Irish Bookmakers Programmer

Hi, Habr!

About a year ago I was offered a job in Ireland, to which I agreed. We moved (with the wife) a little more than six months ago, and we can assume that we have settled since then, although much is still to come. The process of preparing for the move, actually moving and adapting after not quite fast, with a lot of pitfalls (and not all of them are recruited by personnel recruiters), so I decided to share my experience.

In the hub, IT emigration has recently been publishing more and more articles about moving to different countries, but quite a bit about Ireland — I decided to fill this gap. I hope someone will be useful.

I work as a software developer at an international betting company headquartered in Dublin. More specifically, I write on Scala / Akka, although I plan not to limit myself to just that. We develop cluster fault-tolerant high-load applications.

Details below.

Prehistory

So, briefly about me: I studied for 6 years (bachelor 4 + magistracy 2) in a provincial Russian university for an IT specialty. While studying, I also wanted to try moving, to participate in exchange programs between universities in different countries, or even to go to magistracy / graduate school, but it did not work out. Probably not enough skills, experience and motivation. You can read articles from the more successful on the topic of "study abroad."

So that after graduating from the university, not to remain "overboard", replenishing the ranks of unemployed specialists with diplomas, I already got a fourth course in a local outsourcing company for the sake of experience. Although the company is international (with its headquarters in New York and offices around the world), the opportunities to work in another country even on a short-term business trip (with the exception of the only trip to fraternal Ukraine) did not work, not to mention a long-term move.

I worked there for four years: three of them at the same time with my studies 40 hours a week (now I don’t believe myself how this was possible - perhaps a topic for a separate article), another year more relaxed, not combining. More precisely, I spent my free time from that last year for mass mailing of letters / resumes and even interviews (often unsuccessful). Instead of Ireland, it turned out to get a job in another country (also European), where my wife and I lived for two years. I have pleasant memories about it, the experience is wonderful, although the prospects are not clear, but this is a topic for another single article. I also had to give up one tempting job in Asia , although the successfully completed interview left me with very pleasant impressions - I would like to work there, but I was not ready for such a move.

In Ireland, finding a job is very difficult. The fact is that the vast majority of Irish employers do not want to spend time and money on obtaining permits for foreign citizens, it is much easier and faster to take a person with citizenship of the European Union.

Why did we leave Russia?

You, probably, will be surprised, but initially there were no economic, political or social reasons, let alone economic ones. I wanted to see the world, to gain experience. Since we lived in the province, about 500 km from Moscow (which by the standards of our vast Motherland is considered even "close"), each trip abroad turned into a separate torture, because most of the time we had to fly through one of Moscow airports. In addition, a separate headache - visas. It is easy to get a visa to some countries (at the first border crossing), it’s harder to get somewhere (you can apply for it in advance, you can go to the visa center through an intermediary), but it's wildly difficult somewhere (interview at a consulate hundreds of kilometers from home). Therefore - why not take it instead, and not move closer for a long time? I did not want to move to Moscow or Petersburg.

Of course, after years I look at what is happening now in my homeland, and the hair on my head begins to move. And I am glad that we are further from this than we could be. I will not develop this topic, so as not to go into non-core political discussions.

Why Ireland?

Why did they choose Ireland? Of course, the slightly distorted youthful perception of reality, based on myths and stereotypes, had an effect, as I had never been to Ireland before. He had been a tourist in many other European countries before - he liked a lot, but it was not possible to stay there. By the way, for frequent foreign travels Ireland is a bad option (also because of visas), but more on that below. However, there are also objective reasons for choosing Ireland.

• Tongue. He is here English (which is universally useful everywhere). There is also Irish (Gaelic), but in fact it is an endangered minority language, although it has the status of a state language. With languages ​​I don’t have much, to learn some other language, the most dissimilar to neither English nor Russian, is a separate test. Maybe this is useful for the brain, but it is a waste of precious time and energy that can be spent on something else. My wife, by the way, taught French in general at school, but, unfortunately, not at such a level that we seriously consider moving to France. And, by the way, now it’s not bad at all to seize the opportunity to learn English in the language environment - there are a lot of different courses (both paid and free)!
• Citizenship. Unlike many other European countries (not all), here (for the present!) It is relatively easy to obtain citizenship. And do not give up citizenship by birth (so as not to get a visa to your homeland - visit relatives, for example). And do not even need (for now) to pass the language exam. Unfortunately, after naturalization, when staying outside of Ireland, you need to write every year that you wish to retain citizenship, as if you can take it away. While irrelevant, but perhaps it is still better and easier than getting a visa?
• Europe. First of all, it is close, albeit relatively. Let this be the western edge of Europe, nevertheless - not Australia or New Zealand. And not even America. While I did not travel back to my homeland, but relatives came to visit us. I'm afraid not everyone can master the flight to New Zealand. By the way, a direct flight of the Moscow-Dublin air route has appeared recently (there was no air before, it was necessary to fly through other airports with transfers).
• Climate. A pleasant mild temperate maritime climate, there is no hot summer or frosty winter. True, there is no need to be afraid of frost, but of serious winds or hurricanes.

