

Moving to Ireland - heldervasc
http://hvasconcelos.github.io/articles/Moving-To-Ireland/

======
tbassetto
I like this kind of feedback and I am happy to see one on the front-page :)

Shameless plug: I am also an expat, I moved to Oslo from Paris a few months
ago. Not because of the economy (I am a front-end developer, I am lucky to
have a lot of opportunities anywhere) but because my wife and me wanted to
live abroad and unfortunately we weren't able to find a job in Oil & Gas risks
analysis for her in California ;)

Turns out that it was the best decision I ever made (after my wedding of
course). I would recommend to anyone who could afford it to find a job in
another country. Obviously your will immerse yourself into a new culture
better than if you visit just for the holidays. Who knew that from Oslo you
could take public transportation and be at an alpine ski station in less than
45min? Or that with the same ticket you could take the ferry to one of the
many fjord islands? Even more shameless plug, if you are tempted by this
experience and like skiing, we are recruiting:
[http://soundrop.fm/jobs](http://soundrop.fm/jobs) Winter is coming, fast.

~~~
shaydoc
Using Vanilla JS & your own architectural design as opposed to a mainstream
framework? Reason I ask is just with regard to maintainability of the
codebase, and the ability to attract more candidates perhaps

~~~
tbassetto
I share your sentiment that it could drive away candidates and from time to
time we reevaluate the costs and benefits of switching to a mainstream
framework.

Concerning maintainability I am really happy with our codebase. Strict rules
and tooling help us keeping a clean state. You can write non maintainable code
with any mainstream framework or even confuse a new developer when writing
idiomatic code for this framework is not well defined.

------
dclaysmith
US Expat living in Dublin... Here's an article that just came out about some
cool startups in Ireland.

[http://www.geektime.com/2013/09/29/10-hot-irish-startups-
to-...](http://www.geektime.com/2013/09/29/10-hot-irish-startups-to-watch-for-
in-2013/)

------
anjc
Do you still think that there's a dynamic fast-paced IT industry here? I'm a
native, and to me it feels, for the most part (excluding some exceptional
companies), stagnant and dependent on cheap non-EU labour.

~~~
EamonLeonard
I feel that a vibrant tech industry is often a reflection of a vibrant tech
community.

Granted, a community is only a small part of an overall industry, but an
industry without community is lacking heart and soul.

And I can say, with authority, that _Dublin has a vibrant tech community_. My
company, Engine Yard, runs or hosts two meetups a week in our Dublin office,
covering subjects such as Ruby, PHP, Node JS, Scala, as well as database, Open
Data and designer / UX oriented meetups.

If you want to come to any meetups on these subject, or become more involved
in the Dublin tech community, drop me a line - eamon@engineyard.com.

In addition, for the past three years, I've been running Pub Standards Dublin,
the largest monthly gathering in Ireland of developers, designers and anyone
interested in tech - we get about 150-180 each month. See
[http://pubstandards.ie/](http://pubstandards.ie/) or
[https://twitter.com/pubstandardsdub](https://twitter.com/pubstandardsdub) for
details, you're welcome to join us any time.

I'm sorry you feel that things are "stagnant and dependent on cheap non-EU
labour". I don't feel the same, and I invite you to come out, meet your peers
and properly engage with your local tech community.

You wont regret it :)

~~~
mrud
I am totally agreeing with Eamon. Besides the mentioned meetups there is a
paper reading meetup, a google developer meetup, devops, python, coding grace,
coder dojo, TOG (a really great hackerspace) and plenty more.

I arrived a year ago in Dublin and was surprised about the variety and
diversity of the tech scene in Dublin. I really think that Dublin has a strong
and thriving tech scene.

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bruno2
Hi! I am from Portugal too and I would love to work in another country but the
problem for me is my English is lacking. How good was your English when you
lwft?

~~~
tbassetto
FYI my English was terrible (it's still not awesome TBH) but it didn't not
prevent me to find a job abroad. You should just apply when you see an
interesting opportunity.

My first interview in English was over the phone and it was really stressful.
It was enough to go to the second round (I didn't get the job though).

The upcoming interviews will get better. If you read HN and comment in
English, that's enough to give it a try.

~~~
heldervasc
It was the same for me. In my firsts interviews my english was my handicap.

