Where to live in Northern Ireland?

sugarfree

Thanks for that Tammykitty.


While it's very pleasant, I've always felt the Co. Down coast is a bit tame compared to the North Coast. White Park Bay just takes my breath away every time I'm on it.


So I think, if we were going to go for Co. Down rather than the North Coast, we might as well have the benefits of being within easy reach of Belfast and look for a little house in, say, Helens Bay or Bangor West. Within walking distance of a train station so we wouldn't have to run 2 cars.


Big Al has got me thinking about health care. Can I ask how you find that side of things, up near the North Coast? I'm assuming health care is better in the Belfast area. What's your average wait to see a GP for instance?

sugarfree

Thanks Big Al. I had been wondering about Fermanagh. It's probably the county I know least well so I should probably go and check it out next time I'm home.
Having access to that West coast would be stupendous and I think there might be a few mountains as well, which would keep Him Indoors happy.
Thanks!

BigAl94

You might enjoy this in Fermanagh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB2x4X6Fy4k
and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2akfFXVDWc

sugarfree

Thanks. I will definitely visit Fermanagh for a few days when I'm back next year.
So many gorgeous places. Am starting to think the answer might be to trying living somewhere like Helens Bay and just get a little camper van. It's nice and green there, with the beach nearby and the train into Belfast.
My only real problem with Helens Bay is the lack of caf!/shop. They could badly do with one at the station.
Was at the Loaf pottery/caf! in Crawfordsburn last summer and it was great.

Woolco

Hi. I am soooooo jelous. I would love to visit NI. My 2 bezzies are both from Co Down. One from Newcastle and one from Bangor. They don't get on if you follow my meaning. I don't get it really but basically these 2 people are salts of the earth and I think therefore that Co Down is a good place to come from. Or go to.

Miss_Floopster

Hi Sugarfree, I'm in the position you're husband's in, a foreign woman married to a Belfast man, we've been in Switzerland for 30+ years now. With a view of retirement, we bought a place in a lovely area in North Belfast and hubby travels there very regularly to spend time with his large family and friends from his youth. He loves it. But ... he would never consider moving back there on a permanent basis (and neither would I).

I'll agree with BigAl that health service would most certainly be a major concern, especially now you're getting to retirement age and you may need health service more often. Do not consider a move without having private health insurance if you are used to have immediate access to good health service.

And while I do enjoy the "craic" and seeing the family and friends when I'm over I also have to say that as a non-native, and used to living in a place where everything "works", I do not go over as often as I did when we first bought the place, 6 years ago. My experience with (professional) services has been appalling, slow and often uninformed, from civil services to solicitors and anything in between. People shrug their shoulders when I bring it up, there seems to be an apathy about the place that I’ve come to dislike. As much as things have improved since I first set foot in NI when I first met my husband, it is not a place where I’d want to live on a permanent basis (neither does my native NI husband). To not sound totally negative, I’d love to go back to the time when we’d just hop over there from time to time as regular tourists and stay with friends or family as yes, the people are lovely in NI, the country is beautiful and we always had a great time. But when dealing with the day to day stuff that comes with having a property there, the charming “hello love, would you like a wee bag with that” quickly wears off if you have to help out family members to go private because they’re on a 2 year NHS waiting list to get assessed for dementia, and generally to get stuff done there. It did for me anyway.

And should you want to buy a property in a multi-unit development which has a management company in place, be sure to investigate (or ask your solicitor about it) that it runs well and its members understand their roles and duties. There’s no legislation in NI for that, people are generally unaware or don’t understand it (and in our case, they can’t be bothered to either).

NI is a lovely place, with lovely people and I do understand your desire to go back there if it’s your home country. But I would definitely ask myself the question if you and your non-native husband are really ready to do that. It’s one thing to go there as a tourist, it’s another thing entirely to live there. (P.S. I had the same experience when going back to my own native country for a while … turns out I had highly romanticised it and it was a big disappointment. I couldn’t wait to go back to the place we had lived in for 10+ years … and we’re not ever moving away from!).

Miss_Floopster

... and just in case and to be clear if I did sound all negative: I'm a big ambassador for NI abroad. I'm proud and happy to tell people to go there. I invite people to come to see and stay with us there and am so pleased to show them around. I joke with the polling ladies at BFS International that we did our bit for the NI economy whenever we fly in and out of there.

