Country Article / Postcards

HOW IRELAND STACKS UP

Date: 04/17/2003

Dear IL Reader,

A young couple dropped by the office here in Waterford yesterday afternoon. Long-time readers of International Living, they're also Indian, living in India, and interested in relocating someplace else. They're considering Latin America and Europe, including Ireland. Thus their visit.

They're in an enviable position. They've been able to arrange an extended road trip...a few weeks here, a couple of months there, trying on different countries for size. They're in Ireland nearly a month.

They wanted to know if I'd recommend Ireland as a place for them to live.

I gave them my standard response: I can't recommend where they should live. They have to make that decision themselves, depending on their personal priorities. What's most important to them, I asked?

Infrastructure. The young man works in the computer industry and runs his business over the Internet. He can live and work
anywhere--anywhere with a sophisticated, reliable infrastructure.

Cost of living is important, too, they told me. They want to live somewhere affordable.

They're accustomed to the very agreeable cost of living in India. In fact, they're happy living there and are thinking of moving primarily because of the frustrations they face trying to run their business from that country.

I told them they might want to reconsider Ireland. This isn't a place to come to escape frustration. Or to seek a low cost of living.

First, the pluses. Ireland is beautiful. Relaxed. Quiet and peaceful (except on the streets outside certain pubs on a Saturday night). History and lore. Castles and gardens. Thatched cottages and country lanes. Fishing and golf. These are the reasons to come to Ireland. If these things don't get your blood going...you won't find Ireland charming. You'll find it impossible.

Ireland's a great place to live...if you're not trying to do business.

(We don't, by the way. We do business all over the world, mostly in the States, but not really in Ireland. Our readers are primarily Americans. The only trade we conduct in Ireland has to do with renting office space and paying our phone bill. And even those things can sometimes be a challenge.)

Which leads me to the minuses. They can be best understood when you realize that Ireland is a developing nation.

I mentioned this to my visitors yesterday, and they smiled immediately and nodded enthusiastically. Yes, they said. This was their impression, too, after only a few days in the country. They were seriously disappointed, they told me. Ireland wasn't turning out to be what they'd expected.

It wasn't what we expected either, when we moved here 4 1/2 years ago. We thought the move from the States would be transparent. We discovered, though, that the infrastructure, the banking industry, the real estate industry...these things are decades behind what we were accustomed to dealing with.

We've come to think of Ireland as the Caribbean of Europe. A nice place to be...if you're not in a hurry.

The Irish don't use the word "manana," but they embrace the concept.

Furthermore, long gone are the days of the good life on the cheap in the Auld Sod. Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe, Dublin one of the most expensive cities in the world. Some things can be affordable...and some important things are free (education...health care)...but, on the whole, it costs us more to live in Waterford than it did to live in the cities my husband and I came from (Chicago and Baltimore).

I don't think the young couple was let down by my remarks. I think I was confirming conclusions they'd begun to draw themselves.

Where should they look instead, they wanted to know? Given their priorities...I pointed them to Panama.

Sure, they'd still have the "manana" lifestyle to contend with...but at least in that part of the world it's expected. And, in truth, Panama City has a more developed infrastructure than Ireland...and certainly a lower cost of living. Plus a whole lot of sunshine.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. We are infatuated with ancient fortresses and secret gardens, whitewashed cottages and old stone walls. And we relish the safety and peace of this little island. For us, Ireland is a good place to raise our children...a welcome place to retreat to at the end of the business day...and the ideal place to come home to after an extended journey. As I said, it's a question of priorities.