Moving out of Dublin - pros and cons?

N

ndp

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Am thinking about moving to the west - either to one of the cities (Galway / Sligo), or a small town outside of same.

Has anyone done this or something similar? What are the pros and cons? I'd be very interested in hearing about any downsides people might see.

Thanks.
 
I moved to Galway once. The only problem was that when I lost my job in marketing after a year I couldn't find a new one.
My advice would be to research the general scene in the area you work in and consider what your career prospects will be in the future wherever it is you are moving to.
 
Assuming you have a steady job and don't follow a team that plays in Croke Park half a dozen times a year, it will probably be a good move (Galway anyway). Traffic isn't necessarily any better than Dublin, but it is a nice city.
 
For me the pro's far outweigh the con's.
Can I ask what you work at?

I live near to SLigo, traffic isn;t too bad, depends of course at the times you would be going in and out of city at. For me i live 10 miles from work and it takes me about 10 - 15 minutes.
The only con is the odd tractor that you might get stuck behind!
Also the property - we are building a 2400sq ft home costing 160,000 (builders finish) on a site worth about 40,000, so in all our 'ideal home' will cost about 240,000 when finished and you would not get anything like that in Dublin!
I suppose what I am saying is that your money does go a bit further, wages might not seem to be as good, but it balances out with the cost of living in the country v city!

Sligo is a very up and coming city, with a newish shopping centre and a lot of development going on!
 
I totally agree with annR, i left Dublin and moved to the country but the job I took really didnt work out for me and now am struggling to get a job in my field. So do research the job scene before making your final decision.
Hacker
 
I think the supply of jobs in certain industries is a big turnoff from the smaller cities.
I lived/worked in Galway for 7 years but I could see the end of the line coming for my position but when I looked about there were no jobs in my area. I decided that I would have to go east and did before my role was shelved. I'm commuting in to Dublin by train, its not ideal but I know that if I lost my job in the morning I would have no problem in finding another.
 
Moved from Dublin to Galway 5 years ago. Great city to live in and quality of life in general is better.

Pros:
- more relaxed attitude in general
- afforability is better
- still a small city, I live on one side and cycle to work on the other side in 15 mins.

Cons:
- Traffic is awful in Galway, in particular if you're commuting 10-15 miles into town. It can actually be okay in town.
- Salaries, careers can be limited. IT industry in Galway has improved but its a common problem. You're less likely to be able to move jobs etc.
- Live music, comedy gigs etc can be limited compared to Dublin
 
fago76 said:
- Live music, comedy gigs etc can be limited compared to Dublin
Click to expand...

The GPO and Cuba host the Comedy Club and Laughter Lounge.

Cuba and Kennedys as well as Roisins are excellent for live music. Upstairs in the Quays or the Kings Head is pretty good for live bands also.

I do agree it can be limited though as the OP points out
 
I moved to Sligo a few years ago from Dublin, and only stuck it for a year... couldn't get back to dirty auld Dublin fast enough tbh
My memories are of a fairly grim grey rainy place...

Cons:
  • Town-centre traffic is chronic. There was/is a crazy one way system that routes everything over a single bridge, so rush hour in town centre can be a total mess
  • Amenities very limited - for example the theatre underfunded with only two or three productions in the year I was there, the (fab) Niland gallery had one or two lectures but that was it. There's only so much entertainment a shopping centre can offer really...
  • 'Culture' very pub oriented, and imho there seemed to be shocking levels of alcohol consumption and drink driving
  • Probably beacuse of this, the town centre is very rough, you wouldn't feel safe walking round there at night cos of all the drunks shouting and bumping into everything
  • Rosses Point and Strandhill are nicer, but v quiet and both around 5 miles from town.
  • Takes a long time to build up friends - the town is quite 'cliquey'
Pros:
  • the surrounding countryside is beautiful. But shameful planning with new estates and ugly bungalows do detract...
  • working hours tend to be shorter than in Dublin
  • great surfing / golf if that's your thing
  • will get you over the 'country idyll' fantasy forever
 
Cons
Not many people read the Evening Herald.
You miss being thrown out of the pub bang on closing time with the lights on and the doors open
You stop buying stuff at high prices because commercial rents are lower.
You get less done as people stop to chat.
You develop an interest in poetry and music : sure what good is that?
Your children meet a wider mix at school instead exclusively all your own sort.
Your local soccer team means something to you and has not moved or shared its ground with some other club.
You notice the skies are like Paul Henry's paintings when you should be just looking at the grime on the apartment blocks.
You no longer drive past Croke Park: you just dream about getting there.
When you buy fish you miss the taste of caesium which you got from those caught in the Irish Sea near Sellafield.
You no longer see all those nice people that you used to know so well from spending time with them in traffic or on buses.

I will have to come back to you with some of the pros.
 
Very clever post.
I spent 3 months in Sligo RTC (as it was then) and all I remember of the townwas:
It had a really good fruit and veg type deli on market street, loads of pubs, rain and darkness, a Supermac’s style fast food place, loads of pubs, loads of drunk people, the night club at the (a?) local hotel near the train station on a Thursday night, loads of pubs, rain and darkness, a disturbing amount of people who looked the same, drunk people and loads of pubs...
Oh yea, and loads of pubs (and crap food).

….and loads of drunk people.

….and rain and darkness.

But that was years ago and I'm sure it's a lovely place now.

I drove from Galway to Derry a few years ago and I have to say that the road through Sligo had some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.
 
I'm from Sligo originally and even though I moved away 8 years ago, my parents and many of my friends still live there so I'm pretty well up on how it is these days:

Traffic in Sligo has improved a good bit since the opening of the new road - it used to take us twenty minutes or more to get to town or the train station from only three miles outside (on the Dublin road side) and now it only takes five or ten at the very most. They've pedestrianised O'Connell Street so the whole layout of the town has changed - not sure if for the better or not for drivers but much better for shopping in the town. Though I think the parking sitch is still pretty bad and because some of the streets are pretty narrow, navigating through all the cars parked on the footpaths is awkward as hell.

The cinema in Sligo has a 12 screens and doesn't just show the big blockbusters. And the local library has improved a lot since my day.

There are two theatres - the Hawk's Well and The Factory and they have amateur and professional plays and musicals, as well as comedians & musicians etc.

There are also two golf courses near the town, in Rosses Point and Strandhill and the Yacht Club in Rosses Point as well. Rosses is good for swimming and some watersports while Strandhilll is fantastic for surfing. You also have all the usual horse-riding, hill-walking blah blah blah healthy outdoor sport type things.

Because Sligo's the biggest town for a long way around, it had to develop things for itself so it was always pretty good for shopping and now it has the usual chain stores and the retail park places (Homebase etc). And house prices didn't go up at all last year (if I remember my stats correctly!), probably because so many houses have been built lately so you could probably buy a good big house there as well.

I have to agree with Purple to some extent - because it's a student town, the pubs and nightclubs can get MENTAL and there have been some pretty bad post-pub incidents of violence. Although I would reckon it's not as bad as Dublin city centre any night of the week.

I love Sligo but my friends who are still living there do have one major issue - jobs. In many areas of work, there just isn't the variety you might want if you're still moving up the career ladder - you might get one job and find you're stuck with it and the same salary because there's nowhere else to go.
 
Thanks for all the comments, plenty of food for thought.....

Am looking at Riverstown in Sligo - anyone know anything about it?
 
Moving out of Dublin: hmmmm
Pro's: Leaving.
Con's: Having to return.
I cant stand the place and cannot wait until Were in the situation when we can view Dublin as a place to visit occasionally. A Nuclear Air Blast would be appreciated. Target, The Spire.
Enjoy the west!!!
 
Compared to the variety of things going on in Dublin - Amenities are limited in most towns outside of it. to amuse yourself you really have to join societies, clubs etc. Its what i did when i moved back to my hometown. The great thing is that you do tend to have more time (less commute etc) to get involved in things like amuture dramatics, team sports, salsa classes, choirs etc.... etc and also because there isn't the large volume of people competing to get involved in these local groups (like there would be in Dublin) you get the oppurtunity to do things you might not have had the chance to do before. You might also discover hidden talents - like that you can dance/sing/act/ etc and then you get the chance to be a big fish in a little pond.
 
I moved out of Dublin 1.5 years ago and have never looked back!!

Pros
No traffic problems
Being able to go to Post Office, the Dry Cleaners AND the butchers all in the one day AFTER work!!! This would have had to be done over a couple of evenings in Dublin!!
Nicer, bigger home, for a quarter of the price I would have got in Dublin
Nicer environment(imho) to bring up kids

Cons
Not as much gigs as other posters have said
Miss the atmosphere of Grafton Street on a Thursday night and going for some drinks in one of the many good pubs on the side streets off it
The buzz around the city - no matter what night it is!!
 

It always surprises me how vitriolic some people who live in Dublin are against the place. There's an easy solution - change jobs, work remotely, life is too short to live in a place you hate!

(Unless you're a martyr, which I suspect some of you anti-Dubliners are)
 
Problem is as many have said before the lack of jobs. Especially in areas such as IT. If you lose one job it can be extremly hard to find a replacement. I know many people who have had to completly uproot after redundancies and start all over again back in Dublin. This can be soul destroying, especially if you have spent years trying to get out. Definitely worth a go though, nothing to lose. While there may be less amenities, gigs etc outside of Dublin, I really feel the quality of life is better, more relaxed.
 
Just because it was the right thing for someone else doesn't mean its the right thing for you and vice versa. It depends on so many variables - your age, your career opportunities, whether you are single or if your partner/kids also want to move, if your extended family live in Dublin etc etc. Only you can know what you want- its like saying you are thinking of getting married and asking if others have found the experience worthwhile!

But good luck with whatever you decide. We moved to the west last summer, it was the right thing for us and it has worked out great.
 
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