The Irish Times ABROAD

Follow Us

Planning a move to New Zealand? Here’s everything you need to know

Ciara Kenny

Temperate climate and lush scenery make it an attractive alternative to Australia

New Zealand Q&A: Christchurch

‘Christchurch is so well suited to family life’

‘Christchurch is so well suited to family life’

My New Zealand: Teacher Sarah Lynch and her young family live in Christchurch, where her QS husband is helping rebuild the city

New Zealand Q&A: Auckland

‘Auckland is home now after 11 years’

‘Auckland is home now after 11 years’

My New Zealand: Accountant Ciaran Lowney has been involved with the Irish community in Auckland since moving there in 2003

Adrienne Slattery with her partner Tim Shannon, their son Henry and daughter Isabella at a picnic at Lake Tekapo on New Zealand's South Island.

The earthquake emigrants Leaving Ireland for earthquake-torn Christchurch

Year on a NZ dairy farm Peter McCann on 12 months working in Invercargill

Son in New Zealand No parent wants to consider their child may be gone for good

Eithne Sweeney and Myles Henaghan: put their marriage through stress testing by sailing a 35ft boat across two major oceans

From NZ to Mayo by boat An Irish couple set sail for the long route home from abroad

How I fell in love with wild and wonderful New Zealand

Yellow-eyed penguins are among the rarest penguins in the world. Photograph: Shaun Templeton

Suzanne Burns

Suzanne Burns works as a zoologist, wildlife guide and photographer in Dunedin

‘I’m an Irishman by birth but a New Zealander by choice’

Kevin found ‘welcome, support and opportunity’ in New Zealand.

Kevin Stafford

After 40 years abroad there is nothing I still miss about Ireland. New Zealand is home now

How come I’m lonely when I’m having such a good time in New Zealand?

Niamh Dunne: I did things I never thought I’d do – a bungee swing in Queenstown, a skydive in Cairns, and scuba-diving in Koh Tao

Niamh Dunne

I have a good job and great friends in Auckland, but homesickness is catching up with me

‘I moved back to Ireland to see if I could live there as an adult. I lasted 18 months.’

Noelle McCarthy: ‘I didn’t want to be an immigrant with an accent, I just wanted to sound like every other Kiwi... I thought I had to stop being Irish if I wanted to make it in Auckland.’

Noelle McCarthy

‘Ireland and Me’: Noelle McCarthy, Auckland

Barefoot Kiwis and their Yeah Nah genius

Anne Tiernan and family: It probably goes without saying that we enjoy a sunnier climate in New Zealand. The downside is cockroaches, mosquitoes and man-eating sharks

Anne Tiernan

This is the winner of the Generation Emigration Why I Love Living In . . . competition

‘You can quickly become a tourist in your native country’

Anne Tiernan (pictured with her husband Matt Johanson and children Jack, Molly and Oscar in New Zealand): ‘The prevailing wind will be felt on all Irish coastal waters and on the Irish sea; words etched in my brain rather like the Hail Mary.’

Anne Tiernan

On a recent visit from New Zealand, some things surprise me but others are depressingly familiar

As an emigrant, I live my life in two parts

Alice Paul: ‘Every morning I woke up wishing I was back in Ireland.’

Alice Paul

I try to retain my identity as an Irish person, but I’m also a new New Zealander eager to fit in

‘I never thought we’d have to emigrate at this stage of our lives’

Robyn Cunningham: ‘I look at photos of myself from five years ago, with those lines of stress and fear etched forever on my face, and compare them to photos of me now, where my face is brown, and the worry furrows are fading.’

Robyn Cunningham

We’ve moved to New Zealand to settle a debt we could never have repaid otherwise

New Zealand News

Keep in touch Got a story or experience to share about living or moving abroad? Let us know

Generation Emigration Survey How do emigrants who left Ireland since the crash feel about life?

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out