New working arrangements offer a chance to move out of the city

For Ciara Jordan and her wife Maria it’s a case of back to the future. After more than a decade living and working in Dublin, the pair are heading west, back to their home county of Galway. “It’s for quality of life,” says Jordan. “I grew up on a beach and want that same freedom for my two-year-old son.”

Jordan was recently appointed head of marketing and communications for the Western Development Commission. Part of its remit is to encourage people to move west, so she’s walking the talk.

Yet the normalisation of remote and hybrid working has prompted many more people to think of moving. New right to request remote working legislation will likely prompt many more. If so, new research from estate agency Sherry FitzGerald might make for sobering reading.

Its Spring 2024 review highlights the shortage of second-hand and new homes in rural and regional Ireland. Counties such as Longford, Kerry, Roscommon and Donegal saw transaction levels in the second-hand market decline by more than 8 per cent last year, compared with 2022.

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Galway and Limerick saw transaction activity in the second-hand market drop by 1.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.

Happily you don’t have to move too far outside Ireland’s cities to appreciate the benefits of regional living. Fingal, in north county Dublin, is a case in point. It has the fastest growing, youngest, and most diverse population in the State.

“Fingal is a major focus for growth of Dublin in all sectors and has a highly developed economy with an estimated gross value added of €23.6 billion, or six per cent of the national,” says John Quinlivan, director of economic, enterprise, tourism and cultural development at Fingal County Council.

Its youth, diversity and location make it a vibrant place to live. “Over 330,000 residents enjoy lifestyles in places that range from the highly urbanised at the city edges to the very idyllic rural parts of the north county and a range of large towns and small villages in between,” he explains.

All parts of the area have easy access to Dublin city through good public transport networks but its citizens have strong incentives to stay put too, as Quinlivan explains.

“Fingal has over 2,000 hectares of public open space, major regional parks, over 170 registered sports clubs and 88km of coastline providing levels of recreation, amenity and quality of life that is unique in Dublin,” he says.

With in excess of 6,500 businesses, Fingal’s employment offering is strong and diverse too, spanning sectors from tech and pharmaceuticals to aviation and financial services.

“Fingal is very much the growth outlet for residential development for the Dublin region,” says Quinlivan.

“The county’s housing stock is over 116,000, 67 per cent of which is owner occupied, with in excess of 2,000 new units coming on stream per annum. Average house prices – €435,000 – are lower than other parts of Dublin and, with the wide variety of places from rural and coastal villages to towns and highly urbanised centres at the city edge, the choice and range is steadily increasing.”

The rise of co-working spaces, including networks such as ConnectedHubs.ie, an umbrella brand for almost 400 hubs across the country, is also encouraging people to revisit their living arrangements.

“We’re now witnessing a reverse migration, with individuals drawn back to their roots or seeking a different pace of life post-Covid,” says Allan Mulrooney, the CEO of the Western Development Commission. “Crucially, the embrace of remote working has emerged as a game-changer, offering professionals and businesses alike the flexibility to thrive outside urban centres.”

The phenomenon has resulted in significant population increases in all western counties, he adds, particularly Leitrim (up 9.8 per cent) and Roscommon (8.9 per cent).

In Kildare, Martin Cooper has seen a rise in demand in his business, Newbridge Business Centre. Currently he has 14 office suites rented, 10 of which have been taken up by large corporate clients.

“It enables them to get staff who don’t want to commute to Dublin and who want to live in more affordable areas,” says Cooper.

Newbridge has a population of around 24,000 and a number of new housing estates, he points out. Compared to suburban Dublin, it “offers better value in terms of affordability and also in terms of availability of accommodation – as well as a better quality of life,” he says.

According to the Western Development Commission’s 2023 Remote Working in Ireland Survey, published in November, 59 per cent of people are now working on a hybrid basis, which makes it easier to think of moving further afield.

Of respondents who said they would consider relocating, the top places they would move to in Ireland are Galway, Cork, Kerry and Wicklow.

Of those who have already relocated within the State since the pandemic because they can work remotely, the top five counties they chose are Cork, Galway, Kildare, Mayo and Donegal. Nearly two-thirds of those who have already moved within the State relocated from Dublin.

Barry Prost, co-founder of Rent a Recruiter, which provides skilled recruiters on a short term or project basis, is currently working with an international client who is coming to Ireland and looking for co-working space around the regions to accommodate the staff they will be hiring.

“Remote is here to stay and the regions are definitely going to benefit from that fact,” says Prost.

Rent a Recruiter is itself a remote-first business. Though based in Dublin, it has staff in Monaghan, Galway, Limerick and Kildare. One of its own senior staff members is also relocating from Dublin to the west. Not alone was getting on Dublin’s property ladder a distant prospect for him, “but he was paying €3,500 a month in rent, so it’s a no-brainer”, says Prost.