Work searches

Unfortunately, I can not say anything special. More precisely, it is difficult to add something to a million articles about a career in IT on this resource - everything is the same, prepare a resume, prepare for interviews, learn the language, pump out linkedin / github / hackerrank. And remember that every next failure brings you closer to success (probably). Specifically, I found the current work for linkedin, but I will not directly advise this resource, since there are no “junk” vacancies (low salaries, high expectations, etc., there are a lot of places to go to work). It is necessary to search everywhere where it comes to mind, not least in local (for a particular country, for example) sites. Of course, the best way to search is contacts and acquaintances (networking, as is now fashionable to say), but in my case, unfortunately, this did not help. It’s just that the most tasty job vacancies first go faster "through acquaintances" and only then, if it didn’t work out, they are published somewhere in open sources.

Interview

There were few interviews with this company, only two, both deleted (with video on a webcam). And another test task (surprisingly on the topic of business, in the sense, the task was to calculate something about sports betting). With other companies more often there were much more interviews, and, as a rule (with rare exceptions), this did not end with anything good either for me (they did not offer a job) or for a potential employer (they missed such a valuable specialist as me!).

Moving

So, I had the first interview more than a year ago, on October 10, 2017, after it I was sent a test task, which I did some time in a week (it was not long to do it, it was more difficult to cut out the work week, most likely on a day off and did) . At the beginning of November, there was a second interview and almost immediately a review of successful completion and a job offer. By mid-November, a job offer was sent (not just some piece of paper, but a serious document, which is needed later for visas). In late November, the company launched the process of obtaining a work permit, which lasted two months, right up to the end of January. All this time we just waited. What added fun to us was that we were asked to come from a rented apartment, and it was unclear whether we move out and move to Ireland right away, or look for a new home in a foreign country, from which we’re about to leave, and usually take it off for a year and longer. I had to rent apartments for a few weeks on AirBnB, I had a ride. In general, on February 20 we went for an entry visa (which was done for another couple of weeks), on March 12 we packed all our belongings into boxes and gave them to the moving company (we had to look for ourselves, do not usually help with anything like that) they even threatened not to pay, but the amount there was not very large came out), on March 18 they jumped on a plane with two suitcases and flew in. March 19 was a day off because of St. Patrick's Day, and March 20 is the first working day.

Dublin met us with snow. As they say, an extremely rare occurrence even for winter, not like for the end of March. The first time I saw palm trees in the snow, unusual.

By the way, about the documents for the visa - we have made certified translations of birth certificates, marriage certificates and diplomas. And each of these documents with an apostille. But they did it for another country (where we never went), in Ireland, as I understood, there is no need for an apostille (check this point!). Translation seems to be necessary, but not sure if there is a need to certify. In general, documents are much easier than other countries. No medical insurance was required for obtaining a visa or for crossing the border. I was very surprised by this fact. Moreover, no medical examination, even flura after entry! Which is probably not very good.

After moving

And after the flight all the fun has just begun! I could work from the first day on my visa (for 90 days from the date of arrival, usually the decision on the duration of the visa is not made by the person who pastes it, but by the border guard upon entry), but I had to register with the migration service as soon as possible. Here the first zashkvvar migration system of Ireland - namely, the inability to process such a huge number of documents for migrants, or more precisely the inability to do so effectively. They say long ago in a distant galaxy there were just very long lines . It was a problem, but it was usually solved, the queue could be taken from 6 in the morning and spend all day in it. Or borrow from the evening. In short, nothing that we would not encounter in the Russian Federation, for example, when obtaining a passport (although it is said that it has now been greatly simplified, I received it a long time ago). But it seemed to Irish officials that it was not cool, it was the twenty-first century, and let's automate everything! And they made a website where you can pre-book a window in advance so that you can come in on the right day and make all the documents. Unfortunately, it only got worse. Because there are never windows. There are always more people willing, the windows appear for a short period of time, and they are quickly snapped up. Evil tongues even say that speculators are selling these windows. Just add more people to engage in paperwork have not guessed. You can also do more offices (he is one for the whole county of Dublin - and in the other counties, either the police or the mail are involved in this, in fact, being the middleman).

Well, we miraculously booked a window there much in advance, even before the flight, which was very useful for us.

The next thing to do is to register at mywelfware.ie, get a personalized social number (PPSN). It seems to be optional, but without it, it will not be possible to register with the tax authority - and if this is not done, the draconian emergency tax will have to be paid. Some recruiters and personnel officers forget about such insignificant trifles, be careful. In addition, an increased tax deduction is put if there is one breadwinner in your family, there are many different tax deductions . But even this, it turns out, is not the main thing. Without a tax certificate, it will be very difficult (almost impossible) for you to open a bank account. Let us dwell on this in more detail.

