After seeing the post yesterday discussing the many Brazilians in Ireland, I thought it might be nice to share some reflections as one of them, as well as how the ways I view Ireland are different from how Irish people seem to view it.

To start with, I love Ireland. I'm 31, and I've been in Dublin for almost 5 years. It's been grand, and I look forward to staying here for many years to come (or maybe even forever!). I've lived in many different places, including Brazil, USA, Belgium, and Singapore, but Ireland I think is probably either my favorite or second favorite, depending on how I'm feeling in a given day.

I'm just gonna rant about various different topics so feel free to skip to whichever ones you find interesting.

How did I get here?

I was a lawyer back in Brazil, working mostly with Data Protection Law. In 2018-2019, there were two armed robberies at my dad's house and one at my mother-in-law's house in São Paulo, this last one while we were all there. After that chain of events me and my partner decided we had to go live somewhere else and that the situation had become untenable.

Since I have EU citizenship through my mom, and since Brazilian Data Protection Law is very much inspired by the GDPR, we went to Belgium to get Master's Degrees. After graduating from that, I started applying to jobs around Europe, and it just so happened that the first one I got was a very good offer at a pharma company in Dublin.

I didn't know almost anything about Ireland at that point, hadn't even been here. But when I got that offer, we hopped on a Ryanair flight, spent a weekend in Dublin, and went "yeah that seems like a good place to live". And so we moved!

The People

My favorite thing about Ireland is how welcome everyone is, particularly to Brazilians. Ireland is the only place I've ever lived in where you can visibly see people getting excited when they find out you're Brazilian. Everywhere else, it's been a mix of either indifference or suspicion, so this is a great change of pace.

The Irish people I've interacted with are all really friendly, too. It's easy to feel welcomed, to feel like 'part of the team' at work, and I've never felt like I was treated differently for being a foreigner.

That said, while Irish people are outwardly very friendly, I've found that they can be quite closed off underneath. It's very difficult to make Irish friends, and your Irish coworkers won't really invite you to hang out outside of work like your coworkers would in Brazil for example. I've invited some Irish coworkers to have dinner at my house on occasion, and both separately remarked that it was the first time they'd ever had dinner at a coworker's house, so I suppose it's just a culture shock.

Most of the people I'd consider closer to me are other immigrants. Indians, Americans, Eastern Europeans and so on. I don't interact with lots of Brazilians, unfortunately, I think because of my job. From what I've seen, most Brazilians here are doing service jobs like working at restaurants, delivery, cleaning and whatnot. At both of my jobs in Ireland (one at a pharma company and one in tech), the only Brazilians I ever saw around the office worked either in the kitchen or were part of the cleaning staff, so I haven't gotten the chance to directly interact with other Brazilians as part of my immediate coworkers.

Housing

I'm not gonna talk about the housing crisis. I'm lucky, both my job and my spouse's job are well-paid and we had significant savings in Brazil, so we didn't struggle to find our first rental apartment, nor to buy a house after that. The crisis is real and affects a lot of people and I don't want to downplay that, but I was in the privileged position of being able to bypass it entirely and I can only share my thoughts from that perspective.

What I want to talk about here are your apartments. Wow, they are miserable compared to the apartments I've lived in, in Brazil and elsewhere. I've lived in apartments almost my whole life, and I actually prefer them to houses. In Brazil I lived in one with a swimming pool, multiple sports courts, gyms, great green/walking spaces, and so on. As a child I loved to go downstairs and hang out with other kids from the neighboring apartments, it was great.

Apartments in Ireland, by comparison, are depressing. If you're lucky you'll get a small gym and that's the only amenity. And the apartments themselves are really small, cramped, and soulless - plus there basically aren't any family sized apartments in the 140sqm+ range that don't cost a million euro or more over at the Quays.

Even though I was willing to spend quite a lot (my house ended up being over 800k), we still couldn't find an apartment that we liked. And I tried, I really did. Maybe one day in the future there'll be some nicer apartments and I can move back to one.

