When it comes to moaning about Ireland, there are few people better at it than the Irish. While many folk in other parts of the world are happily celebrating their (sometimes tenuous) links with the auld sod this week, many closer to home will be engaging in the national pastime – complaining.
We give out about the miserable weather, the rip-off prices, the poor-quality public services, the Government and all the other gripes that grind our gears.
While we are adept at criticism, we’re loath to complain about life overseas if we choose to leave and expats (or emigrants as they used to be called) are forever singing the praises of their new homes and comparing them favourably to Ireland.
But is the grass really greener overseas, or is it in fact greener where it rains, as the good people of Bell X1 once told us?
Pricewatch decided to find out, comparing the price of some aspects of life to see where we might be better off. We used multiple sources – including official data, stats-driven websites aimed at expats, travel sites and newspapers – to cost everything from rent and childcare to beers and Big Macs.
And sure we may as well start close to home, in our capital city.
Dublin
Renting a two-bedroom house or apartment in Dublin will cost in excess of €2,000 a month, with prices climbing to more than €3,000 in some of the leafier or more central parts of the city. For the sake of this exercise, we will allow €2,400 for monthly rent, although even at such a price, finding a place to call home is by no means guaranteed.
A couple having a three-course meal in a modestly priced restaurant will do well to have change out of €100, while eating in McDonald’s will cost an individual at least a tenner.
A bottle of pretty standard wine in a restaurant will be €30, while a bottle of beer in a pub will cost about €6.50.
The climbing price of groceries has been well documented on this page and elsewhere and we are not going to do a big shop. Instead we have priced a litre of milk at €1.50, while 454g of butter will cost anywhere between €3.39 and €4.99, depending on the brand. We will give it an average of €4. A kilo of round steak mince is approximately €10, with chicken breast costing the same. A 500g box of penne pasta varies wildly depending on the brand, but we will allow €1.50.
A short journey on public transport will set us back about €2, while a 5km taxi ride is at least €15. Motorists can – as has been well documented – expect to pay more to keep their car on the roads this week when compared with a month ago, so we are allowing €1.90 for a litre of petrol or diesel.
The cost of childcare – where it can be found – remains high for many Irish parents and we will set aside €1,000 a month for one child.
We didn’t include anything else – such as food, domestic energy, mobile phones, broadband, clothes – as our list would have gone out of control fairly quickly.
We totted up the cost of these items and arrived at a total of €3,592.40 – that will become our benchmark figure.
[ Ireland is second most expensive country in EU, data showsOpens in new window ]
Dublin, Ohio
From Dublin, Ireland, we moved – in a virtual sense – to Dublin, Ohio, for no better reason than the shared name. To avoid confusion, we have converted all the currencies to euro.
Renting a two-bedroom apartment in the other Dublin is about €1,650, while a three-course meal for two comes in at €64.50, with a meal for one in McDonald’s costing €8.50. A bottle of wine in a restaurant might set you back €25, while a bottle of beer in a bar will be €4. There is much talk in the US about high-priced groceries, so we were surprised that a litre of milk or its equivalent was just €0.80, while a pound of butter is €4.29. A kilo of chicken breast cost us €9, while the same amount of beef mince was €11.50, with a 500g box of penne pasta priced at €1.30. A short hop on the Central Ohio Transit authority was €1.70, with a 5km taxi ride setting us back €11. Petrol is dirt cheap, with one litre priced at just €0.70, but childcare is expensive, with a month likely to cost about €1,300.
When we totted up these numbers, the total came to €3,092.29, or €500 less than the other Dublin town.
New York City
We know there won’t be many people from Ireland moving to Dublin, Ohio, in the days ahead but New York City is likely to be higher up on the relocation wish list.
Rents vary wildly, with a two-bed apartment in Manhattan likely to cost in the region of €6,000 and one on the meaner streets of the Bronx priced at about €1,900. For this exercise we will find somewhere in the middle and set aside rent of €3,500.
