Seriously thinking about moving to Ireland

[Dan@DB-Power]

Hi Guys

I'm looking at moving our family to Ireland as we have a lot of family over there and too be fair I'm getting fed up of how busy it is in the SE of England, and how it's starting to look (dirty and over crowded).

I'm just after a little more info or your thoughts of living in Ireland.

We are eyeing up Kerry, mainly Kenmare as I like the town and seems to other what we need.I would move my business over to there so income shouldn't be a problem as there isn't any car garages in Kenmare.

There are a couple of pitfalls I am aware of, isolation and there isn't much in the way of entertainment for kids that I know of, for example the nearest cinema is about 45 min drive.

I am aware that car insurance and road tax are pricey, and I know I can bring my cars in without paying duty/vat on them as I have owned them for more than 6 months. Anything new will be crippling though.

Dan

[hi_im_fil]

What is the business exactly?

Beware of a potentially higher cost of living, stealth taxes & lack of benefits for self employed people. You seem to be aware of potential isolation issues compared to where you are currently.

[Dan@DB-Power]

I run a car garage and mail order business (I can still ship to the UK no worries there), from what I heard the incentives for being self employed were good, lower corporation tax etc.

Cost of living I understand, although some things are good. Price of fuel is cheaper than UK, house prices are significantly cheaper than UK, and no council tax (at present).

I'll have to look more into business costs though, i.e. unit rents, business rates.

[hi_im_fil]

There is no council tax but essentially they get it from you in other ways (water charges, bin charges as examples). That's what I mean about stealth taxes. I'm not knowledgeable about taxes but there might be a difference between being self employed and being an employee of a company you have set up. Worth doing a bit of research. A company might only have to pay a low rate of tax, but a self employed sole trader might have to pay more etc.

Positives are: lots of outdoor activities possible, relaxed way of living.
Negatives: Poor public transport when away from main cities.

[Dan@DB-Power]

cool, cheers for your input

Just trying to work out car tax at present, between me and the wife we have 6 cars so will have to have a cull. The tax would kill us especially the V8 Jag

[hi_im_fil]

You wouldn't want to be keeping them all taxed haha

Pre 2008 cars are all based on cc. 2008 was the crossover to the C02 based system. Rates are here https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/menu.do?page=motortaxrates

[Evilchap]

Good luck with it Dan - I can make garage space for the 240 to save you the trouble of exporting it, no trouble

[Dan@DB-Power]

Yeah the inlaws Range Rover is 1809 euro's a year

I would definitely loose a couple and go for smaller turbo engines

Exporting the 240 isn't a problem, trailer, no NCT to worry about and tax is 56 euro's a year Maybe I'll just buy some classics

[Clint]

All good info on the thread so far.

As for entertainment, just get your kids into drifting/rallying. Better standard here than that muck you have in the uk

[sideways14a]

Move to Scotland instead, all the benefits of Ireland but without the living in Ireland bit...
Of course we do have 2 problems, the weather is worse and the SNP but hey cant have everything.

[Neelie]

ireland is a great country to live in. the people and the culture are great. like every country, pro's and cons of course. yes, its expensive in terms of keeping cars and buying/renting houses. the weather is less than tolerable most of the time and sometimes you just wanna punch ppl in the jaw but I wouldn't live anywhere else... its a very easy going life..

[auz200sx]

Sorry but isolation just made me laugh out loud. It has its pros and cons.

[Kieran O'Quick]

Compared to the SE, the weather is really sh1t. If I remember rightly, Kerry is the wettest bit of Ireland. Apart from the odd micro-climate spots like Ballybunion that can be warm and dry even in winter.

The really tiny population means there is little to be made from local markets (more people in Yorkshire than Ireland) but if you sell internationally that wouldn't matter.

But it is the antidote to the SE if that's what you're sick of. Very fresh air for a start. Empty roads too - driving to the shops is fun, not the speed-bumped pita it is here. Spectacular golf courses if you're in to that.

[JP]

I'll see if I can get Getrag to post up here - I believe he knows a bit about Kenmare specifically.

In terms of fun cars as you may have already gathered Dan:
1) 30+ years old is cheap to tax - 'Vintage Tax'
2) 20+ (sometimes even 15 depending on the car) can be cheap to insure - 'Classic Policy'
3) Pre-July 2008 smaller engine sizes are your friend; post July 2008, smaller C02 is your friend.
4) If you've got a trader's policy, insurance is a doddle & you can basically own/drive whatever you like including ludicrously modified cars.

And yeah, Kerry's pretty rainy but you're on the near-side of the mountains from where the rain comes in (Atlantic) so shouldn't be too bad for Kerry. On the plus side, when the weather's good there's only Donegal to rival it in terms of scenery & driving roads!

[getrag]

Hi Dan, Jesus I haven't posted on here in years! My poor old S14a has probably gone to the great drift yard in the sky ��

My parents have lived in Kenmare for 15 years, they retired down there like a lot of folk do. There are quite a few Uk people that have retired there too. There is a relatively good mix of nationalities for Kerry and there would be a few hippies around but mainly its earthy rural folk that are generally good decent people, if a little hard to understand with the strong accent

It sounds like you've been over to Kenmare before so you know the layout of the town. There's a few good pubs and it can be get a few hen parties and stag dos at the weekend but it ain't Killarney or Brighton!

There's no apparent garages I can think of but I'm sure there are mechanics working out of sheds, I can ask my dad if you want?

What the type of garage were you thinking of? Performance or normal?

It is a bit isolated down there and very little for kids to do. I used to crack up down there after a week.

The best amenity for the likes of you and me are the roads. Probably the best town in Ireland for its proximity to some proper hoon roads - Molls Gap towards Killarney,Caha pass towards Glengarriff, Sneem to Molls Gap is great, as is the Healy Pass. It's the best thing about Kenmare but not quite on a par with North Wales and the Scottish highlands.

[IrishPaddy]

and theres wharttons fish and chips.. it would be worth moving for that alone

[keggy]

or you could move to northern Ireland. you still benefit from being in the UK. then you can also head across the border to benefit from the cheap euro