Ireland, how many people live there. Life in Ireland: pros and cons according to emigrants
Of course, life during the crisis is a little different from life during the years of the “Celtic” phenomenon, but it is all the more pleasant to note that outwardly this had little effect on the inhabitants of Ireland. They are as friendly and attentive as during the years of the country’s economic recovery. And this attitude extends not only to compatriots, but also to everyone around them, regardless of their nationality.
This is celebrated by everyone who lives or visits the island of Ireland. Recently, we talked about a Russian warship that called at the port of Dublin, and so the captain of the ship, in his interview with a Russian newspaper, emphasized not only the special beauty of the island, but also the amazing friendliness of the inhabitants. But a sea captain has something to compare with.
Returning to our impressions, we note that during our residence in Ireland, we did not experience not only any wary or dismissive attitude towards ourselves, but even a hint that we were “strangers”. Moreover, everyone around, neighbors, church, just Irish acquaintances, strive to express their support and show attention.
We have already written about, and now a few more touches. For example, our neighbor, knowing that we were returning from vacation in the middle of the night, waited for our arrival and brought out groceries for our children. Or, for example, the priest of the church, the same one that was built with money and where we are parishioners, left us his during his vacation, when we did not yet have a car.
And this is not to mention the signs of attention and friendliness from the Irish that one encounters every day. For example, all employees of various institutions generally greet you with the question “What can we do for you”? It’s especially nice when you know that you often won’t find such an attitude towards yourself in your homeland. And immigrants love it. It is not for nothing that at the moment, about 10% of the Irish population are immigrants.
And the country is making every effort to ensure that these people are adequately integrated into society. They are given the opportunity to study (even in adulthood), improve their skills and a committee has already been created to attract immigrants to Irish politics. And all this, against the backdrop of quite impressive social and financial support for low-income immigrant families.
Irish primary schools (up to and including Year 6) provide support for children from other countries. So, in schools, there are special teachers who help immigrant children “pull up” their English and get comfortable in an unfamiliar environment. There are also assistant teachers in the classrooms, who, however, help all children with poor academic performance, regardless of their nationality.
In our opinion, religious education in Irish schools also has a positive effect, including introducing children to and initiating teenagers, through, into independent life. To some extent, this helps young people to refrain from the addictions of our time.
We also hear almost no evidence of discrimination against immigrants in the workplace. That is, a person is treated depending on what kind of worker he is, and not on what nationality he is. Although, in those sectors of the Irish economy where foreign workers predominate, for example in the Hotel Industry, there is often an insufficiently careful attitude towards personnel. But, most likely, this is explained by the fact that in this labor market, supply far exceeds demand.
In the format of this post, we were not able to talk about the daily life of the Irish, but it will be all the more pleasant to return to this topic again.
I continue to publish stories from our compatriots about life abroad. Today we will talk about Ireland.
"Hello. I am Maxim Bugrov, a native of Estonia, born in Ida-Viru County. I am 34 years old. Born, like most of us, in a country that no longer exists. Despite the fact that he received citizenship and mastered the state language, he remained a citizen of the USSR. Due to the fact that many citizens of the former USSR for the most part were unable to adapt and succeed in the changed conditions of wild capitalism, including myself, in 2005 I had to leave for a better life in Ireland, where I still live in the capital of this country, Dublin. Managed to capture a piece of the Celtic Tiger, or economic growth boom. For a long time he worked as an engineer installing and maintaining signal systems in buildings. At the moment I am a student (trying to get a new qualification).
I would like to tell you a little about the customs and characteristics of this country.
On the one hand, of course, the country is like a picture - green lawns all year round, beautiful nature (and where it is not beautiful), clean sources of drinking water, clean sea air, maximum temperature in January -8 °C, in July +20 °C, It would seem like a paradise country. However, on the other hand, not everything is so chocolate.
