A friend of mine has just been offered a job. The salary is a lot better than what he's on at present, and there are a lot of perks. On paper, this sounds like the opportunity he'd be crazy to miss.
Here's the trick. The job is in England, but he really enjoys his life in Ireland. His job is interesting, he rents a little cosy house and gets along very well with his housemate, he likes the town, the people, the pub next door... In his own words "Life is peaceful here".
The truth is, I have never met any foreigner who didn't enjoy living in Ireland and all my friends who went back home have very fond memories of the country. Most of them come back for regular holidays, and a few even came back for good after an unsuccessful stint in France.
We can say what we want about Ireland: recession, high cost of living, terrible weather, but there's one thing I know. It might be down to the "Sure, it'll be grand" general attitude but life here is more relaxed. I know this is just personal experience, but I think Irish people have this ability to laugh about pretty much anything (especially themselves), they're welcoming, open-minded and less judgemental than the French.
Sure we all have our problems. Mine are mainly the high cost of childcare and the fact that we're in negative equity and can't sell our apartment. But on the whole, I think we have a better quality of life than if we were in France.
If I won the Lotto, would I go back to France? Probably not. I miss my friends and my family more than ever and if I could, I would just go back more often to see them.
But the bottom line is, I love living here, and no amount of money will change that.