New York’s living costs are fairly eye-watering. Photograph: Getty Images
Eating out in New York City is dear and, excluding drinks, the cheque for three courses for two is likely to be €110, not including a tip. And they love a good tip in the US. A meal for one in McDonald’s will be closer to €10, while a bottle of moderately priced wine will be €40 and a beer in a pub €7. Milk is closer to Irish prices, with a litre costing €1.30, while 454g of butter is €4.29. The cost of beef is higher, with a typical supermarket charging about €19.50, with the same amount of chicken breast priced at €14. Pasta is pricey too – 500g is likely to cost about €2.10. A short hop on the subway, meanwhile, is about €2.80, while a 5km journey in one of the famous yellow taxis will cost about €17. A litre of petrol is just €0.85, but a month’s childcare in NYC will set you back €2,850, which takes the cost of a month in the Big Apple to a fairly eye-watering €6,578.84.
Berlin
From a wildly expensive New York we moved to the hopefully cheaper German capital of Berlin.
Childcare in Berlin is heavily subsidised and free for many parents. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A typical two-bed in the city can be found for about €1,600 a month if you’re lucky, while a meal for two in a restaurant costs about €50 and a meal for one in McDonald’s likely to set you back €8. We allowed €20 for wine in a restaurant and €3 for a bottle of beer. A litre of milk is €1, while a pound of butter costs €2.90. One kilo of beef mince is €12, with the same amount of chicken breast costing around €8. A box of penne pasta will set you back €1. You can expect to pay €2.70 for a trip on public transport, with a 5km taxi ride costing €12. A litre of petrol or diesel was priced at about €1.50, although that was before the true impact of the conflict in the Middle East was felt. The depressing news for many Irish parents is childcare in Berlin is heavily subsidised and free for many, but we will allow €150 to cover some additional costs.
When we totted up all these costs, we came to €1,872.10 – much cheaper than home.
Sydney
That cheapness left Pricewatch feeling sad so we headed down under to see if we could find prices that more closely matched what we pay at home.
It has become a rite of passage for many people from this part of the world to head to Sydney and it is not hard to see why – what with all the clear blue skies and efficiency and tidiness.
The blue skies of Sydney, Australia. Photograph: Getty Images
The prices aren’t too bad either. A two-bed apartment in the city can be rented for about €1,900, while a three-course meal for two in an okay restaurant will be €75 and McDonald’s is likely to cost about €7. You might get away with spending about €15 on a bottle of local wine in a restaurant, while a bottle of beer costs about a fiver. A litre of milk in a supermarket is about €1, while a pound of butter will cost €3.20. One kilo of beef mince is priced at €8, with chicken breast costing €7. A 500g box of penne will cost €0.90. A short public transport journey will set you back €2.60, with a 5km taxi ride priced at €19. A litre of petrol or diesel is about €1.30. Full-time care for an infant child seems expensive, with the price we found suggesting it might cost about €1,600, which takes the total cost to €3,645.
Wellington
We decided then to travel even further south to Wellington, New Zealand. Renting a two-bedroom home averages at €1,600, while a three-course meal for two might cost €70; a meal for one in McDonald’s is priced at €7.50. A bottle of wine in a restaurant is €20, with a bottle of beer costing €4. In New Zealand milk costs €0.89 and the butter is priced at €2.55. Mince is priced at €7.15, chicken costs €5.60, with pasta costing a euro. A journey on Wellington’s public transport system is likely to set you back €2 and a cab ride costs a tenner, while a litre of petrol or diesel will cost €1.50. The cost of day care, meanwhile, is €650, which takes the total cost of a sliver of life in Wellington to €2,382.19.
London
From very far away we went to somewhere very close to home – London, a place beloved and loathed by hundreds of thousands of Irish migrants for generations.
