Our first 100 days in Ireland Immigration Information for South Africans moving to, immigrating to, working in and visiting the Republic of Ireland, Immigration Information for South Africans moving to Ireland

As a young couple both on SA passports - immigrating didn’t seem like a possible reality for either of us. We both loved SA and had no gripes about it - leaving was never a priority for us either. Both being Cape Town beach bums we spent most of our weekends on Llandudno beach soaking up the sun. We would talk about our future together and there was always a ‘what if’. I had always wanted to experience working abroad for my career, but having a secure job in SA made it more comfortable to stay planted there. 

Some tips or ideas for: finding a Rental- From a South African in Ireland, an Ex-Housing Agent (auctioneer)

As mentioned probably 1 million times previously, the housing crisis is real. How real you may ask? To give you an idea, as an auctioneer myself - I can load a small run down 2 bedroom apartment with an energy rating of G in the city for €1500 and I will have in excess of 150 enquiries within a few hours. We`ve advertised one or two properties with no images at all and received the same amount of enquiries. A single bedroom in a house share will achieve around €550 – 700, again no shortage of enquiries. Yes, I agree the rents are astronomical. Yes, I agree the landlords want more and more for their properties bordering on greed. Yes, I agree most of these properties aren’t actually worth the rent. It is what it is unfortunately. (prices quoted for early 2020, these prices are going up in the big cities by about 5% per year on average)

Image Copyright: Cariska Dicks

Making the decision to move to Ireland was an easy one. 

I have an 8 year old daughter who is in SA private school and it costs a fortune. She needs a better future and opportunities. 

Secondly, with the development and township work that I do, it was a safety issue too since after the umpteenth hijacking, money stolen, frustration of the safety - decision made. 

The process was also fairly easy since I am on an EU passport, however we decided to come on a 2 week holiday - stay with a friend - check out the schools and what ever needed to be checked out for our final decision. That was March 2020 - the 17th (which turned out to be one of the last flights out of SA pre-lockdown) 

"Armed robbers threaten to take grandson" 5 years ago, this was the headline in the local news paper where we lived.

It was surreal to see it, as the grandson referred to was our son.

He was 4 years old at the time and his sister was 9 months old.

The event in question happened yesterday, exactly 5 years ago. It was the final push for us and as a family to move.

I contacted an estate agent and made the appointment that would lead to our house and everything we owned being sold and our feet landing on Irish soil on the 1st of December in the same year.

As many of you are at the point where you just received your final push, I thought that considering that it is now exactly 5 years later, perhaps it would help you to know if it was all worth it. This is the story of our last 5 years..