Written by SA2Eire Admin
Years ago I wrote a blog on SA2eire called “Ireland is not for everyone, find your sheeple” but I feel it’s now out of date. So I’ve re-written it with some more current nuances.
That face you pull in year one
There’s a special kind of face you pull in your first year in Ireland. It’s brave and confused at the same time.
You’re smiling, you’re nodding, you’re saying “grand” like you mean it… but inside you’re thinking, what the actual heck is going on and why does everyone sound like they’re singing while giving me bad news.
So ja. If that’s you, welcome.
Ireland can be life-changing in the best way. It can also humble you so hard you end up crying in a Lidl car park over the price of cheese and the fact you still don’t have a GP.
Ireland has changed. Here’s what that means for you.
I’m saying this upfront to save you emotional whiplash.
Ireland hasn’t stayed the same in the 10 years I’ve lived here.
Pre-Covid it felt softer. More open. More “ah sure you’re grand” even when you clearly were not grand. Post-Covid, humans changed everywhere, and Ireland is not immune. Then came a big few years of inward migration on top of a system already under strain.
Let’s talk numbers, not vibes. Census 2022 shows about 1 in 5 people living in Ireland were born outside the country. www.cso.ie Inward migration has been running at over 125,000 people a year. The system is busy. The people in it are tired.
So what does that mean for you, the new arrival, the brave one, the “I’ve sold everything and I’m starting again” human?
It means you’ll still meet the magic Irish: kind, funny, generous, soulful, salt-of-the-earth people who’ll give you directions, a story, and emotional support in the space of seven minutes.
But you might also meet the burnt-out Irish: stressed, priced out, fed up, and not in the mood for “another wave of newcomers” when they can’t get a GP appointment or a place for their own kid to rent.
If you arrive expecting a constant warm hug, that shift can feel like rejection.
It’s not always rejection.
Sometimes it’s just tired.
Leave the suitcase at the door
And I’m going to say something that might sting a bit, but it will help you integrate faster.
You cannot arrive here carrying South African bitterness like a suitcase you slam on every table. Ireland will not know what to do with it. They don’t understand our fear culture, the layers of rage and grief from living in a place where you learn early that you must be alert all the time. The Irish cannot know what it is to put your handbag under a seat and lock the doors, or run red “robots” in the late sunset hours. They cannot relate to waking to hearing something in the kitchen and the feeling of frozen blood. This my darling will not compute!
Your anger is complicated.
Your tears are difficult to explain.
Go gently with the stories of violence and crime, especially in your first months, because it can make people shut down or feel like you’re judging their world.
Lead with the love.
Tell stories of our soil, our animals, our mountains, our beaches, that massive blue sky that makes your chest feel wide. Share the magic, not only the trauma.
You don’t have to pretend South Africa was perfect. You also don’t have to dump the darkest parts of it on people who have never lived it.
Integration is a behaviour, not a Facebook status
Here’s the truth about integration. You integrate when you learn the rhythm. When you greet your neighbours. Now you stop comparing every system to “back home.” You have accepted Irish time is Irish time. When you respect the local strain, especially housing and healthcare, and you become part of community instead of orbiting it. You know the difference between “No bother” and “I will, yeah.” One will, one won’t!
And you find your people. Your sheeple.
Not every town will feel like home. Some places have a tense edge right now. Some places still feel like a warm blanket. You’re allowed to notice that. You’re allowed to choose your environment intentionally.
Both things can be true
If Ireland feels hard, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re adjusting to Irish currents, and those currents are real.
There will be strong days and hard ones. Days you’re homesick for the smell of warm tar on a summer road and the way South Africans laugh with their whole bodies. Days you feel lonely. Then days you’re so grateful you could kiss the ground because your kids are safer, your nervous system is calmer, and you can walk at night without scanning every shadow.
Both things can be true at the same time.
So if you’re here and you’re wobbling… you’re not broken. You’re just new.
Come prepared, not wide-eyed
And if you’re still in South Africa reading this, imagining Ireland as a perfect fairytale with accents and Guinness and castles, then please hear me clearly.
Ireland can be a blessing. But she is not a utopia.
Arrive prepared. Arrive informed and humble. Come willing to work, with enough money to breathe, and ready to build a life instead of expecting one to be handed to you. [Link: SA2eire’s guide to moving to Ireland – sa2eire.com]
And when the day comes that you’re standing in a queue and someone says, “Howya, you grand?” you can smile and say…
I’m fine… I’m just figuring out Irish currents.