London, loved and loathed by Irish migrants for generations
It is certainly not a cheap place to go. The average rent for a two-bed apartment or house is in the region of €3,150, although it can be much higher depending on the area and the quality of the property, and much lower if you can find yourself a squat in Finsbury Park (if such a thing still happens there). A three-course meal for two in a moderately priced restaurant will be about €100, with a meal in McDonald’s for one costing about a tenner. A bottle of wine will be at least €30 and a bottle of beer in a pub costs a fiver. A litre of milk in a supermarket is about €1.15, although they are not mad about newfangled things like the metric system across the water. A pound of butter is €3.20, while 1kg of round steak mince is €13.50, with a similar quantity of chicken breast priced at €8.50. A box of pasta is €1, with a trip on the tube costing in the region of €2 and a 5km taxi ride costing close to €20. A litre of motor fuel is about €1.80. Childcare costs are high, with the price of keeping a little one in care full-time likely to cost close to €1,750, which takes the monthly cost of life in London to €5,096.15. That is pretty dear so we went looking for somewhere cheaper to relocate.
Buenos Aires
There was a time when quite a few Irish people – including Che Guevara’s Galway granny – went to the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires to find a new life.
The average cost of a two-bed apartment close to the centre of the sprawling city is €850, while two people eating a three-course meal in a modestly priced restaurant is €60, with a meal for one in McDonald’s €8. A bottle of wine in a restaurant is a tenner and a bottle of beer priced at about €3. One litre of milk in a supermarket will cost €0.80, with butter costing €2.50. Argentina is famous for its beef and a kilo of the stuff minced is €8, while chicken is priced at €7 and a box of pasta costs €0.65. A journey on public transport will cost €0.40, with a 5km taxi ride costing about a fiver and a litre of petrol or diesel priced at about €0.65. Childcare is far more affordable at about €180 a month, taking the total monthly cost to €1,136.
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images Perth
And staying in the same hemisphere, although a long way away, we went to Perth, where a two-bedroom apartment can be rented for €1,600. You might get away with spending €80 on a three-course meal for two, while a meal for one in McDonald’s is €9.50 and a bottle of wine costs €15. A bottle of beer is €5 and a litre of milk is in the region of €1.50, with butter costing a euro more. The kilo of mince is €12, with the chicken breast priced at €7 and the pasta costing €1.20. A 5km taxi fare in Perth is about €13, while a short hop on public transport will cost about €1.80. A litre of motor fuel is priced at €1.30, while childcare might cost €1,100, taking the price of a month in Perth to €2,850.30.
Rome
We then went to the Eternal City. A typical two-bed in Rome seems sensibly priced at €1,800 while a three-course meal for two is €65 – but bear in mind it is Rome so the food will be excellent. If you choose to eat in McDonald’s then we don’t know what to say, other than it will cost you €12 and you deserve what you are getting. An excellent bottle of wine can be yours for €15, while a bottle of beer in a pub is €3.50. A litre of milk is priced at €1.80, while the butter will be €4.50. One kilo in beef mince is €17 and the chicken costs €8.50. Pleasingly, the pasta costs €0.80, the public transport is €1.50 and the taxi ride €12. The fuel is priced at about €1.80. The childcare costs are about €600, which takes the total cost of our admittedly limited life in Rome to €2,543.40.
Oviedo, Spain
And finally we travelled in a virtual sense to Spain. We could have chosen any one of the big cities but – because Pricewatch lived nearby in the 1990s – we went north to the little-known Asturian capital of Oviedo, a city that seems largely untouched by rising prices. A two-bed apartment in the city can be rented for about €800 a month, while a three-course meal in a restaurant will cost €50. McDonald’s is the same price as in much of Europe and one person can expect to pay a tenner, but given that Asturias is famous for its amazing food you would do well to avoid fast food chains. Wine in a restaurant will set you back about €12, while a bottle of beer is €3. Milk costs €1.10 and butter €3.50. A kilo of minced beef is €13, while the chicken will set you back €7.50 and the pasta a euro. Public transport is €1.50, a 5km taxi ride is likely to cost a tenner, while a litre of petrol or diesel will set you back about €1.80. The monthly cost of childcare is about €400.
That takes the total to – drum roll please – €1,314.40, making the small but lovely city in Spain the cheapest place in Europe we found to relocate. So, on that frugal note, we’re off to check on flights to Asturias, a province now serviced by Ryanair, we think.