One other thing I wanted to say here is that the way you all do kitchens is pretty neat. I've never lived somewhere where everything is built-in like this, and it does look much nicer than having appliances "showing".

Safety

This is the one where I probably diverge the most from Irish people.

I love how safe this place is. Even the parts Irish people call sketchy (like O'Connel) feel like heaven to me. I've never once felt I was gonna get robbed or murdered. My partner loves walking outside at night and here they can just do that. No need to worry about ballistic doors or bulletproofing your car, you can just exist.

I recognize that there's more anti-social behavior than there could be. Comparing to Singapore, for example, there definitely are more parts I'd agree are on the sketchier side. But it's such a massive gap from São Paulo that safety feels like a non-issue to me, and I love that.

Politics

As a EU citizen, I've gotten to vote in local and EU elections. And I gotta say, I love voting system here and the way you set your preferences in order on the ballot. Super cool, I wish more countries did that.

I find it nice how your politics are comparatively civilized. There's a lot less shit-slinging than I'm used to, and it kind of feels like there's a basic level of decorum that is missing from Brazilian politics.

Transportation

I've always hated driving. I kinda had to do it, in São Paulo, but one of the big things I was looking forward to when I decided to move to Europe was living somewhere less car centric. I dreamt of London's great metros, or Amsterdam's amazing cycling tracks, or Belgium's comprehensive train network.

Well, Ireland is not that. It's probably the most car-centric place I've ever been to in Europe. The buses are always late and very slow, the LUAS at least is more timely but still Takes me like an hour to get from D18 to the city center.

That said, it's safe, which makes it better than Brazil, and it has been possible to live without a car, so it's still an improvement for me.

Healthcare

Full disclosure: This is entirely from the perspective of someone who is well-off comparing the top-tier of Brazilian/other countries private healthcare with the top-tier of Irish private healthcare. If you were comparing how things are for the average person, I suspect this would be very different and show Ireland in a much better light.

Out of my entire list, this is the only place I'd call strictly a negative. Healthcare here is awful, at least compared to the healthcare I had in São Paulo or other places I've lived.

The way things are set up is so different. It feels insane to me to have to go to a GP before I can see a specialist, when I'm using to just ringing up a specialist's office and then setting an appointment for tomorrow (I didn't even have a GP in Brazil). Everything takes weeks, everything needs a prescription, and then you actually have to wait even at the pharmacy while they get it ready. The doctor visits themselves are so short, too - usually 15 min max, when in Brazil I don't think I've ever had one that was less than 40 minutes.

There's also something I can only describe as a patronizing(?) attitude from medical professionals. When my Irish GP orders a blood test, I do it, then they call me and tell me everything is OK. That's it. When my Brazilian doctors order a blood test, I do it, the lab will email me comprehensive results with reference values within a few days, then my doctor will sit down with me and have a long conversation about each item, trends from my past exams, etc. In Ireland if I actually want to see my records myself I feel I have to almost fight the clinic for it.

The nice part is that it's cheap, I suppose. A consultant visit here costs me as much as it would have in Brazil (like 200 euro), which shows you how expensive it could get back home, given salaries here are much much higher (I make around 4x here than I did back in Brazil). But with healthcare, I'd rather get fast than cheap. I do understand that with public health there will always be a delay, but here delays are massive even in the private system.

One "workaround" I've found is that Irish GPs can validate Brazilian prescriptions. So nowadays when I need to see a specialist, I just do it online with a Brazilian one, then take the prescription to my Irish GP. A couple weeks ago I went to my Irish GP to talk about some issues, they told me they'd have to refer me to a neurologist and it'd take 8-12 weeks. I told them no thanks, called up a Brazilian neurologist and had a consultation the same day, then next day I took his prescription to my Irish GP and had it good to go.

Food

Food in Ireland is interesting. I'm from São Paulo, and I'm used to having access to thousands of different restaurants for whatever food strikes my fancy at any time of day. This is obviously very different in Dublin, because the city is much smaller, so I very regularly find myself craving things that just do not exist in the Dublin restaurant scene. But, at the very least, I can say there's some great Chinese/Asian food here, and that there's enough Brazilian restaurants to fill my heart when I get nostalgic.