Of the places in NI, I know BFS best and I always tell people what a fab buzz there is about the place these days (and there is! Compared to the mid eighties when I first set foot in it and refused - after 2 visits - to come back again until "you peeps sort out your differences first". I was a "wee" Dutch girl at the time and my first encounter with BFS were armoured cars, soldiers with guns, turnstiles to go into the city center and people shrugging their shoulders when dinners were cancelled due to bomb scares. I think I may be forgiven for not wanting to live that.

Hubby went back regularly during all that time, but I did not. But when I saw the difference after refusing to go there for 15 years (couldn't not go then as hubby's favorite niece was getting married) I was actually the one who pushed buying the property. I LOVE NI, its people and the progress made since then.


Just to clarify that! :-)

irishjohn

sugarfree wrote: »

Big Al has got me thinking about health care. Can I ask how you find that side of things, up near the North Coast? I'm assuming health care is better in the Belfast area. What's your average wait to see a GP for instance?

Hi
There are ways of coping with healthcare which help you avoid drastic monthly charges. When I got my state pension I was going to buy private health insurance but I did my research and found that the monthly charges keep going up and the list of conditions covered keep going down. I decided to keep my money invested for buying private treatment if I ever need it and making a smaller investment by joining Benenden health care - they will consider paying for healthcare in situations where there is a delay in NHS treatment availability. Perfect for Northern Ireland. Been in it 2 years and had an abdominal operation done in 4 weeks after seeing a consultant a week after I saw my GP. Perfect situation.

sugarfree

That's extremely good to know, John.
Thanks!

sugarfree

Miss_Floopster wrote: »

... and just in case and to be clear if I did sound all negative: I'm a big ambassador for NI abroad. I'm proud and happy to tell people to go there. I invite people to come to see and stay with us there and am so pleased to show them around. I joke with the polling ladies at BFS International that we did our bit for the NI economy whenever we fly in and out of there.

Of the places in NI, I know BFS best and I always tell people what a fab buzz there is about the place these days (and there is! Compared to the mid eighties when I first set foot in it and refused - after 2 visits - to come back again until "you peeps sort out your differences first". I was a "wee" Dutch girl at the time and my first encounter with BFS were armoured cars, soldiers with guns, turnstiles to go into the city center and people shrugging their shoulders when dinners were cancelled due to bomb scares. I think I may be forgiven for not wanting to live that.

Hubby went back regularly during all that time, but I did not. But when I saw the difference after refusing to go there for 15 years (couldn't not go then as hubby's favorite niece was getting married) I was actually the one who pushed buying the property. I LOVE NI, its people and the progress made since then.


Just to clarify that! :-)

Many thanks for that very thoughtful and comprehensive reply, Miss Floopster.
I didn't go into all the details of our personal circumstances before but the fact is that we really will have to return to the UK at some point, if not necessarily NI.
The fact is that, despite living here for over 20 years, and despite my best efforts, my husband has not learnt French. He certainly can't read or write it, and even his spoken French is, to put it nicely, execrable.
His idea of having a French lesson is to watch 'Allo 'Allo.
Anyway, what this means is that I cannot even contemplate staying on in France in our dotage because if something happens to me first, he will simply not cope.
Increasingly, as I'm sure you are aware, everyday administrative tasks have to be completed online, and that of course requires a certain proficiency in the written language.
So for that very practical reason alone, we have to go back to the UK. He's not a native English speaker but for some reason, he took to the language and culture in the UK like a duck to water.


I also think that you're approaching NI from a different angle from me, as you're in Switzerland and used to orderliness and efficiency.
I don't think I'll find bad service in NI much of a shock to the system because, hey, I've been living in France for 20 years. Yes, the healthcare is still great (if you live in a big city, at any rate) but everything else is going to pot.
You talk about problems with property management companies but I live in a block of flats and even though we're all owner occupiers, nothing, not even the most basic maintenance, gets done. The roof could be falling in and it would be greeted with a Gallic shrug.
I reported a leak in the communal basement back in May and my husband and I are still popping down every other day to empty the bucket we placed there. Nobody else gives a toss.


Another example. I asked for my husband's English driving licence to be exchanged for a French one in October 2017. There was no email address or phone number where you could check the status of the application. It was a full year before we received even an acknowledgement that they had received it.
Still no licence though.


So long story short, we are definitely going to give NI a try. And if it doesn't work out, then we'll have to look at other options in the UK or, possibly, the Republic of Ireland.