With the improving fortunes of the Irish economy, instead of scores of people leaving these shores, many are coming here to further their careers, set up home and embrace the Irish way of life. Close to 80,000 people relocated here last year.
While many come from different backgrounds with different needs, most will need help settling in – from finding somewhere to live, choosing the right school or even figuring out how to ensure a pet rabbit can make the transition too. Increasingly, the services of relocation agents are being called upon to manage the move.
Dan Sennett, of Irish Relo in Kildare, says size can be an issue for some clients as their belongings don’t always fit like a glove – and some nationalities are used to bigger houses and appliances than what can be found here.
“Americans mostly feel that the house and room sizes are very small,” says Sennett, whose relocation services once involved driving a chinchilla across Europe to reunite with its owner. “On more than one occasion, we have had pianos that won’t fit upstairs and in one instance lifted a piano into an apartment using a crane via the balcony window. But we usually get around it as we have our own carpenter who can take things apart and put them back together again once inside.”
The real fridge
Sennett remembers showing one American family a small undercounter fridge in a large house they were hoping to rent. The husband thought it was really quaint and a great place to keep his beers cool – then asked where the real fridge was, and agreed to rent the house only if he could have a large fridge freezer with an ice-crusher installed.
David Moreau of On Board Ireland says how people react to properties here is generally guided by where they have been living beforehand.
“The relatively small size of apartments in Dublin is often an issue but it really does depend on where people were last,” he says. “Somebody coming from an assignment in London, Rome or Zurich will have very little issue with local rents but they are frequently disappointed in terms of furnishings and fit-out and what are advertised as ‘corporate lets’. North Americans usually appreciate our public transport system, while Europeans often see it as very underdeveloped and disjointed. Like most things in life, perception is mostly about one’s own experience.”
It’s not just about finding accommodation: relocating services run the gamut from immigration support, furniture-transfer, orientation, registering with schools, setting up home and settling in. Then there’s help with navigating the usual bureaucracy, such as translating documents, acquiring an Irish driving licence or PPS number, ensuring the new property is linked up to utilities, helping with gym membership, locating the best local restaurants and shops or even organising a welcome package for when the client arrives.
Christine Winning, managing director of Corporate Care Relocations Ireland in Cork, says driving in Ireland is also a big challenge for many and getting an Irish driving licence can be even more difficult.
“I could get a US licence in one hour by paying $10 whereas the equivalent Irish licence could take a 50-year-old US citizen [who has been driving for more than 30 years] eight months and cost at least €600,” she says. “And don’t even get me started on car insurance for returning Irish immigrants, or new arrivals.”
Then there’s the terminology. “Words like ‘hot-press’, ‘lift’ and ‘immersion’ don’t mean much to Americans. My favourite is ‘electric shower’ as it’s amusing to watch people worry that they are going to be electrocuted – because, in most people’s minds, electricity and water do not mix.”
Winning, who started the relocating business with her husband, says there was a definite dip in the numbers moving to Ireland between 2006 and 2007, but the sector, which generally runs six to 12 months ahead of general business trends, started to grow again in 2009/2010.
“Even with the severe national shortage of suitable rental property in Ireland at present, it’s fair to say that there is more variety now in the housing stock than there was even a decade ago – from duplex apartments and townhouses in the cities or high-end renovated Georgian houses in Dublin to architect-designed houses in great locations throughout Ireland.”
Sennett agrees, and says in the past two years he has seen a huge number of people relocating here. “Since 2015 numbers have increased year on year and are now at an all-time high. The IDA is attracting higher numbers of new start-ups and multinationals already established here are adding to their headcount on a monthly basis – in fact, 79,300 people of all nationalities moved to Ireland from other countries in the 12 months to April, up from 69,300 the previous year.
The majority of clients relocating to Ireland are looking for properties in and around Dublin and other urban centres around the country and most cite location as the most important factor.
“The most popular style of home tend to be apartments (of one and two bedrooms) and four-bed family houses and everyone is looking for an affordable, safe, clean home in a warm, welcoming community close to (within 10 minutes’ walk of) public transport, schools, shops and recreation facilities.
“The bane of my life at present is trying to explain why our very small stock of one-bedroom properties [about 3 per cent of current rentals] are almost the same price as the two-beds but are less than 600sq ft with no storage.”
Gráinne McCabe, account manager with the Relocation Bureau in Dún Laoghaire, says her clients mostly look to settle in an urban location although some will commute.
“Our clients are mainly looking to relocate to Dublin and Cork,” she says. “Many single executives only come for one year but if they are relocating their families it would usually be for a minimum of two to three years. They tend to prefer suburbs so they are close to parks and schools and ideally would like a house with a garden.” While most people will have done their research before relocating to a new country, Dublin-based David Moreau says some have little knowledge about Ireland and this can make it more difficult for them to settle.
“Most have visited Ireland previously but among those that haven’t, their knowledge can be relatively limited at times,” he says. “Many still struggle with the concept of a border within the island, which is probably the most frequent source of confusion.
“And while most will have done a good bit of research online, you do get unusual queries such as a recent inquiry about the prevalence of cockroaches here. The point is that each individual comes to Ireland with their own aspirations and hopes but they will also bring their personal foibles, concerns and cultural references.
“Our job is to help them re-establish their daily lives quickly – to give them head space to deal with the transition in their own way and allow them to focus on what’s important to them when they get here; be it work, looking after their children’s education, building a new network of friends or simply enjoying a new land and culture.”
Sometimes helping to settle someone in can involve unusual requests and Gráinne McCabe says most of these involve animals.
“We have assisted ‘assignees’ with relocating pet rabbits, tortoises, three Great Danes and in one case a pet rat – although this was not possible due to animal health and welfare regulations. But we try and help as much as we can, as a pet is an important part of the family; we would like landlords to be more animal friendly as having a pet definitely restricts choice in renting.”
“There is no such thing as a ‘normal working day’ in our line of business,” says Chris Winning, who is heading to the US next week to attend the wedding of a former client. “Everyone is so different and their plans change all the time. The typical client has more than 900 questions about their move and while we do our best to make sure everything goes to plan, we have certainly had items lost or damaged in transit and have had some interesting cargos –from pets (one person with 16 pets on the move) to motorbikes to hot tubs.
“But while people will sometimes not be happy with certain aspects of their house or location, invariably it is the people they meet that will determine how well they settle-in so a warm and genuine welcome is very important.”
“Our goal is to have an individual feeling like a local – at home – as quickly and smoothly as possible,” says Dan Sennett.
onboardireland.ie relocationbureau.ie irishrelo.com corporatecare.ie
