{"id":406231,"date":"2026-04-19T06:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406231\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T06:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T06:16:20","slug":"i-moved-to-ireland-to-raise-family-but-theres-three-things-i-miss-about-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406231\/","title":{"rendered":"I moved to Ireland to raise family but there’s three things I miss about London"},"content":{"rendered":"

After turning 30, I made the move back home to Ireland after eight years of living in London, and while raising a family here ended up being the best call, there are certain things that I miss<\/p>\n

Liam McInerney Content Editor <\/p>\n

06:30, 19 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, this picture was not taken in Ireland, where a clear blue sky is rare(Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

The year was 2017, my college exams in Dublin<\/a> were complete and I had two ambitions \u2014 move to London<\/a> and put my degree to some use by making a living as a journalist.<\/p>\n

Part one was straightforward, given my girlfriend had already made the plunge a few months before, and the second part was achieved after I got a job at a local newspaper not too long after touching down in Gatwick.<\/p>\n

As for why living in London was so high on my to-do list, I had been going on trips across the Irish Sea since I was a kid, predominantly to watch my childhood heroes like Robbie Keane<\/a> score at the old White Hart Lane before rushing back to catch a flight to Dublin Airport hours after the final whistle.<\/p>\n

So, the dream had been fulfilled and over the years I got a season ticket which took me to Wembley and the plush new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. When I wasn\u2019t watching Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s men take us agonisingly close to glory, I had become a national reporter.<\/p>\n

However, fast forward to 2023, and suddenly the dream wasn\u2019t what it once was.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

We now live by some scenic lakes (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

My partner and I had had our first child \u2014 and we were living in a tiny one-bedroom flat in Greenwich, south-east London.<\/p>\n

We loved the apartment, it was small, but we had been there for a few years. However, add a baby girl into the mix, and things were suddenly much more challenging.<\/p>\n

Our families were both based in Ireland, so we had to make a choice \u2014 either pay more to rent somewhere bigger, while also forking out fortunes for childcare in London, or move back to Ireland.<\/p>\n

After a memorable few years in London, where we hold so many great memories including one year of raising our daughter there, we had to move home, as so many Irish eventually do after exploring different countries in their youth.<\/p>\n

We have now been back for a couple of years, and below are three things that I miss about the UK.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Raising a family in Ireland is still great, despite the challenges (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

1) Public Transport<\/p>\n

My parents live in County Meath and my partner\u2019s parents live in County Cavan \u2014 and we now live between both of our childhood homes.<\/p>\n

Although having free childcare on hand is a game changer (we have since had kid number two), the main thing we miss about London is the public transport.<\/p>\n

Whatever I was doing in London, there were numerous ways I could get home again, be it the underground, the DLR, the bus, the trains or simply walking.<\/p>\n

In Ireland, particularly if you are not living in Dublin, driving is essential.<\/p>\n

There is no train station near me, and if I didn\u2019t want to get stuck in traffic driving into Dublin City Centre, I would have to rely on Bus Eireann.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

I miss getting out and about in London using the underground (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

I have used the service three times since I\u2019ve been back, on each occasion the bus was over 30 minutes late, and twice there was overcrowding, with some passengers being forced to stand, which was far from safe or comfortable.<\/p>\n

Even once you get to Dublin, the public transport is incomparable to London. Frankly, any Londoners who find themselves overly complaining about things like delays or strikes, you have no idea how good you have it.<\/p>\n

2) Sporting Events<\/p>\n

Another miss is going to sporting events, and I now have to settle with watching Spurs on the TV, although given we now struggle to draw matches let alone win, perhaps that\u2019s not a bad thing.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Watching Spurs live is now not the norm (although I did get to Madrid last month to see us get hammered) (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the football, it was the old pubs on Tottenham High Road, and meeting up with pals before and after the games.<\/p>\n

Football aside, there was also Wimbledon, where you could just go and enjoy the sunshine and tennis on Henman Hill.<\/p>\n

Another big one was martial arts. I remember seeing George Groves in Wembley Arena and also UFC London events at The O2 which was within walking distance of my flat. For years, professional boxing bouts in Ireland didn\u2019t happen, and you may want to read about my experience at the Regency Hotel shooting<\/a> to understand why.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Up the Spurs (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

There is plenty of sport to enjoy in Ireland, and although I\u2019m a casual GAA and rugby fan, there\u2019s still nothing like having Premier League action at your doorstep, and some of my favourite adventures were the away days, be it Arsenal, Fulham or Manchester United.<\/p>\n

3) Weather<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t something that can be helped, so there is little point moaning about it for long, but the weather in London compared to home is much different.<\/p>\n

London was generally warmer and it rained less, and any rare bit of sun we get in Ireland, you will hear people firing up their lawn mowers, because everyone knows the opportunity to cut the grass is limited.<\/p>\n

No regrets<\/p>\n

Having said all that, you may be thinking that I regret moving back home, and still pine for my old life in London.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Life is good in Ireland (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

However, this isn\u2019t the case, and the switch has given my family a better quality of life.<\/p>\n

My daughter turns three next month and she is thriving \u2014 and is close to all of her grandparents who get to see her and her baby brother often. This also gives us a chance to get a break, something that wasn’t possible without family support in London.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also managed to buy our first home, something that would have been impossible for us in London, where getting on the property ladder wasn\u2019t even worth dreaming about. Having said that, there is also a huge housing crisis in Ireland, and we were one of the lucky ones.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/p>\n

Being in Ireland has made having a family much more feasible (Image: Liam McInerney\/Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

And although I don\u2019t have White Hart Lane on my doorstep, raising a family in Ireland is hard to beat for several reasons which I can get into another day. If we had stayed, we wouldn\u2019t have been able to welcome a second child, who is already being brainwashed into supporting a certain London club like his sister.<\/p>\n

Despite my concerns about the public transport and the live sport, life is now calmer. I now do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes three times a week, which has been far better for my mental and physical health than watching the club I love which is destined for the Championship.<\/p>\n

And one thing England will never beat Ireland on is a pint of Guinness down the local.<\/p>\n

So having said all that \u2014 Sl\u00e1inte!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After turning 30, I made the move back home to Ireland after eight years of living in London,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[615,61,60,99,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-406231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-dublin","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}