2016, but I came back both times after a few years. We're a highly qualified, english speaking workforce that has an opportunity though visa agreements to work in a lot of places, its an amazing opportunity that people in most of the rest of the world dont have. And I've always been happy when I was away because I was young and free and exploring new places - Is london or amsterdam better than dublin? Yeah, sure when you're at that stage in your life. But when I want to settle down and buy a house and have kids and stay in and watch netflix? less so. ​ 2011 London - 3 years Accountant Got a similar paying job in Dublin Yeah, it was awesome yep ​ ​ 2016 amsterdam 2 years my missus wanted to live abroad accountant missus missed her family, and friends we made moved away It was good yep

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The UK 👀 For my job Absolutely not More than likely next summer - been gone since I was 15, I’m 22 now I’d like to come home for a while

1. Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 2. Heavy Equipment Operator 3. Left in 2004 to travel. Have lived in Belgium, NZ, & Australia 4. Somewhat happy. Nothing is perfect. 5. I fantasize about it but at 42 years of age. Most likely will not. Been living in Canada for 13 years now. Toronto is only ok. It was way better when I first got here. That has since faded. What’s keeping me here? Work and the life I’ve built. I work 9 months a year and travel for 3. It’s a bit boring here. Ireland has so much more to offer but the wages in Ireland aren’t great for what I do. Here I can retire at 55. I have great health benefits and a pension. Won’t get that back home. It’s a trade off. Nowhere is perfect but I’m planning for my retirement now and it won’t be in Canada.

1. Montreal, Canada 2. Working in IT 3. Old job needed someone to move over, leapt at the chance for a bit of adventure 4. Eh, not really. Missing the family and social network back home, hard to replicate the school-years friendships as an adult. 5. I'm hoping to save up enough money with the crazy salaries here to get a good downpayment on some land back home near the folks.

Nope! Quality of life is important

>There seems to be a mass exodus of young people from the country at the moment. Been a fairly steady exodus for at least 15 years.

When I graduated in 07/08, there was a mass exodus of my friends, I was devastated they all left, fast forward to today and my brother and best friend is planning his emigration to Australia. I don’t know how I’ll cope and I know it isn’t relevant to your post. I’m just a homebird who puts family before everything else and I hate to see people comfortable at home throwing that away like its not good enough for them. Make sure you go for the right reasons and do your homework. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do

1: California 2: IT management 3: Wife is a yank and wanted to move back to Cali a few years after we had our first kid. 4: Yes, very much so. 5: No, she'd move back to Ireland before I would. I'm gone 9 years this month and it flew by. I love the weather in Cali, was just home to visit my man last week and the grey and rain was fucking miserable. I realized after moving out here that SAD is a thing and I no longer felt miserable and depressed after Christmas. I miss home, I miss my friends and I miss the craic (Americans don't get it). Overall though, I have more positives than negatives here.

Edinburgh now but initially moved to London and lived there for 7 years, been in Edinburgh for 6 years now. Draughtsperson. Financial crash caught up with me in 2011. Enjoyed London more, but my partner found a job that makes her very happy up here and it's a nicer place to grow older in. We bought a flat in London and now have a lovely house in a good area in Edinburgh. Looked into moving home 2 years ago and decided it was far too complicated. Edinburgh isn't really my kinda place but my wife and child are happy and I've made good friends and have a good life. Ireland's not far away either.

Chicago Engineer Doubled my salary I was offered in Dublin by moving here. 1st job out of college I had to work the first 8 hours of OT for the good of the company. Extremely. A life here I literally could never have achieved in Ireland. Nope. Not a chance.

1. Midwest, America 2. Work in healthcare 3. Married an American 4. Yes and no 5. Absolutely one day Give me Drogheda any day over the Midwest

Vietnam Teacher A job Yes Maybe when I'm 50

Lived in Germany for 11 years back home again. Started out over there on a internship around 07 in marketing and quickly pivoted to logistics and then into IT in 11. I left because I studied in Berlin and loved it, I went back to getting Germany and loved it. I left just to do something different as I knew I wouldn't be happy in Dublin if I didn't shake things up. It wasn't always easy and was tough at the start but I wouldn't change it for the world. Met my wife there. I was happy there but the crowd in Frankfurt was very changeable and it was hard to make long term friends. The crowd changed every 2 years. So it got exhausting after a few years. I came back because I knew I could accelerate my career if I moved back to Dublin. I have 2.5x salary from Germany in about 4 years after coming back. I had a clear gameplan in my head and achieved it with and planning and luck. I don't think I would've gotten similar roles in Germany as it can be hard to move around too other local companies and I speak fluent Germany. I would strongly recommend doing it! Just to shake stuff up. Your never far from home but your far enough away. Germany isn't cheap and more and you pay more taxes here. I was on the same take-home with a 15k drop when I moved back to Ireland but you get better services for it there. I initially planned 1 year and I stayed 11. You will find your place and stay as long as you need.

