Dublin's lower cost lures Irish rovers

OK, so Dublin pays less than London. But then, living here is a lot less costly.

Soaring property prices mean London is now 27% more expensive to live in than Dublin, according to the latest survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting - making London's booming salaries suddenly look somewhat less appealing.

At the same time, the differential between pay for specialist (i.e. non-NAV) roles in Dublin is narrowing versus London.

According to recruitment firm Robert Walters, a head of compliance in London, for instance, can expect to earn between 85k and 185k, against around €95k to €125k (64k to 84k) in Dublin. But factor in the higher living costs, and London falls to 62k to 135k - still ahead, but rather less so.

Rising bonuses are another factor sweetening the pill, argues Ronan Colleran, a director at Dublin-based recruitment firm Accreate. "It always used to be that if you were crossing the Irish Sea you would have to take a pay cut, particularly if you were going into a front-office role. That is still the case, but it is much less than it would have been three to five years ago," he says.

"We are now seeing in some instances 150% bonuses in Dublin, which once would have been unheard of, in areas such as structured finance and private equity," he points out.

The numbers coming over from London are fewer than they were back in the late 1990s, but lower costs do make Dublin an attractive proposition, agrees Paul Cotter of recruiter Joslin Rowe in Dublin: "Costs have risen here in recent years and until nine or 10 months ago the property market was going up significantly. But I don't think Dublin will ever come near the cost of living in London."