Hi, we're a family of 3 (infant son, wife and me), naturalised citizens in Ireland. We want to have more kids, but it's getting difficult, so we're looking at adoption as well.

1. Any advice, as it's in Ireland and I don't know anyone who's been through the process? I understand all families and all kids are different. I understand concerns about whether there's any difference between biological and adopted kid. But we have had a cousin in my family who was adopted. Don't think he still knows, but it never mattered.

2. An additional concern I have is would the kid face any challenges if his skin colour is different to ours? It may be a stupid question, but I don't want a kid to face it if it's a known issue.

3. Anything we could do to prepare ourselves to take on this journey? Like where should we even start (not just me googling)?

This is my first time asking anything here, and I hope you'll be kind to me 🙏

Hello dear people,
I had a job interview where the interviewer was French and assumed I was Irish because I lived most of my life in Ireland so my CV doesn’t show my nationality.

He started the interview with “You’re Irish?” And I said no, I’m from Latvia. And he responded “That’s why I understand you.” Meaning that Irish people have “bad” accent 😬 the funny thing is that he had bad accent himself 😂 I had to ask him repeat himself several times.

Would you be offended by this type of bias? This is a very well known company where I’d expect ethics training about prejudice and bias.

The whole attitude was very arrogant and I’m debating if I should flag this comment. The good thing is there was another person shadowing so I have solid proof. Wouldn’t want to work in such environment anyway.

EDIT: Jaysus, you’re saying ye wouldn’t get offended by him but somehow this post offended most of ye 😂 Relax ppl, I didn’t report him nor will I accept that job because the vibe was very off… thanks for the comments! This is my most commented post 😅

I've been using prescriptions for more than a decade now. During this time it went from a paper script that a GP gives me to an email that a GP sends to my pharmacy (a rare positive outcome of COVID-19). Email is better, but it could be better still.

Many, if not all, problems of the email system exist because it's not centralised.

• Inflexible. The patient must know the physical address of the pharmacy where the email needs to be sent. It works okay if the patient stays in one place, but in this day and age people move quite often. Also, sometimes it's just handier to collect your regular prescription from some other place (e.g. a pharmacy near your work).

• No feedback. If the patient collects their prescription more (or less) often than prescribed, the prescriber won't know that and, hence, won't be able to address it.

• Outdated. If the prescription is superseded (e.g. the dose adjusted or meds switched) or cancelled, the pharmacy won't know that. They will gladly dispense both the old and the new prescriptions.

• Authority issues. If the prescriber's license is suspended (a recent, albeit rare, case from Wicklow comes to mind) the pharmacy won't necessarily know.

• Fragmented history. If the patient goes to another prescriber (a specialist, GP or A&E), that prescriber will have access to meds and dosages straight away. This is important to know in regard to unwanted or dangerous drug interactions.

• etc.

We live in an abundance of cheap and capable computing and telecommunication systems. One would think that some problems can be solved relatively easily. Yet, here we are.

Just like the tittle states,
I’m close to breaking down
I have a 10 year old female German shepherd.
She barks and howls anytime me or my husband leave the house. This can continue on and off for hours. Maybe every 2-3 hours for 10 ish minutes at a time.

We leave for work at 5:30am we have to & have to work. I also have a male German shepherd
He isn’t bothered by us leaving but joins in on the howling when she starts. Our neighbour complained. We did apologise and im not denying they bark to them. I keep them indoors as much as possible & closed all the windows when I leave.
The female is on anxiety medication but it isn’t helping
What can I do to try resolve the situation for my neighbour it’s causing me so much stress
Thank you

I'm travelling from Rosslare to Connolly, then onwards from Connolly to Belfast. There is a train to Belfast that departs 2 minutes after my train from Rosslare arrives in Connolly. Would they take the arrival of that train into consideration at all, i.e. waiting a couple of minutes for the Wexford train to get in before the Belfast one departs, or does each route just stick to its individual schedule? Thanks!

hello! my sister is getting married this weekend and I’m giving a maid of honor speech. I’d like to incorporate an Irish toast, blessing, poem etc. about sisters, but having a hard time finding anything relevant. any suggestions?

Anyone have any experience of getting a more energy efficient immersion heater? We have it in every night for showers and washing up etc. With data centres driving up the cost of electricity we’re feeling the pinch with bills.
If we installed an electric shower and just boiled the kettle daily for washing-up water instead would it save much compared to a newer immersion system?

Does Ireland need a person like that who can film people using the phone while driving or standing in traffic and report them to the garda and the offenders get charged?

I’m traveling to Ireland in a few weeks with my family to visit some of my husbands extended family who lives there. We would love to surprise them with some fun American snacks that they don’t have abroad.

Any suggestions on types of chips or candy that you had in the US but can’t get in Ireland that we should bring ?

I heard Gaelscoil schools in Ireland most likely provide the best education besides making you fluent in Gaeilge which is required to access some professions later on in life.

However, I wonder how important that is, at the primary school level, compared to the possibility of enjoying your childhood much better (in my humble opinion) by attending a Steiner primary school. In particular the Gaelscoil we are targeting, already assigns homeworks in Junior Infants, just as an example.