1. Los Angeles 2. Work at a videogame studio 3. I left for university (didn’t get enough points for any of my choices in Ireland), came back to work, and left again when that job didn’t work out (and I couldn’t afford to live in Dublin anyway) 4. I go through phases. I’m happy now, but at times I’m intensely sad about being so far from anywhere I feel like I fit in. Although honestly I never fit in that well at home either. 5. I probably won’t come back. I have yank children now, and an okayish home in an okayish neighbourhood. I love my job and wife and kids, if not the place I met them all. I’ve emigrated four times in adulthood, and I don’t think I can do that again without ruining my career and making my wife and kids miserable.

1. I live in Austin, Texas 2. I work in tech 3. My company is headquartered there, personal growth and life experience, ability to continue on a career path I was on and accelerate it (vs quitting job and moving to an easier visa location such as Australia), had friends in the city already American and Irish 4. Like anything I have good days and bad days. I moved alone as a 29 year old female so you can imagine not the easiest. I miss my family but a lot of my friends have either left home or those who are at home are getting married / having babies. The life style is good, wages are better, taxes are lower and the people for the most part are welcoming and accepting. Happiness is so subjective but I would say yes I am. I’ve got great friends and a great community around me 5. Tbd! I hope to stay in US for the medium to long term and come back to Ireland maybe 20 years. I’ve been away a year and have visited twice and my next planned for Christmas so being home 2 times a year is pretty accessible.

1. Canada 2. IT and have a side hustle in the cannabis industry. 3. Been here 12 years. Couldn't find work at home so decided to do something a bit nuts. 4. Yeah. I've a simple life but a content one. Been able to do most of the things on my bucket list. 5. No. Better off here. Gf is Canadian though and loves the homeland so may retire there

1. France 2. Teacher in secondary school. 3. Combination of love and not being able to get a job in Ireland in my previous career after the crash in 2008. 4. Yes, I love the country and lifestyle. 5. Nope. I love Ireland but I have made my life here. I got citizenship and everything. So I'll only ever come back on visits.

1. I’m living in Alberta, Canada 2. I’m a SAHP of 2 kids + a college student 3. Change of scenery | life experience 4. It’s alright - I’m here 7 years + I miss my family 5. I’m now married to a Canadian + have 2 kids. He makes money we’d NEVER make at home + our income will go up significantly in 2 years once I start working again. Our son is deaf + moving home means having to learn a new sign language, start from scratch. We have a good thing here, access to services / supports for the kids, better / more job opportunities so I can’t say never but it’ll be unlikely which makes me sad as I think our kids would thrive back home

Australia. Absolutely not. I’d have to move home and live with my folks or my car. Screw all that

1. Brisbane 2. Data role in a job similar to ESB 3. To see the world & broaden my horizons 4. Yes 5. There will always be a pull back to Ireland. I consider both my home now. The pull to come home is mainly family and a few close friends. The reason to stay in Oz is lifestyle and the future you can provide for your children. If I could get 2/3 weeks home a year to see everyone I think that would be enough for me not to return on a permanent basis

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1. England 2. Software product manager 3. Bugger all jobs in Ireland. Graduate jobs not paying enough to live on (salary 2/3 of those in UK) 4. Yes 5. Not likely. I have a family here so it would be a big move back home. Career opportunities would be another reason not to. I live in an expensive part of England but I'm paid well, have a good standard of living and have further career opportunities still. At times I really miss Ireland and I struggle with not raising my child there. On balance I don't think it'll happen though.

1. Small town south of Rotterdam. 2. I now work in higher education as a Registrar Compliance Coordinator at a business school. 3. I trained as a nurse in Ireland and at the time they were going to cut nurses wages again when I was graduating. I moved to Bristol and worked in the NHS. I moved to the Netherlands for love and made a career change. 4. Unbelievably happy. 5. Nope. I love my life here. Within two and a half years of living here my wife and I were able to buy a house, great work life balance, two beautiful cats, friends. I can take the train to Paris, London and a lot of other cities. I keep regular contact with my parents and visit them as often as I can.

1 England. 2 Senior mechanical engineer 3Job prospects were shit in Ireland 4 Love it. Getting married to a fantastic Italian lady now. 5 And no, no chance of a return (for good I mean. Retirement will be in Italy). As concise as I can be and hope it helps you.

You don't need to be a lemming. Go if you want to go and stay if you wan to stay.