You can not just take it, come to the bank and open an account. This is done to combat the laundering of funds acquired by criminal means . To open an account, you need two documents — proof of identity (for example, a passport) and proof of address — but this is already more difficult. The link is a list of documents that fit the description, the easiest of them - the bill for utilities. Which you do not have, of course. Since you do not have housing yet, the address is also normal, since you live in a hotel that your employer has temporarily provided for you (which is also not always the case). Looking ahead, I will say that the first electricity bill usually comes two months after signing an agreement with an energy company (for which you also need a bank account, by the way, that's bad luck).

According to the link above it is written that the bank should accept "A letter from your employer ... stating that you have recently arrived in Ireland and have started work ...", but most banks deploy with such a certificate. By the way, proof of address is needed, including for receiving PPSN, but there is already enough letters from the employer. Banks to this concern more seriously. In general, a tax certificate is the simplest and fastest (and still it will come in handy later!) That a foreigner can get to go with him to the bank. And, you have to understand, even with this paper you can be turned around (there was a deal!), It is better to bring with you as much different paper as possible. And you can request to open an account in different banks (all at once), then you can give up any extras at any time. They also do this for a very long time, I have been waiting for about a month and a half. I think some bank can open an account faster, some slower.

In general, this bureaucracy (registration at the migration office, registration at the tax office, opening a bank account), though difficult, long, but with a more or less predictable reliable result. It is better not to pull this off, to make it quicker to plunge into the most difficult quest - the search for housing! Here for a good separate article should be written. But I do not have enough patience, therefore, rather briefly and concisely.

Search for housing

So, with housing in Dublin, everything is bad. No, not so, everything is VERY BAD. Little housing, wishing a lot, the competition is huge. I understand that everyone writes the same thing about any developed European capital, but it seems to me that the scale is not always the same as in Dublin. To help you understand, rental prices per square meter in Dublin have already overtaken such cities as Reykjavik, Oslo, Copenhagen, Luxembourg. And breathe in the back (while lagging behind) the prices except perhaps London or Geneva. And the quality of construction, I think, is closer to London than to Oslo. Numbeo says that odnushka in the center of Dublin will cost 1500 €, and treshka far beyond 2500 €. And I think that both figures are understated, now there are no such prices.

As you can guess, the price is only part of the problem. There is a huge demand, there are queues of 30+ people for each apartment. Naturally, the lower the price (and if the area is more or less tolerable), the more willing there are. Of course, most of your competitors did not come yesterday, many of them have European citizenship, guess who the owner will choose? If you have a family of two people, you both work on Google / Facebook, you do not have children and pets, consider yourself lucky. If the answer to any of the previous questions is negative, it means that you are destined to suffer. No kidding, there are a lot of homeless people in Dublin. They live in tents, such can be seen in many areas (I was ashamed to make a photo - after all, people live there).

The employer generously gave us 4 weeks to stay in a hotel. In fact, the apartment hotel is a hotel where there is no food, but rooms with a kitchen and everything you need, including a washing machine and even a separate dryer! Oh, how good it was there! Without exaggeration, this is one of the best areas of Dublin (Donnybrook), 10 minutes by train to the train (DART), 15 minutes to the beach and about 20 minutes to the office. Next to the embassies and consulates (or ambassadors' residences) of many countries of the world - they will definitely not choose a bad district! We paid for everything, but it cost so much more than 2000 € (I forgot the exact amount) for 4 weeks, which for a hotel of this level is even quite inexpensive by local standards.

During these 4 weeks we had to find permanent housing, the company absolutely did not help. We coped with this and found exactly ONE apartment by the end of the third week, the owner of which, by some accident, apparently agreed to shelter us for the "modest" price of a little more than one and a half thousand euros per month. For odnushku about 40 squares. All other apartments where we sent our applications and came to watch, refused. In some of them we didn’t really want to live ourselves, but there was nothing to choose from, if we were offered, we would have to agree. By that time, our boxes with things arrived in time - the hotel staff was very surprised to see how I took ~ 15 huge cardboard boxes from the courier and shoved them one by one into the room. Strange, what am I doing the first one? To move to a permanent place of residence, we took a small van (van) for a couple of hours - there is such a car sharing service - you can write about it separately (not very good, but it was fine for the move).

In general, we were lucky, but in general, four weeks may not be enough. Some have to rent an additional hotel / apartment for a short period at their own expense, someone manages to persuade the employer for additional temporary housing. I advise you to immediately bargain (neatly and politely) on this topic, some are provided with housing for just a week, and someone can be for a few months!

What else can you say about housing? There is no central heating (SHOCK!), This is in principle a great rarity for Ireland. In general, Ireland is all one-story and even the capital Dublin is no exception. Most live in houses with a maximum of one or two floors. We live in apartments where there are three floors (numbered G, 1, 2), there are several apartments on each floor, and there is even an elevator (!). But we already have three electric radiators (four, if you count the one in the bathroom). The water from the plumbing is only cold (but you can drink it, but we still filter in a jug), hot from an electric boiler. For the water supply, a strange, very noisy pump is used - it buzzes loudly when the tap is opened, it stops after closing. Sometimes it sticks. There is a micro balcony (it is a real luxury! It is rarely found), nothing fits there except a couple of pots of flowers, you can still hang something to dry - there is no place to stand, let alone put a table with chairs. The yard is a typical courtyard parking, nothing but cars and a few trees. Not even the shops.

