Hi, My wife and I got a mortgage on a property in Ireland back in 2006 just before the property market collapsed over there. To make things worse the property ended up being in a dreadful area where we were regularly the victim of anti-social behaviour and crime. Due to massive negative equity caused by the financial crash we could not sell and so put up with this nightmare situation until 2012 where we finally decided to admit defeat and move back home to the UK. Yes, we were naughty and did not tell the bank but by that time we were desperate. We heard nothing from the bank until they caught up with us about a year ago saying that they had sold the property at auction and that we owed them over €200,000. I don't know how they got our address but the letters have continued for a year and have now ramped up a level saying that they are going to involve Cabot Ltd. I have learned from this forum that these people are debt collectors and would really appreciate some help on how best to proceed with this as our decision to take this mortgage out over 10 years ago is still blighting our lives. We will never be able to pay this money back. We're both over 40, have no financial assets and realistically, will never be able to own our own place so this feels like a real kick in the teeth. Any advice or help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Ryanair has told lawyers acting for a woman claiming compensation that it will no longer accept the jurisdiction of the English courts, in a case that has raised concerns over air passenger delay rights. The claims management company acting for a woman known only as Ms Menditta, who claimed against the Dublin-based Ryanair after a delay in 2015, have been told by the airline that a clause in the airline’s terms and conditions requires disputes to be decided by the Irish courts. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/09/ryanair-says-womans-delay-claim-must-go-through-irish-courts Clause 2.4 of Ryanair's terms and conditions states that contract disputes will normally be subject to the jurisdiction of Irish courts, but until now has rarely invoked that clause. Ryanair has now declared it WILL recognise the jurisdiction of British courts in flight delay compensation cases, but only if customers shun third-party claims firms and approach the airline directly.

I am receiving letters and phonecalls from a debt collection relating to an old debt from ROI. I left the country some years ago, and no judgment was obtained in the Irish Courts. Can they now enforce it over here without a judgment? I am due to go on Maternity (statutory) so I definitely cannot afford to pay anything, even though I don't recognise the full value of the debt now being claimed. What do you advise?

I've had a letter over the weekend from CDI- we left ireland during the financial crisis due to no work, . ..I had a small unsecured loan with boi -haven't paid anything off the loan since June 2011, it's about €2500 - they've sent me a letter via an international DCA, who are based in Kent... Any advice??

For all diabetics!!! Irish Sugar Test One day an Irishman goes into a pharmacy - reaches into his pocket and takes out a small Irish whiskey bottle and a teaspoon. He pours from the bottle onto the teaspoon and offers it to the chemist. "Could you taste this for me, please? “The chemist takes the teaspoon, puts it in his mouth, swills the liquid around and swallows it. "Does that taste sweet to you?" says Paddy. "No, not at all," says the chemist. "Oh that's a relief," says Paddy. "The doctor told me to come here and get my urine tested for sugar Apologies if it offends.

