Nice post Pat
We all wish you well.
Hope you'll continue to stay around, share you experiences, join the banter and humour and hopefully pick up some genuine help from a broad range of experience here.
Some here will be following the same path as you.
The Philippines is a marvelous, wonderful country and the people are the best in the world. So polite and hospitable and always willing to help.
The Philippines is pretty much the same as any other country, keep your wits about you, use good common sense, stay out of known trouble areas and you'll be OK.
Most of the negative moaning and complaining you'll hear is from people who were mostly unprepared for a move to another country and culture. They likely didn't do their homework.
Make no mistake the Philippines is different. Not bad, but different.
Many become upset because the Philippines isn't western enough. Not like UK
If you're looking for a life-copy of a Euro Zone country the you'll not find anything like that in the Philippines.
Better to stay in Ireland.
What I hope you'll discover is wonderful experience. A great country with great people who mostly have their own unique way of doing stuff. Read the forum, ask questions, search past postings and you'll gain a lot and minimise any unpleasant surprises.
It's a wise strategy to rent at first until you both find a place you're comfortable with.
I wish you good luck.