Another curiosity about which absolutely all immigrants in Ireland and Great Britain mention are two cranes! Yes, indeed, in 2018 there are still two cranes without a mixer in many houses here - the hellish flames of Tartarus and the cold ice of the Arctic. You can live, but it is strange. The Irish are plugging the sink with a cork, taking water at the right temperature and washing their face in standing water. There are two theories - why so - 1) supposedly saving water (oddly, considering that it is free in Ireland ), 2) supposedly legionella and other pests do not multiply. I don’t know how, actually, but this tradition is very outdated. We have such a faucet in the bathroom, in the kitchen there is a faucet with a mixer, although the “faucet” does not mix the water, it flows in two streams, even if it comes from one tap.

We concluded the contract for a year, then it will have to be renewed. After settling, they send a little book with interesting information about their rights and obligations to the post office. There was no time until the end of it to read, if anyone is interested - it is duplicated on the site . Each year, they can raise rents by 4%, which is actually a guard, but at home they are becoming more expensive . The link can at the same time get acquainted with a little more relevant and fresh prices than in numbeo.

Work permit for foreigners.

In general, there are a lot of types of permits for different situations, with different features. For readers, it will be more interesting to have exactly the one that was issued to me, namely Critical Skills Employment Permit . For him, there are a number of conditions that must be met (more details on the link), if briefly,

• Salary from 60 thousand per year and any profession other than a certain black list
• Salary from 30 thousand to 60 thousand and profession from the list of especially sought after .
• You need education by profile or relevant experience. The wording is very vague - not sure how important it is the formal presence of the crust and how to prove the experience. To obtain a visa, I printed out the same resume, which I sent when I applied for vacancies.

The peculiarity of Critical Skills Permit, which is important for the employer, is that you do not need to do a market market needs test, namely, to make sure that the company did everything possible to first find an employee among the citizens of Ireland and the European Union. Such a small loophole. However, it will be refused if more than 50% of foreign citizens work in the company after hiring this employee.

A pleasant feature for an employee is that this permit is issued for two years, after which you can get Stamp 4, which gives you the right to work or conduct business on the territory of the Irish Republic without restrictions. Initially, they give Stamp 1, which "attaches" to the first employer for the first two years. After 12 months, the work can still be changed, but it is necessary to issue permission again. ( , — , ) , . () Stamp 3, . , () - , ( ), .

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Probably due to the fact that the company works with serious money, as a result - paranoid safety rules. You can not even talk about passwords that need to be constantly changed , a classic. Half of the Internet is blocked, all through proxy. What a fun telegram is blocked (who would have thought?), Gmail, google docs, google disk, dropbox. But it is not blocked, for example, facebook, twitter. Well at least github is not blocked. But that's not all ... banned all browsers except chrome, safari, internet explorer. If I were the main one in information security, I would be the first to launch this trinity. Habr opens, but without pictures. As for me, blocking browsers and the Internet does more harm than good. It also happens that some of your own corporate website does not open. Overdid ...

For work give out laptops - to choose either MacOS or Windows. Unfortunately, GNU / Linux is impossible due to some kind of exotic VPN. I know there are a lot of MacOS fans here, but I couldn’t get used to it, it’s a pain for me. It is normally impossible to use it. Yes, a bunch of corporate "spyware" software is preinstalled, which ensures that, for example, something extra is not installed (I guess). And of course, the root SSL certificate to listen for traffic (if you don’t add it, all https sites will display a browser warning).

Dining we have, but, unfortunately, not free, as in GoogleFeysbooks. And the choice is rather meager. The first couple of weeks I like it, but then it quickly becomes boring - the same thing. It costs to eat about 5-6 €, tea / coffee from 1 to 2 €, which by the standards of Dublin is very good (it is worth going outside and these prices should be multiplied by 2). Many bring food from home, microwaves / kettles - it's all there. As with any self-respecting gallery, there are fruits (bananas, apples, oranges, pears, plums, tangerines). In previous works, I managed to forget what “instant coffee” is, and here it is, this is a turn! Grain coffee only for money (or bring your own from home in capsules). Milk seems to be there, but I am not an Englishman, and I am not Irish, I drink tea / coffee without milk. I think there are no lemons / ginger (or I was looking bad).

The office is located in a quiet place, at a fairly decent distance from the center, but you can walk. But it's not difficult to get from the center - more often with transfers (I'll tell you about transport separately).

The main disadvantage of the office is the climate. Inside the building. For some strange reason (seemingly not a skyscraper), the windows cannot be opened, and the air conditioning works indecently badly. It is still possible to get used to the temperature of 24-25 degrees (although this is too much), but the humidity does not reach 30%! (I would be afraid to measure the level of carbon dioxide, and I didn’t have such a sensor at hand, alas). I don’t know if this is a coincidence or a pattern - but my experience is this: if there is a hell / heat / heat in the street and conditions that are almost compatible with life, air conditioning will work well in the office. Immediately on the contrary - on the street fresh air, trees, grass, the sea is close, and inside is stuffy.

