I live in the US and in a few years I plan to move to either Scotland or Ireland. Any recommendations?

Question

I'm looking to move some where that is better suited to me. I love cool weather and I even love the rain. I'm a big fan of nature and hope to purchase a home in the country. Other things to consider is the bookstore I intend to open. I've heard that Scotland and Ireland are very much the same, but if anyone can give me an idea as to which would be a better place to move I'd be very appreciative.

Answer 1

Your asking for biased views here of each country, so here is mine. I'm Scottish so my vote is with Scotland.

Yes, your correct in some ways that they are both similar countries. You mentioned the weather - the great thing is that no one seems to appreciate the huge variety. There is wind, rain, snow, sun, hail, thunder, lightning, mist, fog, clouds and grey skies. I love all of them, I would hate to live somewhere, where it is constant sunshine. It's unpredictable and great.

However, you will need good shoes, as from my own experience I often buy impractical shoes and my feet get wet, so I'll probably end up with trench foot or something.

In the country, it's a great lifestyle, very healthy with none of the pollution and traffic of cities. Most importantly peace, excellent for reading. As for opening the book shop, I'll look out for it! The new shopping centre built near me doesn't even have one bookstore. Shocking.

As for the people, I can't lie and say everyone is friendly and pleasant, but the majority of people are. This applies to all countries, there is bad and good in all of them. I think most people, if not all will be welcoming and happy to hear your different accent.

General things:

- Scotland has an excellent health service (it's free) and educational system (state and public schools avalible).

- Although a lot of people say that places like Glasgow have high crime rates, it's only in the rough horrible areas and as long as you don't go around wondering them at night, you'll be fine. The country is safest anyway.

- To clear up stereotypes, people only play the bagpipes and wear kilts on special occasions. Most people wear jeans and a t-shirt. Listen to variety of music.

- As for religion, most are christian, Islam is the second largest and there is also Jewish, Hindu and Sikh. In the 2001 census, 28% of the population claimed to have no religion.

Hope this helps if you need more information please ask in the additional details and I'll try to help you. Good luck.  :-)

Answer 2

Ireland: Cold, wet, beautiful, expensive, c**p health service, decent education system, Catholic, laid back, lackadaisical, friendly, "ah sure everything'll be grand" - when clearly it won't be.

Scotland: Cold, wet, beautiful, expensive, slightly better health service, decent education system, Protestant, restrained, precise, dour, "everything and everyone is doomed" - when clearly its not.

Answer 3

I agree withe the first answerer.  You have to remember that Scotland is part of the United Kingdom & is not a separate country like the Republic of Ireland is.  You'll have to get in touch with the Nationality & Immigration Directorate to fins out more about that.

As for the last answerer.  Actually I believe Scotland is meant to have one of the best education systems in the world, indeed it was used a model in many other countries around the world.  I disagree also that we are a bit restrained & dislike the use of religion in any question.  It's like you are saying catholics are more friendly than protestants which is rubbish.  There are loads of catholics here in Scotland as well.

We don't suffer fools gladly here for sure, but that's got nothing to do with religion, more to do with our celtic genes, which incidentally are shared by the Irish too.  We had our "Killing Times" because of this in the 17th Century.  Most modern Scots find religion an irrelevance anyway.  All it does is cause wars.

Answer 4

Call back in a few years time and let us know your decision.

Answer 5

You will need to research visa regulations...you will need an employer and a work visa before you "move" to Scotland or Ireland.  You will need a LOT of money.  You need to research how high prices and taxes are there, and what daily life would be like in reality.  Your ideas sound delightful, but in reality, very difficult to do.

Answer 6

Ireland is cool, wet and has beautiful scenery, unfortunately it is a bit on the expensive side, but so is Scotland, in fact both countries are very similar in all those and most respects!

Scotland has a better health system to Ireland, however Ireland has one of the best education systems in the world!

Only real differences are that Ireland is primarily Catholic, while Scotland, being part of the UK, is mainly Protestant.

Irish people are some of the most friendly and welcoming in the world and the country as a whole is very laid back, Scotland not as much so, maybe a bit restrained!

Answer 7

Well, the weather is S***e in both countries so there's not much in it.

However, Ireland IS the land of saints and scholars. We've given the world Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, John Banville, George Bernard Shaw, John McGahern, Tom Murphy, Brian Friel, WB Yeats, Paddy Kavanagh, Brendan Behan and St. Colmcille.

What have the Scots given the world? Irn Bru and Deep Fried Mars Bars......