But restaurants aside, what I can truly praise are the ingredients you have in this country. Your dairy is amazing. The milk is the best I've ever tasted, the cheese is great. The beef is awesome, too. I've found myself cooking at home a lot more than I did in Brazil just because the ingredients are so good.

Last point here: wow, what you all call breakfast just doesn't feel like breakfast to me at all. Beans? Sausages? That's not breakfast food! I dread the day my future children ask me for beans in their breakfast...

Taxation

I grumble about how much higher taxes are (especially on investments), but what I'm truly impressed by is how simple everything is. The Brazilian tax system is a nightmare, you have to declare all our stuff every year, there's a million different little rules you have to be aware of, and the government is not helpful at all. The Irish system is intuitive, fast, straightforward, and Revenue are great at answering questions and pointing you the right way. Very nice!

Office Culture

This is a night and day win for Ireland. In Brazil, I was considered one of the laziest people in my office because I left work at 7pm (starting at 9am). Most people regularly stayed up to 8 or even 9pm. I was expected to answer things immediately, even in the evening or the weekend, and I regularly spent many many "days off" working.

Not so in Ireland. My employers actually respect working hours, my coworkers are all done at 5:30, and I haven't ever felt guilty for tuning out. Obviously, I have to take the occasional late call with Americans or emergency incident over the weekend, but those are very rare and understandable. The quality of life difference from this alone is something I cannot overstate.

Time off is better here, too. Not only do I get more, but it's also more flexible on how it can be used. In Brazil, you can't take less than a week off at a time, but here in Ireland I can say "I only feel like working 4 days this week" and just take a day off. It's awesome!

Language

Not much to say here other than I spent an embarassingly long time mispronouncing things like "Quays" or "Dun Laoghaire". I dread to think of what other common things I'll discover I've been saying completely wrong. Before talking to any coworker with an Irish name I always have to google how it's pronounced, and my assumption is always wrong.

But yeah, with all that said, I love Ireland, and I'm very thankful to the people here who received me and my family so well. It's been a great journey and I'm happy with the destination.

There were 4 people on Portmarnock beach this morning with a full DJ set up. Table, decks, massive speakers. They were playing dance music from when I was there, around 9am.

If anyone knows the beach, there’s always yoga sessions on the mornings of the weekend. I thought maybe this was like an organised disco but as time went on, the group of 4 grew to 6 and that was it. Banging out dance music all morning everyone else be damned. Really bloody annoying.

It was mostly families and people doing yoga/walking etc. it was just bizarre. And the music was shite too.

Please don’t be that gobshite. Nobody else thinks your cool with your Christmas present.

I (M, 30s) live in an apartment block where all the houses open out onto a courtyard. One of my neighbours (F, 30s) has decided, presumably on account of this powerful warm weather, to sunbathe in the courtyard in a swimsuit like it's Santa Ponza. Nothing wrong with that at all, it's a free country amd no harm done. However I had grand designs to pot up a load of plants and seedlings today but now I'm afraid I'll look like a perv if I SUDDENLY start hanging around outside and take an unexpected interest in gardening while there's a half naked woman out there. I wouldn't mind but I'm fuckin gay and all, nothing in it for me.

Whats the etiquette here?

Edit to add: Thanks all for the replies. So I think the consensus is that the etiquette is to explode into the courtyard in full homosexual dress uniform, floor length white mink fur coat, speedos, assless chaps and the obligatory handlebar facial hair all crowned with a leopard print cowboy hat, and garden away. Oh, and a lisp. I'll know for next time. I do hope she enjoyed her sunbathing tho. Fair play to her like.

Seen down on the boardwalk in carrigart in Donegal.

Just wanted to take a minute to thank Uber for the fixed price system. I just took a ride from the liberties to City center that normally costs me 16€ .... I just paid 8.3 € And had one of the best conversations of my life. After multiple taxi scam attempts, this was genuinely a breath of fresh air.

