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.

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. The fun was added to us by the fact 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 new housing in a foreign country, whence they seem to be leaving, but they usually take it off for a year or more. 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. On March 12, we collected all our belongings in boxes and gave them to a moving company (we had to look for ourselves, do not usually help with anything, threatened not even to pay, but the amount was not very large), on March 18 we jumped on the plane with two suitcases and flew. March 19 was a day off because of St. Patrick's Day, and March 20 is the first working day. On March 12, we collected all our belongings in boxes and gave them to a moving company (we had to look for ourselves, do not usually help with anything, threatened not even to pay, but the amount was not very large), on March 18 we jumped on the plane with two suitcases and flew. 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 agoin a distant galaxythere 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 made the site, where you can pre-book yourself a window so that you can come and make all the documents on the right day. 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 an intermediary).

Well, we miraculously booked a window there much in advance, even before the flight, which was very useful to 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 in two months after signing the contract with the 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

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.the 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 microbalcony (it is a real luxury! It is rarely encountered), nothing fits there except a couple of pots of flowers, You can still hang something dry - there is no place to stand there, not to mention putting 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 - the site is duplicated . 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 drawn up 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. In exceptional cases (I don’t know what is meant - perhaps, a reduction) is possible before, the wording is blurred. A spouse (partner) or partner is given Stamp 3, which does not imply the right to work. True, the spouse can still get a work permit , but this is a separate quest (with months of waiting for a result from bureaucrats), which few employers make.

Well, Critical Skills itself is also indecently made out - during this time the employer may lose interest in the applicant, or the applicant may change his mind and find another job in another country, or something else may happen. Therefore, only sufficiently large companies with large stable business and planning for the years ahead can afford this.

Relocation compensation

The company formally helps, but on very strange conditions. Naturally, they paid for all the courier services (for the visa I needed some documents, namely the original Critical Skills Permit, the printout from the color printer did not roll). We paid for an economy class flight with one-way luggage for me and my wife, and four weeks of temporary housing. Perhaps that's all. My wife did not want to pay his visa expenses (and they are quite large!); They also did not want to send things (the same boxes with clothes / dishes, etc., the most expensive ones in general). But I had a little bargaining (already a couple of months after the move, when I finished with all the red tape and it became clear how much they really owe me), and I did it. Advice - always bargain. Tip 2 - go immediately to the accounting department, and not to personnel officers, the latter do not decide anything, but they will kick. By the way about salary and other compensations, it is also possible and necessary to bargain, otherwise they will drive you. Nothing personal, just a business - it is for this that foreigners are hired to save money, you are much cheaper than Aboriginal people - even taking into account the reimbursement of all expenses for relocation.

Oh, yes, the conditions - so that I do not have to return this bonus, I must work for at least two years. If I work for a year, I must return 75%, and if one and a half, then 50% of these costs.

How much (approximately) did the relocation cost? Well, the road and courier services will not be considered - they are very dependent on where you will be moving from - everything came out quite cheap for me - a completely different distance and even the absence of customs borders. I will sign for the fact that it will coincide by 146% (if the duties do not increase, of course).

• 60 € for each member of the family for a single entry visa.
• € 300 per adult family member, including yourself - for registering with INIS (Migration Board). By the way, this registration is only valid for a year, renew it again in a year, pay another 300 * N again (N = number of family members). Children under 18 years old seem to be free.
• € 100 per person (not sure about children, in the process, too) for a re-entry visa . Technically optional, but it’s unlikely that you will refuse it. About this "fun" I will tell below.
• If you are provided with housing, you are a happy person. If not, focus on 100-150 € per day for a hotel. Most likely, when booking for a long time will give a discount, but also find a free room will be more difficult.
• You do not have to pay for the services of real estate agents, but you must have on hand the amount for the first month + deposit. In our case, the deposit was equal to the same monthly rent, but it also happens that x2 or even x3. Better to take with a margin. That is, for an apartment from 4500 € to 6000 €. There will be too much - nothing terrible, spend on furniture.

By the way, the vast majority of apartments are rented with furniture - unfortunately rather a rarity. But you might have to buy some household utensils such as dishes. Focus on your requests - the prices for it here are about the same as everywhere, without surprises.

Visas

When I was told about the re-entry visa (it was done, of course, not by a recruiter or a personnel officer), I first thought that I was being played. There can be no such zashkvara in 2018 in a European country. Alas, maybe . If you suddenly have nostalgia for "exit visas from the USSR", you will like it.

