Ireland was officially neutral during the Second World War and the Irish government referred to the war as "the emergency". But part of the island of Ireland was at war and physically we are very close to the UK, so there was always a risk that German pilots could get confused about which country they were over. And so the Irish government set up the coastal watch to … [Read more...] about A Quirky Bit of Irish History
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What is the Problem With VAT?
We're currently seeing high inflation in Ireland and other countries. It's impacting the price of many products that we all buy, though some are more obviously impacted than others. The housing market is nuts. There's very little available and what is on the market is at an inflated price. (I'm using a few tweets from Bonkers as they're easy to understand) Our mortgage … [Read more...] about What is the Problem With VAT?
Donegal is the Destination for 2022’s Week Away
For the last couple of years I've been spending my holidays in Ireland. Last year was up around Mayo and Galway, while the year before was County Clare. For summer 2022 it's Donegal! It's an area of the country that I don't really know. Many many years ago (late 90s I think?) my girlfriend at the time was attending a course up there, so I visited for about a week. I … [Read more...] about Donegal is the Destination for 2022’s Week Away
Insurance Craziness
Insurance in Ireland is a bit of a mess and an expensive one at that. For the last couple of years I've been tracking insurance quotes for both my car insurance and my house insurance just to see how varied the prices are. My methodology is far from perfect, but it's helpful to keep track of the pricing I get as well as seeing how that pricing changes over time. … [Read more...] about Insurance Craziness
Irish Accents are Insanely Diverse
Ireland is not a big country. We're a small island. But we do have a lot of very different accents. Even within a very small area accents change dramatically. The late Niall Tóibín did a very clever piece where he "toured" the country's accents starting up north. I'm not sure how well non-Irish people cope with this sort of thing, but I find it very entertaining. … [Read more...] about Irish Accents are Insanely Diverse