Half of my family are in Ireland, as well. Not only is my brother-in-law engineer making absolutely loads of money, even relatives who work in other traditionally not-so-lucrative jobs (nannies and receptionists) have salaries and perks that are unheard of in the U.S. I know that for my particular profession, my starting salary in Ireland would be almost double what I make now (if you convert the Irish salary from Euros to dollars, and compare Irish wages in dollars to US wages in dollars). My husband made the same amount in Ireland working as a farm hand as he does here as a highly qualified rock crushing technician.

It’s not just Ireland’s engineering and IT sectors that are booming- it’s everything!

It’s true that cost of living is more expensive in Ireland (food, clothes, etc.), but their sky-high wages more than compensate for it.

And, at first glance, their housing market seems to be as ridiculously priced as ours. But then, take a look at the job boards (such as Irish Jobs.IE), and you’ll see that their wages are much more able to support their prices, while CA wages can in no way support CA prices.

The Irish have certainly gone through some absolutely terrible times, but for right now, it’s great to be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.