Betting and Gambling

Of course, there are bookmaker companies in Russia, but I somehow did not particularly notice them. Casinos (legal in any case) have long disappeared in Russia, they exist in Ireland, but they are not very noticeable. But the betting shops - just darkness. In Dublin, it is impossible to count, of course, the capital. But in any, even the smallest town (which is still a city, not a village) from one street on this street there will be at least three things: a church, a pub and a bookmaker's shop. I got drunk, made a bet and went to pray for sins.

Religion

Irish society is considered quite religious, the predominant religion is Catholicism. Concentration of churches just rolls over. The churches are beautiful, but I am not particularly a connoisseur. I would not say that this is somehow strongly felt in the negative sense - everything is quite civilized, the country is modern, secular. With the naked eye to notice religion is difficult. Recently, the Pope came to meet with believers - for the sake of this they blocked a huge Phoenix Park (the largest park in Dublin - the size of a good half of the city), as it turned out in vain - people came much less than expected. Much less than the previous visit a few decades ago. A referendum on the abolition of a constitutional amendment on the subject of abortions was held in the spring - earlier it was considered a criminal offense and you could sit for it. And recently in October there was a referendum on the abolition of the law of blasphemy. The results are pleased .

Alcohol and cigarettes

There is a stereotype that the Irish drink as they breathe, and in general they are still alcoholics. Statistics show that only 21 places in the world (our immense Motherland is in the fourth). Excise taxes on alcohol are quite high. A pint of beer or cider costs about 5-6 euros in a pub. A glass of wine 6-7 euros. In the store, the same pint of beer can cost 2-3 euros (and in larger packages - cheaper!), The cheapest bottles of wine 0.7 - from 6-7 euros and more.

In general, alcohol is drunk on the street here, and you can find an alcoholic in inadequate condition (sleeping on the sidewalk), but I didn’t come across any aggression. Most people drink beer and cider, strong drinks are not so popular. Irish whiskey is probably more for sale abroad produced, in the domestic market because of excise it is not so profitable to sell. In duty-free alcohol is cheaper, but each bottle has two price tags (!) - one if you leave the territory of the European Union at departure (for example, fly to Russia / Moldova / Turkey, etc.), and the other if not - the second price tag is higher . Alas. So if you think in duty free alcohol to pack up - keep in mind how you fly - it's not a fact that there is a sense in duty-free. There is a tax free (part of the VAT refund) at every corner - unfortunately, it is irrelevant for residents - and it’s a pity we bite our elbows.
By the way, they are not ashamed to advertise alcohol, whether it be light beer or strong beer like vodka. It did not even surprise me, since it is not the first European country. Did not prohibit. We decided that high excise taxes to combat drunkenness is enough. Here is a little tolerant advertising vodka.

A pack of cigarettes costs from 12 €. But people are not particularly embarrassed, they love to smoke here. Although, of course, it is not at all on such a scale as in Greece, but cigarettes are also cheaper there.

The medicine

I can’t tell a lot about medicine. And we do not want. Since childhood, the habit of avoiding doctors and hospitals whenever possible is not from irrational fear, but in order not to catch infection once again. In Ireland, two health systems are public and private .

Strictly speaking, the first is not entirely free - more precisely, free is not for everyone. If you have no money, and you are a citizen of EU / EEA, then free. If you can afford to pay, they will make you pay. Something for free, something for a fee. But even the fact that it is free - alas, in long queues - it is possible to wait months or years to receive from the right doctor or operation according to indications. I read somewhere in the local media, I can not vouch for the truthfulness. I myself have not encountered, I hope and will not have to.

Private medicine is faster, but simply unrealistically expensive. Space prices, sometimes it seems that the toe on the right is painted arbitrarily on boredom, not on economic expediency. In addition, there is an unhealthy popularity of acupuncture, chiropractor, homeopathy - in short, something that has little to do with evidence-based medicine. Which leads to certain thoughts. But I think that this is a global trend.

The employer provides private insurance, but only to me (I can insure my family, but for an additional fee). I can also insure teeth additionally for a fee (I have not had time to use it yet, I can’t estimate it). There is a basic insurance of about 120 euros per month per person, and, interestingly, even if the company pays for it in full, the state still makes me pay taxes for it (lower taxes)! that is, somewhere around 40-60 euros per month (or rather, it is difficult to count for now), it still costs me.

Despite the insurance, you still have to pay for the medical services and pay a lot. Insurance can cover 50-75% of the cost of admission, that is, roughly speaking, if admission + examination costs 200 euros, of this insurance will pay 100-150, and the rest from your pocket. There is one name from insurance - in fact, you buy a "discount card" for treatment. This is not what you call insurance against risks, since everything comes up against fairly low limits: just that - you have already spent them and you have to pay out of your pocket. Probably, next year I will refuse such insurance - maybe it is worth looking for another one - but I am not sure that they are better.