Perhaps I'll start with medicine. Well, first of all, just visiting a family doctor costs 50 euros. Usually these people are jacks of all trades: a gynecologist, a pediatrician, a specialist in skin diseases, etc. and so on. You get the idea, but in fact, this doctor doesn’t really understand anything, and his main task is to refer you to the hospital for an examination or simply cut off 50 euros and thank you for the visit. However, this is the most sane part. I was admitted to the hospital last summer with inflammation of the intestines and a temperature of 40 +/- degrees.
The emergency appointment looks like this: There are chairs in the large hall. Where they take everyone and put them in wait for the examination, which can happen in 2 hours or 4, depending on the number of people in front of you. During this time, my fever pills stopped working, and I was examined almost like a vegetable. When asked to give me an antipyretic, I received a nod and waited another 3 hours, during which time I managed to fall asleep. After such a wait, I was given an antipyretic and, in the end, I was assigned to a bed in the corridor, “in a draft between the garbage dump and the toilet” like Khazanov, where I was put on a drip. The light there did not dim, the voices did not subside all day and night, and I spent 3 days there. During this time, countless examinations were carried out by different doctors, and images from all angles of the abdominal cavity were obtained using expensive equipment. And so on. However. No problem was found. There was no treatment, and the diagnosis of the disease completely failed. Thanks to the procedures, some of the symptoms, along with the temperature, went away. Most of them remained.
After that, as soon as I recovered a little, I flew back to Estonia, where the Doctor, simply by describing my symptoms, immediately identified my problem, and the swallowed probe proved its consistency, the procedure took 1 day. Medicines were prescribed, which eventually put me back on track. The moral of this story is simple. There is simply no diagnosis of diseases here. Doctors are like blind kittens. Next to me there were several young people with similar problems, only they suffered for seven years, and the second for 4 years. They were never cured. I don’t even want to remember the cost of this whole epic; it was very expensive.
For us, knocking on a neighbor’s door and asking for salt, or on a birthday, inviting neighbors to our home for a holiday, inviting friends, girlfriends, colleagues to visit our home is something that does not require any effort on ourselves. It's not like that in this country. They smile at you at work, in the store, in transport, they say thank you, please and excuse me at every opportunity. However, this is only a mask, no one cares so deeply about your problems, affairs and in general everything that is connected with you, that when speaking and smiling in your face, you can see in your eyes that at this moment you are being sent far and for a long time. Here, of course, you can try to invite a native resident to visit you, but I assure you that the impressions you will get will not be the most pleasant. Firstly, you won’t be able to feed them food, because they won’t eat anything you cook, preferring fast food or home-cooked food (for those who are especially picky, I perfectly cook any first and second courses). And secondly, simply no one will come to you, and they will also look at you as maniacs. Here, the maximum expression of your affection for you will be a joint trip to the bar. Once. Out of politeness. Your openness and directness can and will be used against you. If you don't know how to whisper in your boss's ear about your colleagues' antics, you will end up becoming a scapegoat. Because they will blame all the dogs on you, write off all their mistakes, and so on. It's a completely different mentality. Of course, they don’t interfere with someone else’s church with their own rules, but these things must be heard and understood.
The most interesting thing is that the Irish, more or less, like the Scots, are objectively not bad people. Simply alien. But the British are further away and more incomprehensible for Russian people. There is a separate conversation about them. Of course, everywhere, in every country, there are idiots and geniuses. We are not talking about them now.
Communication with people of your mentality, in your native language, is such an invaluable gift, like, for example, the every second opportunity to breathe. When it is there, it is not noticed; when it is not there, the person dies. In our case, I personally am dying from a lack of communication, despite the fact that I have a wide circle of friends and like-minded people. Online.
If you ask me whether I want to exchange a “well-fed” life abroad for a poor life in a Russian village, then I will tell you - definitely yes. Personally, I'm fed up with this capitalism, isolation from nature and normal people. I'm fed up with Neanderthals in human form, completely wretched people, of whom there are countless numbers here.
If the Russian Federation now passes a law: all former citizens of the USSR who speak Russian are free to come to the Russian Federation, obtain citizenship and a residence permit. Then I agree to go to the village of Gadyukino and improve agriculture there. In shit and dirt. Better this way than the way it is here.
