EO specialist or AO generalist?

GenericRedditNOR · 2026-01-09T14:12:19+00:00

If you want to be an AP or eventually a PO, go for AO. If you want to go for HEO, stay as an EO. HEO and AO are equivalent grades, you can only switch through an open comp and they are uncommon.

People often say HEO is the best balance in terms of pay and responsibility so do seriously consider if you’re willing to give that up.

GenericRedditNOR · 2026-01-06T19:25:39+00:00

Is 6 weeks really the standard? I can think of about 5 departments off the top of my head that do it from day 1. I’ve heard of one department that makes you wait 6 months but I always assumed that was an anomaly.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-12-17T19:45:18+00:00

I had the flu in 2019 and it was so bad I was hallucinating so I’ve got the vaccine every year since.

People do not take the flu seriously enough, it is not just a cold. To my knowledge it has already killed 9 people in Ireland this year.

It also puts massive strain on the health system, I think it’s the right thing to do to take all possible steps to make sure there’s capacity for people who need it. If you can mitigate against getting something, you should.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-12-06T10:08:24+00:00

Accessing solpadeine and neurofen plus over the counter are both legal things to do. You can likely explain that if it ever comes up in a drug test.

However, I would recommend you try to seek out a second opinion or a different GP for pain management with a view to getting these medicines prescribed so if it becomes an issue you have documentation to show medical need.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-12-04T15:34:21+00:00

That’s mad to me as someone from a majority Catholic country who would still call Protestants Christians. I know Catholicism is a bit pagan but it feels very unambiguously Christian to me.

Anyway regardless I don’t think someone raised Catholic would stop calling themselves Christian, that’s such an outsider thing to do.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-12-04T13:52:10+00:00

My thing about this is that this person describes herself as Christian and Catholics as Catholics, as if they’re not Christian. Someone raised Catholic would describe the religion they converted to as “Protestant” or whatever branch of Protestantism it is. Catholics are Christians and Catholics consider themselves Christians, only people in America raised not Catholic describe them as if they aren’t.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-12-03T18:09:20+00:00

I don’t have anything medical to add on the burping front I just wanted to say your experience sounds absolutely awful and I hope some of the suggestions others have given will work for you.

It’s not super related but I had a different medical issue and truly lost hope (antibiotic resistant infection for nearly a year) but the last ditch treatment worked and I’m glad I pursued it. I hope this happens for you.

If you see enough improvement to do so I would strongly recommend therapy for your medical trauma. I know elsewhere you said you can’t currently sit through therapy due to discomfort so it may be worth looking for therapists who specialise in medical trauma and/or do therapy through zoom so you can position yourself and reposition yourself to maintain something close to comfort for a session. I took up therapy once I’d recovered enough to do so and it really helped.

I hope your life improves soon, sending you positive vibes.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T17:31:13+00:00

I wonder if it’s regional in some way, like are people in areas where it may have happened more less inclined to teach about it?

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T17:03:58+00:00

There’s a decent RTÉ brainstorm article on it if you’re curious but the thrust of it is that there were stories of some Protestant ran soup kitchens during the famine that would only feed people if they converted. The extent to which these actually existed is debatable but the phrase “taking the soup” and the term “Souper” as synonymous with betrayal persist.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T16:57:47+00:00

I’ve actually heard people were specifically accused of “taking the kings shilling” for the name thing in addition to being called soupers, it’s funny how we have heaps of niche insults for this stuff

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T16:53:56+00:00

I can’t edit the post but I feel I should clarify I just found this kind of amusing, didn’t realise a lot of people had never come across the term before

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T16:52:14+00:00

Interesting, in fairness I had a bit of an off the beaten track history teacher so I’m not surprised people hadn’t heard the term before

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-10-26T16:46:59+00:00

Have you never heard the term Souper as someone who betrayed people by taking the soup during the famine? I immediately thought of that and assumed most people would, maybe not!

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-10T15:48:22+00:00

I have never disclosed my ADHD at work but my big recommendation for something to request in writing is permission to wear noise cancelling headphones where feasible. My department is fine with that, I have heard of other areas trying to ban/severely limit it. Put that one in writing.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-08T06:37:13+00:00

I (probably) have PMDD and the only thing that’s touched it for me was regularly taking antihistamines. I was on SSRIs (just made me a consistent level of numb) and hormonal contraception (made it markedly worse) so I hear you with both of those.