Hi everyone needing some help with this one. I had a loan with an Irish bank with an outstanding amount of around €7,000. I left Ireland just over 4 years ago and made them an offer to pay €5,000 before I left which they refused, so I left Ireland without paying the loan in full. Fast forward 4 years and i now live in Northern Ireland which is part of the UK and I have received an email from Certus stating that I still owe the bank money and if I do not wish to engage with the bank then he will advise of same and the bank will then make a decision. I have already asked for a copy of the agreement. The questions I have are: Can They issue a CCJ for my home in Northern Ireland Can this effect my UK credit score What response if any can I give to them Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone needing some help with this one. I had a loan with an Irish bank with an outstanding amount of around €7,000. I left Ireland just over 4 years ago and made them an offer to pay €5,000 before I left which they refused, so I left Ireland without paying the loan in full. Fast forward 4 years and i now live in Northern Ireland which is part of the UK and I have received an email from Certus stating that I still owe the bank money and if I do not wish to engage with the bank then he will advise of same and the bank will then make a decision. The questions I have are: Can the bank chase me in Northern Ireland (UK) Can They issue a CCJ for my home in Northern Ireland Can this effect my UK credit score What response if any can I give to them [*]edd Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi all, I need some advice. I am an Irish citizen but have lived and worked in the UK since 2009. Due to the economic situation in Ireland there are no jobs in my field in Ireland and not likely to be any in the foreseeable future. I have an outstanding credit card debt since I was a student in Ireland. I have been trying to pay it off since 2000!! Unfortunately I still owe 1000 Euro's on it. I chopped up the card years ago but cannot seem to get it paid off!! The latest letter states that if I continue to pay the minimum amount on the debt I won't have it paid off till 2031!! I am just so tired of getting the letters etc. and would love to just pay it off however I cannot afford to pay it off in one go. Today I decided to phone them to propose to pay £500 to settle it. They basically said that would not do at all and the minimum they would agree to is 900 Euro's. I explained that I do not have that amount and that I only have £500 and is it not better to get that than dragging it out, on and on...They said they would send a form I think a budget form and to fill it in and then they would see but I do not think that will make any difference. I am actually moving to the Middle East in a few months so just want it off my back before I go. I was going to get a U.K. credit card as I have no debt here and do a money transfer on a low interest deal but I got cold feet in the end and cancelled it. I have learnt my lesson about credit cards and never want to have one again. Any ideas on what I can do? Do you think it is a reasonable amount I have offered in your experiences or am I being completely naive? I am still being charged interest so will never be able to pay it off at this rate. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Murphy applied for a fork lift operator post at a famous Irish brewing firm based in Dublin. A Pole applied for the same job and since both applicants had similar qualifications, they had to take a test and were led to a quiet room with no interruptions by the Manager. When the results were in, both men had scored 19 out of 20. The manager went to Murphy and said, "Thank you for coming to the interview, but we’ve decided to give the Pole the job." Murphy, "And why would you be doing that? We both got 19 questions correct. This being Ireland and me being Irish surely I should get the job." Manager, "We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but on the question you got wrong." Murphy, "And just how would one incorrect answer be better than another?" Manager, "Simple. On question number 7 the Pole wrote down, 'I don’t know.' You put down, ‘Neither do I’."

Hi - I came across this website and there is some great advice being given, so I was wondering if someone could assist me. I worked for 10+ years as a sales agent/fitter for/with a large UK provider in Ireland. My contract made it clear that I am a contractor, rather than employee. I have always lived in Ireland and all work I did for this company was in Ireland. They recently terminated my contract, as they indicated that I owed them €3,000 in amounts collected which i had not paid up. Five others also had their contracts terminated for the same reason. I was happy to stop working with them as they were quite unprofessional in many ways, but I contested that I owed this amount, as they had agreed to pay me a higher level of commission and also agreed to pay me for a training session I gave. I may however, owe them €500. I wrote to them explaining this and providing evidence of my claim and asked for an agreement on installments for the €500, but received no response. (The €500 I owed, was used by me to pay the expenses (travel etc) involved in doing my job and would have been taken out of my next pay packet, this was standard practice). Today I received a letter informing me that the matter is before an English Court. The company is seeking €3000 and I have 7 days to respond. Can I contest this jurisdiction from Ireland. If so, how does one go about doing this. I do not have the money to pay for a solicitor in the UK, or for flights to the UK. It seems very unfair that I can be sued in a country that I do not live in and did not work in, just because the company I worked for have their principal office there. Alternatively, should I just begin paying by installments the €500 I owe, but contest that I owe the rest in writting to the Court? Any help and/or advice would be appreciated.

Hi I would appreciate some info on changing my current valid N.Ire driving licence to a uk/scottish licence.(Got a job in scotland) Does anyone know anything about how to go about doing this? How much does it cost? I have 6 points, will they get transferred over to scottish licence? Thanks, can't find anything on net about this issue but maybe i'm just dumb