current architectural climate in Dublin?

[jspruit]

Hello everyone,
I am living in United States right now and considering a move to Ireland to gain some international experience. What is the current climate towards hiring folks with 3+ years of experience and a degree from a reputable university? Are there positions out there? Is Ireland as a whole doing some interesting work? If you do work in Ireland right now, what firms would you suggest that are doing good work and where are they? Do firms give young people chances to do challenging work? Would a decent job at an architecture firm pay the bills for a happy lifestyle in Dublin?
I appreciate any help in advance

[roskav]

jspruit.... your questions are to the point! Many young architects supping expensive lattes on Dublin streets after having put in a fair whack of overtime could be asking the same.. But a happy lifestyle!... can you buy that?

[Paul Clerkin]

Depends how much beer you need to have a happy lifestyle

[jspruit]

Thanks for ur replies folks.
As practicing architects though, do you feel like Ireland is a good place for a young architect to be right now? I apologize, I should have been a bit more detailed in my description of a 'happy lifestyle.' Is it possible to rent a clean, larger than a fishbowl, apartment in a decent part of town with an young architect's wage? Are firms good to their young employees? Would one get enough vacation time and the money to spend to take off to London or Amsterdam occasionally without having to work a second job? I know that in the states here there are some places such as NYC where the architecture is great but you can get treated like crap in most of the situations. I dont care about sipping expensive frappuccinnos or lattes in cafes really. I do care about having a beer or two here and there though with a nice pub meal!
Thanks again in advance...

[GregF]

Come on over, we need more architectural brains with radical new ideas here!