I would like to specifically focus on the following things. In this and other European countries there is no such thing as a forest, lake, or other natural object in our understanding. Everything belongs to private individuals, there are fences and restrictions all around. Making a fire is not allowed anywhere at all; you can only put up a tent in special places, otherwise you can end up with buckshot in a soft place. If you're lucky. Fishing is associated with a huge number of restrictions, however, like any type of similar activity, including hunting. All these things may not mean much to some. For me, the opportunity to be alone with nature is very valuable, and it is extremely difficult to realize it in the way that pleases the soul, and not in accordance with someone’s decree and law.
Well, is there really nothing good in this country, you ask? Of course I have. Like any country there are good things. This is also social. aid, which the EU struggles with, and tolerance towards other nations, and high salaries (with high expenses). Well, for example, to make it clear, the minimum wage is 300 euros per week. The average rent is 600-1000 per apartment, electricity and television minus 200-300 per month. A bottle of vodka in a store costs 20-25 euros. A pack of cigarettes is 9 euros. It’s good that I gave up both, but good luck with the purchase. In general, these guys are not Paradise. I want to go home to the USSR.”
What do you think about the adoption of such a law in Russia? Can all former citizens of the USSR and the Russian Empire and their descendants who speak Russian come to the Russian Federation and obtain citizenship?
P.S. Previous publications.
An old Irish legend says that when St. Patrick baptized the country, he banished all the snakes from the Emerald Peninsula. First, the reptiles were collected on the top of Mount Crow, and then in the name of the Lord they were ordered to throw themselves into the sea. Historians believe that the patron saint of Ireland did a lot for the country, but the banishment of snakes cannot be attributed to his merits. The truth is that there have never been any creepy crawlies on this island nation.
Archaeological data
Let's start with historical and archaeological data. Ireland is a northern island country. Not a single archaeological excavation in the country has been able to find any signs of snake fossils. Historians believe that for a long time, even before the islands broke away from the landmass, a cold climate prevailed here and there was a kingdom of ice. Thus, reptiles were in no hurry to occupy the territory of modern Ireland. And after warming occurred, the British Isles became independent objects. Only now the snakes living on land in Europe could not reach the northern latitudes. Before them stood an impressive obstacle in the form of melted glaciers, leveled with sea water.
Animal migration
After the last ice age, the migration of animals from Europe began. This was approximately 10,000 years ago. At that time, the lands of Ireland and England had not yet acquired their modern contours, but they gradually dumped annoying glaciers into the sea. The first thing that began to explore new territories was large mammals: wild boars, bears and lynxes. It is believed that Ireland and England split over 8,500 years ago. The British Isles separated completely from Europe 6,500 years ago. This means that snakes had two thousand years to penetrate the territory of modern Great Britain. And so it happened; at present, snakes, copperheads and vipers live in Foggy Albion. 
Other places where there are no snakes
In addition to Ireland, there are other island states and regions of large countries on Earth where there are no snakes. For example, snakes are not found in Greenland, New Zealand, Hawaii, Antarctica, parts of Canada and northern Russia. It turns out that St. Patrick was too busy exorcizing evil spirits. Well, all jokes aside, snakes deserved contempt among Irish Christians. People here have a pathological fear of reptiles and still blame them for the expulsion of Eve from paradise.
The former patron was depicted in the guise of a serpent
It is also known that the Celtic god of fertility was depicted as a reptile. His name was Cernunnos, and it was he who was worshiped by the locals before Christianity came to the island. It is believed that this is where the legend of driving out snakes came from. Saint Patrick succeeded his predecessor and got rid of the reminder. However, we already know the truth, and it is confirmed by scientists Nigel Monaghan, curator of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, and Mark Ryan, an expert at the Health Sciences Center at Louisiana State University. 