And yes, this “insurance” also covers services (also within the limits and in 50-75%) of such indispensable specialists as homeopaths and osteopaths. A curtain.

I also tried to donate blood - for the first time they gave a huge questionnaire and made a small interview of various questions (to which countries I traveled, what I was sick in childhood, etc.). And for the first time they took a small dose only for a sample - they said to come in three months "if we do not call you." In the sense that if they called, it means something found bad. Recently they sent an SMS reminder that I can donate blood not for fun, but for real - I cannot find any time and energy. No, donors don’t treat stoutom (although there are legends that they used to do this before), but they are offered tea / coffee and fruit / cookies for free.

Medicines are quite expensive, and something potent by prescription. While we did not have to buy anything more powerful than band-aids, lollipops from the throat, or pain medication, I hope not to. As long as we are young, healthy, strong, you can live, but old age (when you need often and a lot of drugs) I would prefer to live in some other country where it is more accessible. Something can be brought from abroad, but keep in mind that drugs must be imported carefully - different countries have different prohibitions, and something can get a criminal offense. For example, in most civilized European countries, metamizole sodium (anesthetic), which is popular in the countries of the former USSR, is prohibited (or strictly by prescription) because of such serious risks and side effects.

About banks

About how difficult and long to open an account - told above. That's not all. Banks are generally slow and slow, as from the last century. What you are accustomed to, what will be done in a Russian bank in one day (some piece of paper or a transfer), will most likely take several days - nothing catastrophic, you just need to remember that. Today in Ireland (and not only - in Europe in general) two FINTECH startups are quite popular (I will not mention names in order not to make advertisements, you will easily find them) - one from the United Kingdom, the second from Germany. Something like a mobile bank - using them is much more beneficial than classic monster banks. I use the first one for remittances and currency conversions - I made a lot of money when renting an apartment - through it I transferred the deposit. The second has not had time to use it.

Most banks cost money to maintain - someone takes a fixed fee for servicing an account once a month, someone once a quarter. Cash back (return of interest on the card) is almost not encountered (with a few exceptions), on the contrary (SHOCK!) Most banks take money for every purchase and (or) cash withdrawals! It happens that one takes a commission only for withdrawal, but not for purchases, it happens that they do not charge for tap (payments by touch) but for ordinary purchases, or vice versa. The rates are easy to get confused.

There is a life hack (banks do not hide it and even advertise, in fact, it’s wrong to call life hack - these are tariff conditions) how to avoid most (or even all) commissions - either to keep the minimum amount of a round amount (about 2000-3000 euros) on the account or transfer every month a similar round sum (create a turnover of funds). As a result, rich banks are served almost for free, and the poor pay and cannot save anything, such is injustice. Something in this world is wrong, if in 2018 we have to pay decent money for servicing a piece of plastic and a couple of tables in a DBMS ...

On deposits, interest is not serious (like almost everywhere in the EU), taxes from this micro income also have to be paid. I can’t say anything about securities, I didn’t buy anything, except that there are taxes on them too. SHOCK - there are taxes on credit cards and debit cards , up to 30 € per year! (below about the other taxes in more detail).

Loans are very popular, banks are very aggressively advertising them, but there was no need and reason to use them. The real estate loan here is not called the harmless Greek word "mortgage", but the threateningly sounding French "mortgage", from the word "mortal = mortal", which symbolizes a little. "To death obliged". The mortgage rate is about 3 to 4.5%. Say, a little, they say, in Russia is much more? Do not forget that the eurozone is a much more stable currency, and the euribor is generally negative ! By the standards of the EU, this is a rather high percentage - in other countries you can take it at 1.5-2% (and real estate will be cheaper).

Connection

Mobile services are provided by the local Big Three - Vodafone, Three, Eir. I can’t say anything bad or good about Vodafone - I don’t have to use it. Three has terrible quality, and the service (communication with support) is even worse. Eir doesn’t make me happy with support, but the quality is a bit higher. There are still many virtual operators - but they say that most of them are based on hardware from Three.

For some time we used Eir on prepayment - every 4 weeks to throw some amount into the account, for it give 15 gigabytes + either minutes, or text for 20 €. Or both for 30 €. And this is not counting the fact that social networking traffic is charged separately (for it the limit is about 60 gigabytes). When at home there is a normal Internet, I find it hard to imagine where to spend such lots of traffic. But when there is no other Internet, they fly away quickly. The contract (on contracts in general below) is not particularly profitable - but there are more risks. Perhaps it makes no sense to climb from the prepayment to the contract - but we crawled.

After some time (when they made a bank account and got used to it a little) they connected their home Internet under an agreement with Eir - and they got contracts for two SIM cards - they were given discounts - it turned out more or less profitable. It costs 40 euros per month for the first year, then if the contract is not canceled, the price will jump to 100.

By the way, despite the fact that they call the tariff plan fiber (fiber), there is no fiber there, the usual VDSL. The speed is quite average (about 5/1 megabit download / upload).

