In the aftermath of the UK Supreme Court judgement in favour of For Women Scotland, conditions for British trans people have worsened, and we have seen a huge increase in enquiries from Brits wanting to leave. For them the easiest destination is Ireland, or more specifically the Republic of Ireland, which because of the Common Travel Area is a country they can live and work in without any need for a visa. People born in Northern Ireland have it even easier, for they qualify to receive Irish citizenship.
Get To Know Your Neighbours
Ireland is a safe and hospitable country in which an English speaker should have no language issues, and it shares many things with the UK that will be familiar in daily life. It sounds like the perfect option and indeed it has much to offer, but before you jump on a ferry it’s worth looking at emigrating to Ireland for Brits in more detail.
Perhaps it’s best to start by firmly grasping the nettle, and asking anyone from the UK looking at moving to Ireland to read up on the shared history of our two countries over centuries. Parts of it may be uncomfortable and there will certainly be things that you weren’t taught in school, but if you are to live in Ireland you will need to understand that history in order to make a success of your new home. In turn, it’s also necessary to recognise that while there are many shared cultural aspects that join the two countries due to their close proximity and large diaspora populations, they are separate countries with their own separate cultures rather than different versions of the same whole. You’re in another country so treat it with the respect you would any other, even if sometimes parts of it feel a little bit familiar.
Particularly since Brexit, it’s been tempting for Brits to look at their EU neighbours and imagine them to be a Shangri-La, lands of tolerance while the UK has had to endure the reigns of Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and now Keir Starmer. In fact the EU countries are just as much a mixed bag as anywhere else, with their own good and bad bits. In the words of one of our Irish friends who helped us write this piece, Ireland is not a progressive utopia. It is a country moving in the right direction, but like any other there will be moments when it does so quickly, and others when it does not.
It’s All About The Housing And The Healthcare
Having taken the time to learn something about your neighbours then, let’s take a look at moving to Ireland. That’s particularly easy for a Brit, who can simply jump on a boat or a plane, or go overland via Northern Ireland. Once you have arrived you are allowed to look for housing and a job, apply for a PPSN, the rough equivalent of the British National Insurance number, and open a bank account in just the same way as an Irish person. However in that simple sounding sentence lies much more complexity which it’s necessary to unpack in more detail.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle you will face lies in housing. Ireland is facing a housing crisis which makes the one in south-east England look insignificant, and unless you happen to be a millionaire you will not find it easy to secure a place to live. Dublin is its epicentre so the prices decrease the further you travel away, but do not expect to find some cheap house in a small rural town because the crisis extends across the whole country. Instead you will have to reduce your expectations where necessary.
.jpg){kind=link}
Once you have found a job, you will need to apply for a PPSN. It’s suggested that you enlist the help of either Citizens Advice, or Intreo, the Irish public employment service, in order to navigate the bureaucracy involved. You will also need to open an Irish bank account, and turn in your British drivers licence for an Irish one. We’re advised that in some cases a Northern Irish bank account can suffice if you have difficulty opening an Irish one, and can offer savings should you need to deal in both euros and pounds. It’s important to note during this process that Irish civil servants are helpful if you are nice to them. Being a dick, especially with a British accent, will not help you.
Healthcare in Ireland is means tested. It is free for people on low incomes, but the overwhelming likelihood is that you will not qualify for that and will have to pay for health insurance. If this sounds frightening to a Brit used to the NHS, this isn’t America. It’s regulated,and affordably priced.
The picture is not so rosy with respect to trans people’s healthcare though. It’s available in Ireland, but we’re told it’s something of a mess and only for patients of their gender clinic system, for which you will be placed on an unsustainably long waiting list. This includes your daily HRT. All is not lost though, and it’s possible to find HRT at a price through some private doctors. Make contact with Irish trans people to find information about this.
Do Your Research, And Prosper
If you’ve managed to navigate all the steps in the last few paragraphs then you should be all set to live in Ireland with a job, somewhere to live, and your healthcare sorted. You’ll learn your way around life in Ireland, but it’s probably worth mentioning a few more tips from our Irish friends who helped us with this piece. One of them lies with activism, in which you are entering a very different landscape. Leave activism to your Irish friends, becoming a thorn in the side in the way British activism works will not be appreciated. Another lies in the name of the place; as a Brit, please don’t call it Eire. Just don’t.
We would suggest that you start your emigration journey to Ireland by learning as much about the country as you can. Find the Irish trans community online, and listen to them. Research property or rentals in Ireland, so that you have a realistic idea of where you can afford. Search Irish job sites, and think which of your skills are in demand in Ireland. Make a research trip across the Irish Sea, to familiarise yourself with both the country and where you’d like to live. This trip might also be useful should you manage to land any job interviews. Finally, the UK maybe looking a little grim but it’s not quite at the point where you should drop everything and run. Take your time and get it right, and you can have a successful future in Ireland. Good luck!
We would like to thank the Irish friends of Trans Rescue whose input was invaluable in composing this piece.
Header image: Aerra Carnicom, CC BY-SA 4.0.