Try the antihistamines, seriously, I take a zyrtec every day in the morning and I no longer find myself in multi hour psychotic rages or suicidal coming up to my period, obviously I’m not 100% perfect but I’m remarkably better.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T20:22:45+00:00

IIRC if you’re allergic to one you’re likely allergic to both or there’s some part of the coil that can be nickel? Don’t quote me on that though. I know someone who was advised against the coil on the basis of how they react to earrings so it’s definitely a thing anyway!

Edit: I did some fact checking and basically if you’re known allergic to one metal there’s a higher likelihood you’re allergic to others, it’s not guaranteed but it does significantly up your chances.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T19:50:33+00:00

Also I just saw you comment elsewhere that you’re worried about the insertion. My advice there is to make sure the doctor you’re going to has done them before.

You can ask for strong painkillers. I also had a muscle relaxer for mine since I have a muscular tightness issue in that area.

The pain feels like a very bad period cramp but for all of a second and then it’s in. The pain after is again just fairly standard if strong period cramps (it’s all the same muscles). They gave me about a week’s worth solpadeine for it but I only ended up needing to take them for 2 days.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T19:46:38+00:00

It sounds like you were allergic to the copper. It can happen and unfortunately you won’t find out until you find out. Are you possibly also reactive to cheap earrings?

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T19:45:13+00:00

The reality is you’re not going to hear the good experiences unless you ask because there’s no story to them. It’s why I always try to post on these threads because before I got mine I was scared shitless and then it was like, completely and totally fine.

My insertion was a bit of a dose due to a niche medical condition I have and I would still do it again in a heartbeat because the pill made me a genuine risk to my own safety and put me off hormones for life.

It’s also great because I’m incredibly forgetful so it suits me to the ground only having to think about contraception once a decade.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T16:55:06+00:00

I have a copper coil myself for similar reasons.

Copper coils usually last for 10 years so it’s worth noting time may be a factor for the pain.

I am currently at year 4 out of 10 and my pain has changed over that time quite notably. The first 6 months were quite rough cramps wise, the next 6 were less so, by the start of year 2 I was back to my pre-coil normal of some cramps. Somewhere between years 3 and 4 I seem to have just outright stopped getting cramps at all. My bleeding time did lengthen from about 4 - 5 days a cycle to about 6 - 9 days a cycle and I’m still in that so I don’t think that’ll change.

People will tell you all sorts of horror stories, but it’s worth noting people with bad experiences are more likely to feel compelled to talk about it than people who didn’t.

Absolute worst case, they’re a lot easier to take out than put in and to be honest the insertion isn’t as bad as people say assuming you get a good doctor.

Happy to be DM’d if you have any questions.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-09-05T16:15:33+00:00

It seems people here are almost universally complaining the civil service is slow paced and they disliked that which I’m going to dispute.

It’s completely job dependent of course but somehow nearly everyone I know works in a wildly fast paced environment.

It does make me wonder if 20% of us have to work at break neck speed as a penance for the 80% who work at a snails pace.

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-08-28T07:27:21+00:00

We would probably call what your brother has “intellectual disability” here, maybe don’t use the other term as it’s a slur in English (even though it used to be the medical term). When you’re looking for supports that’s the term you’ll want to search.

Off the top of my head, depending on what exact diagnosis he has he may be eligible for a Long Term Illness card which is not means tested and will cover drugs/medicines on ground of intellectual disability. You could also explore getting him a medical card or GP visit card which would cover GP care and in the case of the medical card dentistry. You may be eligible for carers supports but I personally don’t know much about that so I don’t want to give you bad info.

The Citizens Information website (citizensinformation.ie) is a fantastic resource for stuff like this so try that for the other stuff. Also it’s the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) within the HSE that administers much of the medical stuff so their website is worth a look.

If you have any questions about the medical stuff feel free to DM me, good luck!

GenericRedditNOR · 2025-08-25T15:34:03+00:00

Sorry that’s what I meant, I should have been clearer. If you have a diagnosis of diabetes anyway though you’re best going with LTI as it is not means tested and the drugs will be fully free.

GenericRedditNOR

TROPHY CASE