The bottom line is that you can always leave that country, but you will not be allowed to return. The first visa entitles one entry. Multivisa at the consulate do not give, even if you really ask. A plastic IRP (Irish Residence Permit) card, which costs you € 300, which you are given for a year - the one that replaces a visa in other EU countries does not give you the right to enter. The right of residence - yes, the right of entry - no. For re-entry you need a separate visa.It costs money, but more importantly, your precious time, since it is a separate bureaucracy. They say that now these visas are done only by mail, which additionally slows down the process by a couple of weeks. One-time costs 60 € (but it's hard for me to imagine who needs it), reusable 100 € (the term is tied to the IRP term, that is, a maximum of a year). There is also an urgent € 160, which is also disposable (there should have been a smiley with a palm near the face, but the administration of the habr does not like smileys).

You remember that Ireland did not sign the Schengen agreement, so you will need a separate visa for the Schengen countries - and a separate one if you want to go to the United Kingdom. Where besides Britain enters and Northern Ireland. Where to go a couple of hours by car / bus / train, and even border control is not.

And even this is not all! Evil tongues say that some Schengen countries (I don’t have statistics) when applying for a visa through the consulate in Ireland bind the visa validity not only to the expiration date of your passport (you know this rule for sure, 3 months before the end), but also your IRP. That is, you received an IRP on November 1, 2018, until October 31, 2019 - December 1, you are served on a visa to a conventional Portugal - no matter how frequent a traveler you are, you will be issued a visa until July 31, 2019. I know that not everyone does that because my wife and I received Netherlands visas by a little more than two years (before that, in the Russian Federation all countries issued us a maximum of a year). Plus the karma of the Dutch, minus the Portuguese. And of course the fat minus the Irish.

Working conditions

And in the labor contract, meanwhile, a lot of interesting things.

For example, an agreement on non-competition . Too late, I stumbled upon a translation of this article in Habré, oh, late. Could bargain and ask to remove this dubious item. Now it's too late, as agreed.

Holiday unlimited! Generally formally the minimum vacation in Ireland is 4 weeks . The article interview from the developer Dropbox mentioned about 5 weeksstrictly speaking, this is not entirely true. 4 weeks (that is, as in Russia and most other European countries) is the minimum guaranteed by the state. Less is impossible (except in some cases, if you are not working for a full week, for example), more is possible. Someone draws five weeks, someone six. My employer in the contract wrote in black and white that I can rest as much as I like ("uncapped holidays"). In fact, of course, it’s still impossible to rest without a limit, it’s necessary to work too. Each vacation must be coordinated - but this has not yet caused any special problems. I can say that it is a little bureaucratic, it can be better, but so far there have not been any precedents to “let go of me”. But no one finds fault with the figures, “you have not earned so many days off” or

There are all sorts of bonuses, such as medical insurance (more details below), life insurance, a cash bonus (cash bonus, once a year), and even some kind of bonus stock repurchase scheme .

Probationary period of three months, but this is so - a formality. Nothing has changed after three months, except that it’s written in pieces of paper that it’s a little harder to quit and I’m also more difficult to quit. Salary does not raise after the test. Or, perhaps it would be more correct to say, they do not underestimate for the time of the test?

Job

Finally, about the work itself. I already thought I would not go to that! As I wrote above, I work mainly with Scala code. For half a year, almost nothing new has been written, mostly support for old code. Bookmaker business is mathematics. In general, statistics and probability theory. There are events, such as sports, horse racing or even the election of the President of the United States, on which you can bet money. There are many different cases that can be chosen, for example, that a particular horse will win or that it will take such and such a place. People bet on different events, of course, the price of the bet and the amount of winnings is different. For example, different clients will bet on opposing mutually exclusive outcomes (winning the tennis player Vasya and winning the tennis player Petit), the bookmaker sells both bets with different odds. And regardless of the outcome (some customers win, others lose), the bookmaker must earn. Previously, all this was considered on paper, now everything has long been automated. The bookmaker must optimize the margin - it must be low enough to be competitive in the market and at the same time high enough for profit. As you know, the world of sports is huge, and the world of sports betting too. The data volumes are huge, so all these terrible words Akka, RabbitMQ, Cassandra, Kafka are known and loved here. the world of sport is huge and the world of sports betting too. The data volumes are huge, so all these terrible words Akka, RabbitMQ, Cassandra, Kafka are known and loved here. the world of sport is huge and the world of sports betting too. The data volumes are huge, so all these terrible words Akka, RabbitMQ, Cassandra, Kafka are known and loved here.

But about the organization of work, management - I can’t say anything good so far. Probably, as in any huge corporation, I simply drown in this swamp. Everything is done very slowly. For example, the creation of an account, access to something you can wait for weeks. Irish people are generally leisurely.

The team is international. In general, the corporation is huge, there are offices in other countries - the closest one in London. But I'm mainly talking about the Dublin office. Still, most (probably more than 50%) are Irish and English (it’s not so easy to distinguish them until you start talking to them). I do not feel micromanagement .