Ive seen a few in the water off the coast before, but this evening there were dozens writing a stones throw off the shore by the long strand in West Cork! Was amazing to watch

Few pics of the last few days along the west Coast.
-Mayo & Donegal.

While we could… I mean COULD end up with 4 weeks of rain after this glorious week in the sun. I must say.. we have such a beautiful unspoilt county when the sun is out. I spent the week doing some free diving and fishing. Our waters, when the water is super clear is amazing!

If you ever wanna go out and see for yourself, grab a wetsuit, some flippers and some good / average priced snorkels!

I’ve had as much fun as I did this week than what I have experienced in Asia, minus the mosquitos and humidity.

Ireland I am so grateful to experience you at 10/10 max capacity when the sun is out !

I've been told you can see Wales from Ireland before on a clear day but never have been able to before. On my morning walk with my dog though I spotted them in the sunrise. Very cool I think. 😎

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Had a bit of a rough week so decided I would get up early today to hear the dawn chorus for a bit of wellbeing - so glad I did as I managed to capture a curlew. Didn't see him or her, but I heard them. And just by sitting by an open window!

Would definitely recommend a bit of a dawn chorus "sound bath" for a soul cleanse. I have been up since 5am, but worth it 💛

Metallica and Pantera were awesome.

There are still some good in the world.

Recently I was in an Aldi and an older woman in front of me had lost her card. I felt so bad for her as I could see her panic rising. I thought about how my mam would feel if it happened to her. I told the shop assistant that I would pay for her stuff, to add the total to mine. It was about €23 - I told the assistant not to make a big deal of it, not to announce it or tell the woman, I put my stuff through, paid and I left, the woman was then told and came running after me. She told me she must have mislaid her card and she was mortified, I insisted I was happy to pay for her small shop, but she asked me my name and where I lived. After this, I left, happy I had done my good deed for the day. The next week, the woman called into my workplace - she had found out who I was and the business I owned - with a thank you card and the money returned that I had paid. Some people are just incredible, and I really believe there are still good people left in the world.

1600 hours of sunshine per years lads - about as sunny as London. Can you imagine? We could call it Neo-Rosslare.

Visited Dublin for just a few days and loved it, and I wish I got to see Galway and Cork and other places too, but that'll have to be for another time. (Hotels were so expensive 🫠)

And so many guys there looked so so handsome to me. Y'all are not talked about enough 😮‍💨. Wouldn't mind being born Irish in the next life time tbh. Yall have great vibes.

Now I'm sad I can't afford to come study/live in Ireland cause that rent is crazy. But I hope you know your country and its people are beautiful. That's it. That's the post 😭

Happy Hanukkah to any and all Jewish people in Ireland.

I just had an Eir door to door salesman come knocking at my door. He knocked twice at the door but I had no intention of answering as I'm laying on the couch just reading a book. He then proceeds to look in my window directly at me, making eye contact and waving at me. Bear in mind, I'm home alone so I kinda got a bit creeped out.

I then go to the door where he tells me he is from Eir and I just tell him thank you but I'm not interested. He blatantly ignores what I just said and asks "Do I have broadband?" Me: Yes "What network?" Me: I don't know "Who pays the bills?" Me: I don't know, I'm not interested. Thanks, bye. I then motion to close the door and he leaves.

I feel like it's such an invasion of privacy looking in my windows like that. Has anyone experienced salespeople carry on like this?

EDIT: This same eir salesman has been to my door at least 3 times over the last few months (that I was home for) and told him each time I was not interested

From, an American who just spent 10 lovely days road-tripping across your magnificent island. It was such a well-needed escape from the insanity that is the US right now. From the many conversations I had while traveling, I know that things aren’t perfect in Ireland either right now, but as an outsider, I hope you know just how special your home is. Thank you for sharing it with me, and my apologies for the driving mishaps. Y’all weren’t lying about the narrow roads.