The only exception
At one point in my life, I had a desire to try to study and work abroad. Not everyone can sit in Russia; I wanted to try something while I was still young and daring. I spent a long time choosing from a number of countries where to go. The choice was limited, of course, firstly, by the language barrier, so I chose an English-speaking country. I’ve already been to England, to America too, all I have to do is choose between Australia and Ireland. Because for some reason I wasn’t drawn to Canada. I thought for a long time and decided on Australia, but then I abruptly changed my mind, which I regretted very much. I've never had a more boring trip! The only thing that made me happy during this time was the number of people from all over the world that I was able to meet. But not the Irish; it’s worth talking about this nation in more detail. Because it's really worth it. Firstly, I want to say that if you are going to Ireland for the sights, you shouldn’t, they are not there. Dilapidated castles and evergreen meadows with sheep don’t count, unless of course you consider them attractions. All the enthusiastic comments about the trips were written by people who came there for a week, refueled with Guinness, and just as quickly left.
Of course, having paid a damn lot of money, you begin to look for at least some advantages there and convince yourself that it was not in vain, but now, with the passage of time, I believe that it was possible to find a more interesting place to travel.
The most interesting thing is life in the Irish countryside. There is absolutely nothing to do there. Well, you can go to work, to the store, to the pub and... to work, to the store, to the pubJ) and so on in a circle. I have never seen such a huge number of drunk people per capita on weekends!
Russians are just relaxing compared to them!
The local population entertains itself with gossip, all sorts of stories, invented and not, and consumption of the famous beer. The Irish mentality is a stubborn thing. If the Irishman came up with something for himself, then it’s not...bet. Trying to convince someone of something is absolutely unnecessary for anyone, because it is useless. Everything has already been invented for us, embellished with fictitious facts, and what has not been invented, we will find confirmation somewhere from a neighbor who will also come up with something. Well, we need something to do between trips between work, the store and the pub. Typically, many smart Irish people want to leave there, being depressed by the weather, the crisis, and, probably, boredom. I also met very few foreigners who wanted to stay there.
The most interesting thing is that the Irish consider themselves very friendly people, although in reality I would call them two-faced. And this is expressed in the fact that no one will say anything to your face, but behind your back on the sly... so that you can hear. To please an Irishman, you need to smile broadly, drink beer with him and then not contradict him about anything. And the main thing is not to stand out, it’s indecent. For example, if you answer a question about how you are doing, that everything is great, then another answer follows - why is it so great, this is suspicious. When I told the Irish, out of pure politeness, that I liked their country, I did this simply so as not to offend them, since I was visiting there. To which young people often answered me - what could they like here and what exactly is good here? And I had to come up with something so as not to offend the local population, although they clearly did not believe what I was saying, and which again looked suspicious. As I understand it, when communicating with the local population, it was better to remain silent, because it’s like being arrested - everything you say can be used against you. Yes, by the way, this is not a joke about Russians and the KGB; they really think that many Russians who come abroad for a long time are spies.
A few facts from my life there - I spent more than a single month in a residential complex, where the owner, being always very polite when she received money, did not hesitate to throw me out onto the street with my things on the morning of the day of my departure under the pretext that I needed to clean the rooms for check-in new tenants, although they had plenty of free rooms there, and in general, three or four hours would not have solved anything obviously. And since I lived there for more than one week, I had more than a hand bag of things there. I have traveled a lot around the world, but this only happened to me in friendly Ireland. Usually, even in hotels, when arriving for several days, they push back the departure time by several hours.
The college where I studied is absolutely something! Without taking into account the amount that I paid them, I can only say that the only good things there are the teachers, the rest of the staff suck. In general, there were some hacks working at the reception who could pretend that they didn’t understand your English or leave when they saw you approaching.
On TV, on the radio, and also if you talk to locals, people talk about morality, but for some reason, at the time of raids on pubs, everyone suddenly forgets about it. I'm not even talking about local fashion for women size 48 and larger with curvy figures. When you are wearing everything you can, forgetting that not everyone likes to see cellulite jumping out of a belted skirt... I'm not even talking about screaming, to put it mildly, heavily drunk women on the streets with smeared makeup, torn tights and rumpled hairstyles, where - those who have lost their underwear, who can fall apart on the sidewalk or sort things out with their then-young man right in front of everyone and in a rude manner.