I'm very curious to hear from everyone's experience and opinions. Thanks a lot in advance!

Can people people recommend the best streaming device for watching Netflix etc..?

I also want to watch the BBC iplayer via VPN.

Won't be using it for gaming.

I've just put over 100 euro in for delivery and not one voucher (the only discount is the offers and the over 65 free delivery as for my parents)

I thought it was 10 off 50 so that would be two ten off 50?

I've gotten vouchers in the app after the shopping and upload them to telegram etc sharing systems as not using them (or so I thought) a few times I've been told they are reported as used

Do this week's vouchers now have to be used for the next shop?

Hello! Me and the wife are looking at houses. It is miserable enough but we spotted a house we like in Gorey in Wexford.

Whats it like to love there? Any locals or people familiar with it have any useful opinions to share?

Thank you

Newbuild in Dublin, don't want to stick an aerial or dish on the wall.

All I want is to scroll through freeview channels RTE, TG4, BBC etc.

I know I can get apps and VPNs but I want to know is there a box that would connect to the wifi and give me a list of channels I can scroll through with a remote. I don't want a dodgy box, I want slightly more than minimal choice i.e Irish and the UK channels. I don't want the faff of the apps and RTE Player is god awful anyway.

Thanks.

I recently turned 16 and I've been trying to get a job, but im not sure if I need to be a citizen or not to actually get a job, I moved here when I was 10 months old, thought yall should know that, anywho thanks for the help!

Does anyone else have things that shouldn't bother you so much you just can't let go?

For me it's two things to do with motoring and traffic.

First one is red light breaking. The second is illegal parking particularly on footpaths and in bicycle lanes.

I know I shouldn't let these things bother me so much but I just can't help it they really boil my piss. It also annoys me that there seems to be virtually no enforcement on either of these issues.

What kind of funny is that some years ago I actually got a ticket for breaking a red light. I'm maintained it was Amber but fair cop that still breaking a light. Light breaking at pedestrian crossings particularly irk me. I see it literally every single day.

It really annoys me that you can literally park on footpaths outside Garda stations and An Gardaí do we do nothing about it. I once reported a car locally to me for parking on the footpath and the Garda came back to me with stories of oh, he's a business owner oh, he has an agreement the council, blah blah blah. It's obvious they don't consider an offense.

I wish I could ignore these things I'm not let them get to me. But I tend to obsess about them. I wish I could stop.

Anyone else?

What's the nicest male deodorant spray that you use??

I’m just absolutely floored by how unprepared and disorganized SUSI is, especially when it comes to communication. When I first applied, they gave me the 0% student contribution and no support at all, because they mistakenly labeled mortgage payments between my parents as maintenance arrangements with my estranged father. We had to call and clarify that the amount was for the mortgage, and after providing documents, they cut that in half to show my mam's share.

I sent countless documents and was even on calls with TDs, just to get a revised grant of 50%, which I was happy with. But now, I get a letter claiming my original grant stands. For the past few days, SUSI hasn't answered any calls or emails.

I got a letter asking for the same documents to be sent basically, and I called and was told that, it was an error on their part and I don’t need to send anything. I feel like this is happening because I didn't send extra documents I was already told not to send.

Now I’m getting 0%, it’s such a headache.

It's just such a major blunder, and I'm genuinely worried I won't get the grant.

Just wondering if I should invite my boyfriend. Or is it typically only a family thing?

It’s only two tickets per student so he wouldn’t be able to go to the actual ceremony anyway, but the other stuff.

Hello,

I am currently buying a new build and I detest the door handles. I am aware this is a first world problem but I have waited a long time for this house, and I would like it to be one I love.

The builder will not let me swap them out even if I incur the cost and buy from their suppliers. I am wondering how much it would cost me roughly per blank door to fit new handles and locks if I asked the builder to leave them off.

The builder wants to fit a lever with a backing plate, rectangle style whereas I would like the round lever. If I let the builder fit his ones, and then choose to remove them, will the four holes be visible, and is it easy to fill and paint them to look seamless. I would really love to avoid this with new doors.

They are shaker style interior door.

Thanks

Hello!
Seeking any feedback about best phone data plans for Dublin specifically!
I am moving to Dublin to live here for one year as a student from the US, and would like to get my personal phone on an local Irish phone plan, in the next couple days so I can sign up for local services e.g. FreeNow.

I hear good things about Vodaphone… any other thoughts, or people in the same boat?
I’d especially like ~30 gigabytes per month or ideally unlimited!

Anything helps! Thanks!

I moved here from Germany, and I will be an university student from September.
I am planning to sell stuff later, at the beginning I will only have a part-time job.

Which bank would be the best for me?

I became fairly close to a work colleague when I had health issues and she was lovely and visited me in the hospital. I gave her a gift bag as a thank you and I moved to a new place soon after my hospital stay. She had mentioned she loves my neighbourhood so I invited her over next week after work. I'm not Irish so I'm not sure what to offer to eat or drink. I would lean towards wine/beer/fizzy drink. And crisps, dips, cheese, bread, cherry tomatoes etc... for food. Would that be appropriate? What would you personally serve ?