Irish "service"

In general, the service in Ireland is not very. This applies to banks, telecom operators, insurance companies, real estate agencies, courier companies and much more. I do not even know what the matter is - probably, first of all, the culture of the consumer - it is not developed. Although globalization as a whole is slowly correcting, Ireland is developing very slowly. Something (first of all, communication) can be explained by monopolization - the monopolist creates what he wants, plunders the population and does nothing useful. Real estate agencies work this way because of the situation in the market - they live well - they have a constant profit, the demand is huge - so you can score on quality.

Separately it is necessary to say about the contracts. All contractual services, whether it is rental housing, Internet, electricity / gas, fitness clubs. The contract cannot be canceled just like that, except in exceptional cases, I will not list them, there are many subtleties - read the conditions - oh, how good it is when the contract is in English, even if it is dry legal English. In the general case, early cancellation of the contract = penalty in the amount of all unused days. That is, if you sign a contract for 50 € per month for the Internet (600 € per year), borrow a month and say "I changed my mind", the remaining 550 € will make you pay anyway. If, in the case of a fitness club, I can still understand the meaning of such conditions (they have to pay for the rent of the premises, for electricity, etc., regardless of whether the hall is empty or full), but in the case of telecom operators, this is some kind of scam. I didn’t recognize the tariff freeze, I'm afraid they don’t know such words, and in general they will be surprised if I ask.

Money is withdrawn directly from a bank account via direct debit. This is convenient for the service provider (and most importantly cheap!), But inconvenient for you. And if wrong will be removed? I tried to withdraw for a canceled contract, appealed against it in time and decided everything at all, but spent my nerves ... The only advantage that comes to mind is "it is technically impossible to forget to pay." In case there is not enough money on the account for direct debit, the bank will fine you with a commission.

Climate

I do not know who thought it was supposed to be in Ireland all year round 365 days a year, 24 hours a day it rains. It is a myth. The amount of precipitation here is not much higher than the average in Europe. For example, comparing in Moscow - 758 mm per year against 691 mm, well, not very noticeable difference. But, for example, in Sydney there are already 1,223 mm . (I was not there, they just say that the whole of Australia is a giant desert the size of the mainland - is it also a myth?)

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Of the important I will add (which is now being discussed in the Russian Federation) about import duties. Now in the Russian Federation, you can order up to 1000 € without a fee, they want to reduce this threshold to 500 € and the people howl. Attention, in Ireland, this threshold is TWENTY TWO EURO (22 €) . Moreover, a courier company in addition to the actual VAT (if more than 22 €) or duty (if more than 150 €) can force you to pay your additional "commission" for this service.

For what came up with a tax on credit cards, I did not understand. The debit card tax applies only to cash withdrawals and amounts to 12 kopecks per withdrawal, but not more than 5 € per year. This money goes to the state, not to the bank (the bank sets its commission separately). There is at least some logic - so that there is less cash.

Not really a tax, but close in meaning. TV license . Yes, the license is for the TV, on the receiving device, not on the broadcast. Money goes into the pocket of the local monopolist RTE, very "convenient." It’s good that we don’t have a TV, and we don’t have to pay this license (although we received a letter “why you don’t have a license”). Judging by the rather large fines of 1000-2000 €, and subsequently a prison, watching TV without a license is almost a criminal matter. This system is criticized, but so far nothing has changed. Personally, I think this is a zakshkvar, if you want me to pay you to watch your channel - make a paid encrypted channel, and subscribe keys, that's all!

The size of the tax burden is one thing. But spending efficiency is different. And to this, to put it mildly, there are questions. But it will be far from the topic, I see no reason to discuss.

Tolerance

It feels like xenophobia is zero or close to zero. More tolerant society in Europe still search. You come to the neighboring Belgium or the Netherlands (we haven’t been in the UK yet), all at once seem to be some sullen. Migration laws are harsh, yes, but this does not apply to people. I have not heard the slogan "Ireland for the Irish" or "bring back to your banana republic." For some reason, I am often confused with a Pole - firstly, there are really a lot of them here, and secondly, apparently, the appearance is really similar. Just as it is difficult for me to distinguish an Englishman from an Irishman (outwardly at least). If they find out that from Russia, in response, "wow, cool, tell me how it is there." Or "tell me how you feel about Vladimir."

But there is an unpleasant side. Areas. A very big contrast between "prosperous" and "disadvantaged" areas. In Russia, there is still no such contrast, well, not such a scale. In the first live much more expensive for obvious reasons. Secondly, various untidy personalities hang out. Simply put, Gopnik. They can beg for trifles, but they didn’t come across any manifestation of aggression at all.

Clothing style is unusual. And in the winter in the cold and in the summer in the heat, these people can wear shorts + jacket + cap (and maybe a scarf). Some kind of incredible passion for shorts. I don’t even wear them in the summer. A cap in +20 is also something. In general, according to the weather, a minority is dressed here (I'm from this minority) - the majority will dress either too easily in the cold, or too wrap themselves in the heat. The latter are most likely to be migrants from southern countries (America, Africa, southern Asia, southern Europe).

