job hunting... (Merged)

jammin_2

brandyslad wrote: »

The integrated schools would be very neutral. However, one thing about Fermanagh, 80 to 90 % of people are related or know each other. If you go somewhere and meet new people they always ask who you know and who your family is, but in a friendly way. however having an english accent will extend you the luxury of not having to go through these questions! There are lots of english accents here now, we actually were remarking on it, a few years age there were no english people round here. Enniskillen is an easy place to live without worrying about religion, lots of mixed marriages and people from other nationalities. I love meeting people from other countries and you will be made feel welcome in Fermanagh. But as I said there is still the culture of everyone knows everyone else but not in a hostile way.

Thank you so much, brandyslad! :beer: Am off to research Enniskillen now..

Pretani

jammin wrote: »

I'm hoping that a move North of the border would alleviate these issues. Would I be right?

You'll get the anti-English/Brit thing in N.Ireland too in certain locations, but generally it's dissapearing. I read last week about some case where an English plumber was awarded 20,000 Euros in Dublin for being labelled 'the Brit' at work, so maybe you should stick it out in Waterford:D (Only kidding) your childs welfare is more important.

brandyslad

No bother, have a look at some of the other towns in Fermanagh as well, house prices will be a bit cheaper, Lisnaskea and Irvinestown are the two second biggest towns. PM if you have specific questions. There is a big Asda and Tesco in Enniskillen now so lots of cheap groceries and a brand new M&S opening in October plus Superdrug is coming too and a new River Island. They are also building a new road from Ballygawley to Belfast so transit time to Belfast will be much less and much safer.

dariowiser

jammin wrote: »

In need of some advice!..

My wife and I move to Waterford about 3 years ago. Life is ok down here, but it's time to move on. Neither of us are from Ireland, and we never intended on staying here as long as we have. Also, we have a 7 month old baby boy and I'm not sure that ROI is the best place to bring him up. I'm English and my wife is from Singapore.

We were thinking of moving to England (we've never lived there together, we came straight to Ireland from Singapore, 3 years ago), but the violence etc. over in England is a worry. Personally, I moved out of England 4 years ago, and when we go over for holidays now and then, I can really see how it's changed.. for the worse.

Northern Ireland, on the other hand, seems like a great place to live, and to bring up our son. Every time we drive up for the day, shopping or sightseeing, we really love it there.

So, two things really:

1. Do people agree that NI is a great place to live? (I'm possibly asking a biased audience here, I know)..

2. Can anyone recommend somewhere to work? I'm currently working for a major ISP in Waterford, in the tech support department. Could do something similar, or not. I'm really not fussed. I've a full and clean driving licence, and would consider driving for a living. Or office work. To live though, I've worked out that I'd need to earn a minimum of £16k. Possible?

Thanks for any suggestions..

Hi Jammin
question 1: Yes - Northern Ireland is a great place to live
question 2: Jobs - you should be able to find a job fairly easy in Northern Ireland - as many have said recruitment will pick up again in Sept/Oct. Have you any skills - what jobs would you be qualified for? I worked as telesales from home p/t and earned in the region of £9000 so your earnings are certainly realestic.

nozzadamozza

Hi Jammin

have been meaning to reply to your question sooner!

A few people have mentioned Fermanagh and thought I would give you my experience. I worked in Belfast for 10 years, Brighton for 2 and then came back to Fermanagh in 2002 to set up a business (I left Fermanagh when I was 18). I am moving to belfast in the next few weeks and honestly I am quite glad to. I dont mean to be disrespectful to any one who has said good things about fermanagh but I dont believe it offers any good jobs and house prices are extortionate (hopefully they are going to fall). One of the reasons my hubby and I refused to buy somewhere in Fermanagh was that we knew that if our business didnt work out, we would only be able to get minimum pay jobs - there simply isnt the industry to sustain anything in Fermanagh.
I notice you work with an ISP- is that in terms of new media or call-centre based? (I work in new media so feel free to pm me if you need advice /contacts/useful info )

I think you need to weigh up if you got a job in fermanagh (or indeed in any of the rural counties) and then lost it- you would then have to look at other areas- and because the public transport is rubbish, it would mean you have to spend ages travelling (I know people who travel from Enniskillen everyday to Belfast and also Dublin- how long must that take!!)

I think you should try Belfast. There are more job opportunities and better transportation. You will also find it more ethnicly diverse. Many small towns have small minds, and whilst I know that certain areas of belfast show intolerance to anyone who is different to themselves, I think overall Belfast is a better place.

dont know if this has been of any help but please pm if you need any info new media related

Pretani

leftieM wrote: »

You may not be aware but England occupied Ireland for quite a time until 1922 and a lot of injustices were committed by the English rulers during their occupation, as all imperialist nations did in those times. Perhaps the children were booing these acts rather than randomly booing England and the English. Generally the whole anti-English thing has really died away since Ireland became more confident as a nation in its own right. There are very few people alive (if any) who even remember the English occupation.