------
slashdotaccount
I am constantly thinking about moving from the US to somewhere nice, please
advise me some countries, here are my "wish list" of the country where I would
love to live:

\- Civilized people

\- No extradition

\- Government is small and it respects people's freedom and privacy (which are
protected by constitution), real freedom of speech, not the one when you can
be arrested for a tweet, even if it leaked state secret or offended someone or
infringed a copyright. No copyright laws at all would be awesome.

\- No secret services

\- Reasonable laws, no death penalty or life sentence, very small quantity of
law enforcement

\- Small ratio of NumberOfPeople/NumberOfPeopleInJails

\- >1 million population in at least one city

\- At least _some_ IT industry

\- Good and affordable health infrastructure

\- No CCTVs in public places and no traffic cameras

~~~
eshvk
Somalia might fit your bill. They have a non-functioning government. No
working law enforcement. Not sure about the health infrastructure though.

~~~
krapp
But I'm sure it's a paradise compared to the cultural ignorance and savage
tyranny of life in these United States...

~~~
eshvk
Maybe it is because I have been living too long in this country, but I am not
actually sure whether you are being serious or not. This country irrespective
of whatever its faults is still light years ahead of many parts of the world;
Ethiopia where I grew up used to have a policy where the family of people who
used to get shot by the government had to pay for the cost of the spent
bullets before the body would be released.

~~~
krapp
I'm not being even remotely serious. I was mocking slashdotaccount's "wish
list", which amounted to little more than a list of prejudices and grievances
about the United States.

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heldervasc
Yes i understand your point but if you try to compare it with another European
IT realities, the Irish IT Industry has his own strengths.

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raverbashing
Sorry for the rant, but as someone who has done the process I find this post
cringeworth (and not only because of the lowercase 'I's or the huge image on
the header)

1 - Daft.ie. Period.

2 - It's not a "Welfare office", and you should go there (or not) depending on
your address

3 - Or you just slide it on their mailboxes (depending where you are, the mail
option may be more convenient)

4 - NIB? Well, AIB is good (but expensive), Bank of Ireland is not good,
Ulster bank can't get their cronjobs right, but these three (and not NIB) are
everywhere

5 - "Buy a mobile phone" or you just, you know, buy a sim card for your phone.
This can be had in 5 min. And don't worry, it's cheap

6 - No crap sherlock.

"and compare the cost of living and taxes with your city in order to properly
negotiate your salary"

And here's some good advice. I learned this, let's say, not the hard way, but
I was "surprised" nonetheless. Always ask how much your net salary would be
(and how much rent costs). For Ireland, expect around 40% of your salary to be
taken for taxes, and you can have a small single apartment in the city center
for between 600€ to 900€ (of course it's always possible to go higher)

~~~
heldervasc
it is not 40%, it depends on your civil status and your tax credits. For
single person your annual salary will be taxed at 20% until €36,400 and taxed
at 40% the rest. You have to pay also the Universal Social Charge.

[http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/incom...](http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax/how_your_tax_is_calculated.html)

~~~
raverbashing
And that's why I said "around 40%" but you're right, civil status changes it
significantly

Well, effective final % as taxes/gross pay relation is more like around 30%
unless you have a very high salary.

There are some online calculators that make it easier to calculate

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nandemo
One piece of advice that's missing: be sure to be born in Europe.

~~~
EamonLeonard
If you're from outside EU / EEA and are looking to startup something, this
might be helpful:

[http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_emp...](http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_employment/self_employment/coming_to_set_up_a_business_in_ireland.html)

[http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Start-a-Business-in-
Ire...](http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Start-a-Business-in-
Ireland/Startups-from-Outside-Ireland/)

If you're looking to work, you need a company to sponsor you, there's a green
card programme, and in practice, it's not that difficult to get in if you're a
programmer with a CS degree or equivalent experience. Sure there are forms and
red tape... but it's not as many hoops to jump through as moving to the US.

More info on work visas / green cards for Ireland here:
[http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/migrant_work...](http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/migrant_workers/employment_permits/green_card_permits.html)

~~~
ajtaylor
I was working in Ireland until 2011, under the older work permit scheme. The
major downside to this scheme was that the permit was tied to the employer -
lose your job and you have to start all over. This is what happened to me
right as the housing bubble was bursting, so we decided to leave the country
rather than try to find a new job and deal with the time, expense and hassle
of new paperwork. The Green Card sounds like a nice upgrade. I wish it had
been available when I was first applying for my job.

Paperwork aside, Ireland is a fantastically beautiful country. I suggest you
leave Dublin and head West to see the postcard Irish countryside. Get off the
Motorways and onto the backroads. It will be well worth your while. :)