Kitchen

About Irish cuisine in short: I do not like it. Not mine. From popular fish and chips (fried cod breaded with french fries), bangers and mash (sausages with macaroons with mashed potatoes), beef stew (beef stew). Now, even in the comments, the British will begin to argue that this is all English cuisine. I think it’s like Russian-Polish vodka. The Irish have some unhealthy passion in mayonnaise, and in general a lot of fatty foods. In the sweets (cookies, chocolates, sweets) they put some horse doses of sugar, to which I am not used (I prefer the "bitter" chocolates, where there is more cocoa). But local potato chips are surprisingly tasty (it is popular to add vinegar there). By the way, chips = potato, crisps = chips.

But I surprisingly appreciated the butter. I never ate at home, but here I take it. Tastier. I can't evaluate milk, I don’t drink, I miss a bit of yogurt and yogurt.

As a possible consequence - a lot, I'm sorry, fat. Maybe in England even more, but did not compare. There is great contrast with mainland Europe. Surprisingly, all this is combined with the fact that slim and fit too much, popular fitness clubs, jogging in parks, etc. Perhaps these two groups of people live in different non-intersecting universes.

Prices

Living in Ireland is not cheap. But not everything is so terrible. You can roughly estimate the price level by numbeo. Hardest of all, as already mentioned, afford real estate beats. Then insurance (whether medical or automotive). Car maintenance is expensive, but in Dublin it is not such a necessity. For those who like to walk a lot, like me.

Medicine can go a lot of money even if there is insurance (and without it, it’s scary to imagine, I won’t). Travel by bus (by leap-card, cash is more expensive) from 1.5 € to 2.6 €, by tram from 1 € to 2.50 €, by train from 1.81 € to 4.75 €. For adults. Depending on the distance (zones) - it is difficult to count, it is better to entrust automation (only in the bus you have to call it yourself).

About food. The two most popular hypermarkets Irish SuperValu and Tesco English have websites, they have prices. And this is not just a catalog of goods, it is possible to order delivery there. We tried it once. This is a very topic, a lot of time is saved, especially if you need to stock up for a week or two with something heavy, for a large family, but there is no personal transport. Shipping cost will pay for the fare, not to mention time. So you can look through, evaluate. As for me, the prices are quite average European, lower than the Norwegian or Danish (in Switzerland and Iceland have not yet happened). Grech costs about 5 € per kilogram, which of course is robbery, but what to do. The Irish eat potatoes, a lot of potatoes. There are also German LIDL / ALDI, they are cheaper, but the choice is simpler there (some people call these networks European analogs of "Pyaterochka").

About the communal find it difficult to answer. Garbage collection is included in our rent (quite typical, if you rent an apartment, not a house), water is free for everyone (the link above was thrown), we pay separately only for electricity. For about six months, we paid three bills (once every two months) for an approximate amount of € 375 (a little more than € 60 per month). But this summer (plus a bit of spring and autumn), in the winter we expect to pay more, since electric heating. In general, absolutely everything is electric, there is no gas. Electric boiler, electric stove.

Conclusion

What's next? Well, so far, despite all the flaws, we like it here. It is difficult for me to understand what makes citizens of other EU countries come here, but it’s obvious what those who don’t have this citizenship live here - to get it later, and with it visa-free entry to a huge number of countries and the right to free movement on the European Union.

We are not planning to move anywhere, at least in less than two years it’s unprofitable to quit my job, and my wife really likes it, not least thanks to language courses. And of course we do not build any long-term plans, there is nothing to buy housing for, we’re looking at the rental market with caution and in general we need to live here with cautious optimism (and not to survive without optimism!).

Most minor flaws easily close your eyes. The most tangible and poorly compensated is the high cost. Therefore, I think that the perception of reality among specialists moving to top technology companies like Google / Facebook / Amazon / Apple / ??? is very different. It is much easier to ignore flaws when they can be plugged with worn bills (metaphor).

I would recommend those who want to go to Ireland to 1) live in an English-speaking country, pump up the language 2) get out of the comfort zone 3) test yourself for psychological strength. This seems to be a test, but rather for the psyche than for life and health (as when moving to Africa, for example). 4) for the sake of nature, the Atlantic, the climate - if you are from this fan.

I would not recommend going to Ireland if 1) you have children or you are planning them 2) you have chronic sores or old age 3) for the "long" euro 4) for stability and confidence in the future 5) for a career (but here depends on the specific job, I rather lost in my career).

Both the first and the second are very subjective, I admit that your opinion may differ.

The article turned out to be long, but I set myself the goal to write everything, not to miss anything, and not to split it into pieces. If suddenly there will be many questions, maybe for the sake of detailed answers and write a sequel.

But it is much more convenient (both for writing and for reading) not to throw out such huge sheets of text, but to broadcast what is happening in short portions in real time. That's what I got myself a telegram channel . Advertising of third-party blogs here is strictly prohibited by the administration (which is true), but you can find it in this directory or on the map (a small hint: the nickname is the same as here).

Thank you for your attention and kowtow to those who could manage the entire sheet to the end.

(roe deer from the Dublin Phoenix Park sends greetings to the Habr audience)