The vikings were the first to invade. Not much anti-Viking feeling about. Anyhow, when King Henry II of England landed at Waterford in October 1171, he came at the Pope's behest (Pope Adrian IV) and carrying as his authority the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, by which the Roman Pontiff claimed the right to bestow Ireland as a gift to the English King on condition that he suppressed the ancient Celtic or Culdee Church.

A wee nugget of Irish history that's never mentioned!;)

leftieM

Pretani wrote: »

The vikings were the first to invade. Not much anti-Viking feeling about. Anyhow, when King Henry II of England landed at Waterford in October 1171, he came at the Pope's behest (Pope Adrian IV) and carrying as his authority the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, by which the Roman Pontiff claimed the right to bestow Ireland as a gift to the English King on condition that he suppressed the ancient Celtic or Culdee Church.

A wee nugget of Irish history that's never mentioned!;)

I deleted my post because, no doubt, the whole thing could just escalate into some pointless tit-for-tat nonsense. There are multiple views on history. Northern Ireland is living proof of that.

maveli

I think NI is a great place to live. I will complete 10 years here next month.

One thing you should note is the child benefit here is very less compared to ROI. Here it is only £17-18/week. I think in ROI you get around EUR 3000/year. Council tax is another extra expense you have to bear here.

SnowyOwl_2

maveli wrote: »

I think NI is a great place to live. I will complete 10 years here next month.

One thing you should note is the child benefit here is very less compared to ROI. Here it is only £17-18/week. I think in ROI you get around EUR 3000/year. Council tax is another extra expense you have to bear here.

Errr, probably a slip of the tongue, but it's still rates here in N.Ireland. The rates people have their special way of working them out, and I'm sure it makes sense to them. I've a three bed townhouse in the Newry area - costs me £640 a year in rates. Some friends live in a remote rural location in a large detached house, & that costs £1800 in rates. In times gone by rates apparently included the supply of water to private homes. There has been a lot of upset in recent years because water is going to be charged for separately...not that there has been any sniff of a hint of rates bills going down to compensate, hence the annoyance. Whatever happens rates are a fact of life here, and like the Council Tax in Britain it varies per area. If you're going to rent make sure you ask if rates are included in or excluded from the rent.

Regards the viking invasion, a Norwegian friend who visited here with me once was really quite impressed by the Viking related relics on display in our museums etc. I was actually proud!

I'd suggest you come up and do a "look see" so that you get a vibe for the place yourselves.

jammin_2

Thanks again everyone for the advice..

I was off the bank holiday weekend, so my wife and I had intended on coming up to Northern Ireland and visiting Enniskillen, as recommended by a couple of posters. I would also have liked to see Derry/Londonderry (which is correct, actually?). Sadly, my better half decided that the long weekend would be better spent cleaning the house from top to bottom, washing, drying, ironing, etc etc. Not my idea of fun, but at least 'tis done now. :T

Perhaps we'll go up in a couple of weeks instead. I'll have a bit more money then, too.

In the mean time, however, I've been thinking about what nozzadamozza said, about Enniskillen / the Fermanagh area being more scarce on the job front, compare with the East of the country. nozzadamozza has a point, and I'd be crazy to ignore it.

Because of this, I'm thinking that a wise move might be to live within commutable distance of Belfast. Lisburn seems relatively inexpensive, and about 20 mins away from Belfast, according to Google Maps. What do people think of Lisburn as a place to live (and possibly work)?

Interesting what SnowyOwl said about rates still being called rates in NI, rather than Council Tax, as it is known in Britain. I wonder why that is?

I was thinking about the whole Child Benefit thing, being less than in ROI etc. But then the UK has Tax Credits, and ROI doesn't. Adding it up, it's swings and roundabouts really. I've been checking on entitledto.co.uk, and I think that if my job pays £16k, I'd be able to receive almost £400 per month in the way of Tax Credits, LHA and Child Benefit. That's if I've worked it out properly, and entitledto.co.uk is correct.

Anyway, I'm looking at all kinds of different of jobs now, and houses, too! I loosely thought about the possibility of living in Newry and working in Dundalk (digiweb), but I'm not sure how that would work with regards entitlements in the UK / ROI. I'll have to do some research on that, as I'd want to do everything properly.

Thanks again guys, for your help and advice! :beer: