Hi there,
My wife and I (well mostly myself at this point) have this pipe dream of living in Ireland.
I'm in IT (Business Analyst) and she's a primary Catholic school teacher here in Calgary. We have two little ones (under 3).
We're thinking of renting our place out here and renting some place in Ireland for a couple of years just to try something different.
While this is a pipe dream, you have to start somewhere, so I wanted to get the Thorn tree take on which cities might be a good fit for employment, families, access to other parts of Ireland, Irish culture (I realize it's changed significantly but hey change is inevitable).
Any information on what I can expect to make as a BA in the IT field and what my wife as a primary school teacher could make would be welcome as would information regarding cost of living (let's assume a 3 bedroom house/rowhouse in whatever city/town you think would be best, typical grocery costs, petrol etc...)
My family heritage is Irish and it would be fun for my girls to live in their ancestral homeland if only for a few years.
Finally, I know I may get flamed as it is an horrendously vague info request but it's early and mee brain is soft.
I hope it gets sharper as the day moves on.
Thanks!
J.
Hello, This is my first time posting on this board so you may not a 'typical thorn tree veiw'!!
I moved to Northern Ireland 4 years ago. My husband is from here but has lived all over the UK. It is a truly beautiful & friendly place over the whole country. Does have its probelm areas but where doesn't!? :-)
I have no idea how much either of you could earn here (I would say probably similar to most of UK but that probably doesn't help you!! I know that currently Primary school teaching jobs are hard to come by in the North but not so hard in the South. Dublin & Belfast would probably provide you with most job opportunities but working from home is becoming very popular. May also be worth looking at smaller cities such as Londonderry, Cork, Galway. As your wife is a catholic teacher there will be more opportunites for her in the South I should think. Dublin is an incredibly pricey city to live in. Property is exceptionally expensive (deffo on a par with London). The whole of Ireland has experienced a property boom in the last 5 - 10 years. A 3 bed, small terraced house in a not so nice area is from about £150000 up. A nice 3/4 bed semi will be anything from £200000 to a half a million. THese prices don't include Dublin. Check out www.propertynews.com for a better idea.
I think that a lot of health benefits & things are better in the North but the South may be easier to get into. If you or your wife have.had an Irish Grandparent then I think that your family would be eligible for Irish passports but I'm currently looking into this so am not sure if the rules have changed.
Fuel is cheaper in the South, booze is cheaper on the North.........
It's hard to give a cost of living as it can vary so much. You can get by on very little if you're careful or spend a lot if you have it...... Groceries for the week for me, my husband & son are probably about £70 but I could do it for £30 if I really budgeted.....
www.nijobs.com might help you a bit with job research. Or google.ie for Ireland & google.co.uk for Northern Ireland.
In case you don't know: Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom & The Republic of Ireland is it's own country. Hence why I say North & South to distinguish!
Hope something there helped!
Liz
I think you would find Dublin very expensive and it might be harder for the kids to settle in. Clare or Cork would be nice and both have good base of industry. Re: your wife's job, I think you need to speak fluent Gaeilge to be a primary school teacher, but I may be wrong...
I would be thinking along the same lines as ~2.
As a BA in IT you may find a good paying job, but a 2 bedroomed apartment in Dublin is about E1400 at the minimum.
Galway and Cork are however slightly cheaper. Even though people keep talking about a downturn in the number of jobs available, I haven't seen this (however I'm in a science area), so as long as you are flexible, you should find a job easily.
Your wife won't be able to get a permanent job unless she does an Irish course, but she may be able to substitute.
The job sites I find most useful are totaljobs.ie and loadzajobs.ie
Good luck
So to teach primary school in Ireland you need to learn Gaelic? What if you just want to substitute?
Before you get too carried away with the details of relocation, think first about the red tape. Do you hold an Irish passport or from another EU country? If you do, you don't need a visa or work permit to live and work in Ireland (North or South). But if you don't, you have to get them and it won't be easy or straightforward, though a good IT qualification and experience will be a plus (IT field isn't as booming as it was a few years ago). As for your wife, to get a full-time primary teaching position, she will first need to have her qualification verified, and take steps to acquire Irish language skills - both spoken and written. She will be tested on this, and will involve a school placement in Irish-speaking areas (Gaeltracht). To work as a temporary supply teacher (as it's called in Ireland and UK), I don't think she needs Irish but verification of qualification by Teaching Council (or teachers' professional body in Northern Ireland - General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland) is still obligatory.
With your Irish background, you may be eligible for Irish citizenship - check out Irish Embassy in Ottawa site.
Re: speaking gaelic. I'm sure you wouldn't need to speak Irish to work in a School in the North unless you chose a specialist Irish speaking school. But as said above I don't know how well qualifications cross over to here from Canada.....
Irish is compulsory for all primary school students. Hence why its compulsory for teachers to be educated in it. However some of it is IRish culture and history etc.
I don't think your wife would be able to do much sub'ing as she would need to teach Irish for this also.
I must say that I'm a little shocked.
I thought the primary language in Ireland was English. I mean here in Canada, French is also a primary language and is taught in schools until Grade 7 or 9 (can't recall it's been awhile) but even then, there are only one or two teachers in an entire school that can speak French (probably more as you move into Ontario and especially Quebec) and French is certainly not a required language for all teachers (again, except in Quebec).
How much is Gaelic spoken in Ireland (as a primary language before English?). Is school taught in Gaelic? what about in Dublin? I have a hard time believing that courses in Dublin are spoken to immigrants from all over the world in Gaelic.
Regardless, if it's a requirement, it's a requirement.. I'm just shocked is all.
This will give you the details of Irish Language Test required of all those trained overseas and wanting to achieve full recognistion as primary teacher in Ireland.
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