Recycling are paid. It is necessary to engage in support 24/7, for some reason, this should be done not only by specially trained people, but also programmers, including those who have not touched the writing of a single line of code of the running application. Most often, you just have to restart something , if it fell due to lack of memory (well, what else are the JVMs falling for?).

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.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 - I haven’t encountered it. 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 runs into 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, they don’t treat donors with 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.

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?)

It rains often, but usually it doesn't last long and is replaced by the sun. Rainbows can also be seen often. Sunny days a lot. Heavy rain showers are quite rare - but storm sewers in general exist and cope with them as a whole (although sometimes it is clogged with autumn leaves). I did not take the umbrella with me, I have enough rain cover. The umbrella is often blown away and broken by the wind, so there is little benefit from it. In general, only wind can be called a real climate problem - it can be very, very powerful here .

It is never hot in summer, but last summer was an exception - the grass on the "emerald island" turned yellow. Peak in Dublin was a temperature of 25-26 degrees, but more often it did not rise above 20. In winter, they say, there is no cold, but winter is ahead - here we will see. They say that without central heating is not very - well, what to do, we are no stranger to difficulties.

Roads

Roads in Ireland is a fairy tale. Especially the farther from Dublin. Driving is a pleasure. Riding in Russia has always been a torture for me. In Dublin, road coverage is not very - I think it is too expensive to repair - but the farther the better. The tracks are good, you can ride 120 km / h (of course, alas, not Germany). For the rest, either 80 or 100. In the city, most often 50.

Others often complain that the roads are narrow. I don’t know - well, yes, it happens that it’s difficult to disperse (not on a two-lane highway, but somewhere "in the middle of nowhere") with a truck or tractor. In Russia, this also happens, you just need to travel more often outside the MKAD.

The first year you can drive with a Russian driver's license, then you have to take it to the local one. Unfortunately, just change (as in some other countries) can not, alas. While the courses are not recorded, but it would be necessary. This is extra money and time. The delivery process is rather strange - it looks normal for the locals altogether, but for foreigners with driving experience is not at all simplified. I explain that you first need to pass the theory, travel for a while with a “student ID”, and only then take the practice.

In addition, insurance companies want to rob you, and also do not take into account your driving experience outside of Ireland. Insurance (for a year) can easily cost more than the cost of the car itself.

Ride in Ireland on the left side, if someone suddenly forgot. Just like in the UK. For foreign tourists at crossings, they often draw a reminder right on the pavement, just like that.

And in rental cars often write "drive on left". And at the exits from the ports / airports. Most often from foreign cars there are British GB, but there are also German / French D / F, apparently, sailed on the ferries.

Transport

Transportation in Ireland is not very. There is no developed network of railways, I think, because of the population density. I know very little about inter-city public transport, while I’ve almost never used it. I'll tell you about the urban (and suburban) transport of Dublin, because I know more about him. It is represented by buses, trains and trams. Trolleybuses, unfortunately, no.

Buses

(picture from here )

The most massive transport. Famous Dublin yellow double-decker buses . They are loved, they are hated. Love for the fact that they are almost everywhere. They hate that they almost never go on a schedule. And in general, the farther from the center of Dublin, the less often this schedule. And they also sway strongly in Dublin (not the smoothest) roads, including speed bumps. Especially on the second floor. But at the top of the view is beautiful on the road, it is a fact, especially from the front. In new buses there are USB sockets. There is a mobile application, very functional, therefore not very convenient. It is able to do everything - to build routes, count the cost, look at the board by the stop number, look for the nearest stops. But until you figure it out, there is a risk that your bus will already leave without you.
Cost ofdepends on the method of payment (cash or leap-card - about her below) and the distance. Well, in the second case, even from the social status - there is a mass of social discounts. There are travel tickets (for other types of transport too). The peculiarity is that it is necessary to say "how much to remove" at the entrance; when you exit, you do not need to do anything. Honestly, I don’t know how to control the fact that you don’t pay the minimum price, but you’ll pass the whole city, you’ve never met the controllers, the driver plays the role of a controller.

Tram luas

(note that they advertise on the tram)

My favorite is the coolest transport in the world . Unfortunately, there are only two of them. In the sense of two branches (!). Red and green. On such a huge city! Often scored to failure. But it may even cost a little cheaper than a bus (depending on the distance). It weaves very slowly in the center (and even stands at traffic lights, which is absurd), but it flies very briskly on the outskirts. It is necessary to register the trip at the entrance and exit (part of the money is returned at the exit, the cost of the trip depends on the number of zones). Quite often I met supervisors - sometimes not even in the car itself, but at the exit from it!

