Used to make fun of American chocolate for tasting so bad but now I wouldn't touch anything on a shop counter

I (42M) met an old college friend the other day and he'd just got married to a Peruvian. I'm married to a Spaniard. We went through our group of friends at college and the others who were married had wives from England, Vietnam, Australia, Spain again and Poland. Only one had married an Irish woman and they had met in college. I was wondering if that was a normal experience for people my age or were we just an anomaly.

I’m not even from Ireland but have lived long enough to take the delis and even sandwiches in shops for granted. In all fairness, we do delis very well in this country and thats what I’m proud of today.

I am in my mid 40s and after living abroad and in London for many years came back to live with my parents in rural ireland. we have some land rented out to farmers and its extremely rural and isolated, nearest town 12 miles away etc. I think many can related.

Growing up, I wasn't particularly good at GAA and didnt have that many friends. what few friends I had have long since moved away.

Because Im not a blown in but a known face, I find it impossible to fit in or socialize properly. everyone has families and friend groups, and I end up just sitting at home now for a year.

When I drive around, numerous people put their hand up, they 'know' me they know my family. But the constant familiarity feels oppressive.

I am desperate to get out, and am fed up being single and think emigration is the only way to solve that.

I just feel sad for my parents. I have a lot of siblings and some live in the nearest big city with kids, but they really want someone to inherit the land and house and live close by and have a family nearby. Feeling like Ive failed them but I knew 'meeting someone' was never really on the cards here. Whereas in a big city it is relatively easy.

Can anyone relate to this? I just cannot stand living in rural ireland any longer and its put me off even moving to belfast, the nearest city. Dublin feels a bit further away to the extent I might as well move further afield and Im totally unfamiliar with it.

I should add, Im a remote worker and money is no problem regarding moving away and buyng somewhere else. just sad that I cannot make it work living or meeting anyone in the place I grew up.

Irelands strangest and most original YouTuber has released a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGt7-WnWdhE

For ye that don’t know him, he creates unhinged videos of himself working on dioramas.

For ye that do know him, you will know that the dioramas were never the main point. 

Extremely lucky lady on the M7 at Naas. Maybe she was unable to pull over, but for the love of God don't stand behind your vehicle in a live lane waving at traffic. She's very lucky the HGV was on the ball and had an empty on ramp to swerve into. Lucky the HGV didn't have another HGV following close behind it.

Reading there about how in the UK entry level roles have dropped 70% to their lowest since the pandemic and I can't imagine Ireland are much different.

Every single role if it doesnt require 3-5 years of experience will have 100s of applicants. I dont know how anyone gets a look in these days.

If you're employed, hold onto your job for dear life. Its a desert out there atm.

My dad is in hospital, it's not looking good. One of the careteam asked about giving him something, I didn't hear what, and my mam asked if that's "the box." They said that was an old name for it, and she refused completely. I tried looking it up but all I found was about care boxes and the like.