I would also like to note my personal experience of relationships with an Irishman. This is actually an out of the ordinary story. I don't know, maybe that's how they do it. We met, exchanged phone numbers, he’s looking for a girl, okay, let’s try. After a few SMS, he is no longer looking for a girl. When they meet, it turns out that he already has a girlfriend, but they quarreled. After several meetings, he invites me to meet with his friend, since he cannot communicate with me. And after I stopped answering him, someone from his family comes to my college and talks about me with the director. Anyway, atas. I am already silent that the details of my relationship were discussed regularly at the reception while I was attending a lesson in the next class. And much more. As a result, I clearly developed neurosis and a persistent reluctance to communicate with men for a long time to come.
I admit, at first Ireland charmed me with its hills, the cries of seagulls in January and slight melancholy, but as soon as my communication with Russians there began to be reduced to zero, my positivity about this country also began to fade away...
To be fair, it should be noted that if you have a well-paid job, then you don’t care where you live - you will provide yourself with a decent standard of living. And the weather will not seem so nasty through the window of an expensive car and friendly people from the window of an expensive restaurant. Well, he has a high social status in Africa too. I've met Russians who have settled well there and are really grateful for what Ireland has offered them. Maybe I was just unlucky and hung out with the wrong people, so my experience was mostly negative.
But if you have a desire to spend a long time abroad, then choose another country, it’s even better to learn English somewhere else, since no one has yet canceled the Irish accent.
Snakes are found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica, so their complete absence on the island of Ireland seems strange. What causes reptiles to ignore this region?
Firstly, Ireland is an island separated from Great Britain by a strait 80 kilometers wide. Snakes living on land cannot overcome such a distance. But why then do snakes live in Great Britain, which is also an island and separated from the mainland by a fairly wide English Channel?
The reason for such a strange distribution of snakes should be sought in the geological history of our planet. Over the course of its existence, the Earth goes through ice ages - repeated stages lasting several million years when, due to a sharp cooling in the climate, significant growth of ice sheets occurs. The last ice age (part of the ice age) began on the planet about 110,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago. Much of northern Europe, bound by permafrost, was finally freed from the ice that covered the British Isles.
Primitive tribes and animals began to migrate to the islands. But not all creatures could penetrate deep into the islands, where the cold climate continued to persist. Among them were snakes, which initially settled only in the south of Great Britain. The remaining glaciers continued to melt, gradually flooding the land route between Ireland and Great Britain. This is how the Northern Strait was formed between the two islands. Great Britain remained connected to the mainland for another 2,000 years, until it found itself cut off from it by the strait we call the English Channel.
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It turns out that snakes simply did not have enough time to populate Ireland, which at that time was still too cold for them for most reptiles. Snakes still managed to populate Great Britain, gradually moving deeper into the island along with climate warming.
For those who are not satisfied with the scientific explanation for the absence of snakes in Ireland, there is a beautiful legend. It tells that the island was saved from snakes by the Christian discoverer Saint Patrick, who gathered all the reptiles on Mount Crow and ordered them to throw themselves into the water. Only one old snake disobeyed and remained on the mountain. Then Patrick had to resort to cunning and bet with the snake that he would not be able to fit into a wooden chest standing nearby. The snake, wanting to prove Patrick wrong, climbed into the box, which the man immediately closed and threw into the sea. This is how Saint Patrick rid Ireland of snakes.
Be that as it may, the absence of snakes is typical not only for Ireland, but also for such large islands as New Zealand, Hawaii, Iceland and Greenland. But this does not always bring benefits to the territory. A snake accidentally introduced into the wild (for example, one that escaped from a zoo or pet store) can become an invasive species and cause irreparable damage to the environment by wiping out native species. This picture is observed on the island of Guam, where snakes were absent until recently. But the brown boyga, which was able to climb trees very well, was accidentally introduced into the ecosystem, multiplied and became a real disaster for local birds, almost completely exterminating the bird population.