DART and Commuter Rail Trains

( from here , your photo was not at hand)

The most expensive of these and the fastest transport . Cheaper than a taxi and a private car, of course. As far as I can tell, DART is most often an electric train, and Commuter Rail is diesel “wireless” trains. Since not all of the railway is electrified, the latter travel longer distances. Similarly, travel must be recorded at the entrance and at the exit. I have not met the controllers, but I rarely go, I think they do.

Leap card

Refillable travel card. There is an application, unfortunately, only under Android, through NFC there you can throw money. You can also shower in the terminals. It can be anonymous, it can be personalized (with photos), it can be preferential (for example, student). For personal you can throw monthly and annual travel (did not try). The main feature - the discount on travel - it is much cheaper, even single trips. And even cheaper transplants (unfortunately, transplants are still non-free). But most importantly, the so-called daily / weekly capping - spending limit - you just will not be allowed to spend more than a certain amount. If you roll 10 € per day or 40 € per week, then the fare is free for you.

Despite all this, I regularly hear the sound of coins when entering buses. People probably can't count.

Bicycles

Dublin is well suited for cycling. It is a bit hilly, but not strong enough for it to be any tangible obstacle. Unfortunately, the municipality thinks differently, so the city is sorely lacking bicycle lanes. It does not stop people, although of course not at all Amsterdam / Copenhagen. Probably nothing motivates to change on bicycles like public transport at the cost of a taxi, and a taxi at the price of a plane. Incidentally, I did not joke about the latter, for the cost of a taxi ride, for example, from the center of Dublin to the airport (about 40 €), it is quite possible to fly somewhere from the same airport to a local low-cost airline.

There is a city bike rental. Even two. One with stations, the other without. The main drawback of bike rentals with stations is their number - covering only in the very center itself . And about the second hire of decent words in general it is impossible to say - the Chinese "plasticine" bikes are completely unsuitable for Dublin - they just launched it this year, and they all fall apart, it’s impossible to ride them. Like new, but already scrap. And the wind blows them away, too light.

Salaries

Admit it, you probably overlooked the rest of the article and waited for this section? The most interesting, the most important. How much do IT workers in Ireland earn?

Unfortunately a bit. More precisely, in absolute terms, a person from the provinces of the Russian Federation will find this “a lot”, but taxes and rentals quickly eat up most of it. I would not recommend moving "for a long euro" to Ireland - there are many countries closer and cheaper, and the salaries there are almost the same. In general, the salaries of IT specialists around the world differ very little, the IT labor market is global, thanks to the fact that many work remotely in distributed teams. But okay, from chatter to numbers.

On irish jobs you can find the latest statistics on salaries. The first two columns are employment (annual income before taxes), the second two are contracted (here it is customary to indicate the rate per day). Consider yourself, it is a lot or a little.

It would be more interesting to look at these numbers in dynamics. I watched a bit (when I was interviewing), and, as it seemed to me, they do not grow much. If grown, it is very small (real estate becomes more expensive). But I cannot confirm my words, because I could not find the data, for example, for 2008 (but I didn’t really try, if someone throws links, I will be grateful).

Taxes

Ireland has a progressive tax scale. The more a person earns, the more taxes can be collected from him. The poor either pay nothing or almost nothing, the rich pay a lot. It seems to be a noble leveling in order to reduce social tension in society? Unfortunately, it turns out that the rich withdraw money to offshore and still do not pay anything, the poor have enough expenses without taxes (life is expensive), and the so-called "middle class" pays most taxes. For me, so with justice it has little to do.

So, in Ireland there are three direct taxes - the actual income tax (income), and two social gatherings of USC and PRSI . Income tax and USC are fully paid by the employee, and the PRSI is partially paid by the employer (on top of the salary indicated in the employment contract, similar to how pension payments are paid in the Russian Federation). There are only two income tax rates - 20% and 40%, USC from 0 to 8%, PRSI - 4% (+ the employer pays from 8.6% to 10.85% of his PRSI contribution). The threshold at which 20% is converted into 40% depends on the marital status, and every year it gradually increases - € 34,550 for singles and € 43,550 for family in 2018. In addition, there is tax credit- he is deducted already after, and from a non-working (go) spouse (s) you can “take away” his part, increasing yours from 3300 to 4950.
If it is difficult, then there is a tax calculator that will help you. You can also drive in the amount you would like to get in your hands, considering what your gross salary should be.

And that's not it. He mentioned that he also had to pay tax for medical insurance. This is called benefit in kind . In addition to insurance, this includes, for example, the use of a corporate car or something similar.

In general, revenue.ie can be read endlessly. Firstly, it is well written, simple, understandable and accessible language. Secondly, there are a lot of different taxes. And deductions too. Learn if interested.

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 the 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 (sausageswith macaroonswith 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 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 with 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 the automation (only in the bus you have to call it yourself).

About food. The two most popular hypermarkets Irish SuperValu and English TescoThere are sites, 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)