One of my friends and I are planning on moving to Ireland for a gap year. Where would be the best place for us to move? We would like to find jobs and rent an apartment. We are looking for a fairly cheap area. It does not matter to use if we are in a city or not but we would like to be relatively close to some fun nightlife. Anything you could give us would be great. If you know about any place to 19 year olds could work that would be amazing also. Also I was looking into going to university there or taking a few classes so any suggestions on that would be nice too.
Other - Ireland - 3 Answers
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1 :
Ireland has very strict immigration policies, if you're not from an EU country. If you're American, and do not have a parent that is an Irish citizen, the following conditions apply: Basically, you need at least a bachelor's degree, and a written offer of employment to present at customs when you arrive, or they're going to send you back on the next flight. If you're a student, you need all of your paperwork showing that you have been accepted at a particular university, and that you have the means to support yourself (financial aid or your own personal finances) while you are in the country. Ireland's economy is in a shambles right now, and even before the economic collapse, they were very protective of their unskilled employment, making it available only to Irish or EU citizens. You can visit Ireland as a tourist, without a pre-arranged visa, and stay for up to three months (if I recall correctly), but you would have great difficulty finding employment (it wouldn't be legal), or renting an apartment (also may not be legally possible), and you definitely wouldn't be able to apply to any universities.
2 :
The employment situation in Ireland is currently very bad, so if I were you, I'd look into going to college in Ireland instead.
3 :
Well done for wishing to try out this beautiful island! You could find yourselves a bit spoiled for choice. There are many places to consider so you may want to research each to make your minds up. The good thing is, you can get around the whole island fairly easily and you wherever you set up base, be sure to visit all the main culture centres. All cities here have their good bits and bad, cheap and upmarket. Here in Belfast where I live is fantastic, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. If you are not too fussy there are furnished apartments or 2 bedroom houses for as little as £300 p.c.m. However, furnished might mean just a sofa and a single bed in an otherwise empty house so always check exactly what you're paying for and you can often negotiate your lease to run month to month. There are 2 Universities in Belfast you might want to check out. The first is Queens University, which is located close to the city centre. It has so much going on there, you should look it up. The building itself is beautiful but I'm biased because I went there! The other is the University of Ulster. There are campus' around Northern Ireland, but again the Belfast campus is in the city centre. Student life in Belfast can be wild at times but it is what you make it. I am proud to say Belfast is one of the safest ( yes, safest!! ) cities in the U.K. and Ireland. As for work, all the major supermarkets absolutely love students so that shouldn't be a problem! Pick up an application form from customer services like I did. And if like me your luck is in, you'll start 3 days later! Hope some of this has been helpful. Belfast loves to welcome people from all across the globe and friendlier warmer people you will not meet. Its a great base to explore the entire island. You can get to Dublin in about 1hr 30. Cork is beautiful, my wife lived there for 5 years. If you like fishing, Galway and Mayo are fantastic. Fermanagh has loads to do. Basically everywhere on this island has something so pick a good base and take in as much of it as you can. I suppose I should mention flights to Europe are cheap from Ireland so you can always nip off to Paris, Rome or Madrid for a weekend too. I'm telling you, you will not want to leave these shores once you arrive. I know. I moved here from the Netherlands in 1995 and haven't looked back! Best of luck and I wish you and yours all the very best! Jordy
