Hollywood couple shattered after learning they can't move to Ireland permanently

Metro

2 days ago

A famous Hollywood couple have had their dreams of living in the Republic of Ireland dashed after finding out they can't move there permanently.
Sarah Jessica Parker, 60, and her husband Matthew Broderick, 63, tied the knot in 1997 – Ferris Bueller star Matthew has Irish heritage on his father's side.
The couple have a holiday home in Kilcar, which is a cosy coastal village situated just a few miles away from the north west town of Donegal.
Sarah and Matthew had apparently been hoping to move there after spending numerous summers and Christmases on the west Irish coast.
However, the pair have sadly discovered that they won't get their dream move after all, since they don't qualify for permanent residency status in Ireland.
Speaking about working with Rosie O'Donnell – whose father was Irish and has recently moved to Ireland – Sarah said she was 'not in the same position' as the 63-year-old talk show host.
'[Me and Rosie] are not in the same position,' she told Irish publication the Sunday Independent, admitting that their hopes of moving over the Atlantic hadn't worked out.
'We do feel enormously privileged to be able to visit the country as much as possible. Our kids' school schedule and our own work schedule has allowed us to be in Ireland a lot.
'So we've given up on the idea of being able to call ourselves Irish citizens. But it doesn't matter because it doesn't affect our love of the country and our time spent there.'
Rosie moved to Ireland earlier in 2025 with her 12-year-old child Clay after Donald Trump was elected as US President for the second time.
Speaking to Variety, she said: 'Never, for one moment since I arrived here, did I regret my choice. People have been so welcoming, so accepting, and they have a different view of celebrity in the culture here.
'People are much more friendly and intimate with each other in a real way. Every time I go into the pharmacy I fall in love, because the pharmacist talks to you. Have you ever spoken to a pharmacist at CVS?'
While Sarah and Matthew have spent a considerable amount of time in Ireland as a couple, Matthew spent many summers there as a child. More Trending
In 2015, the Sex and the City actress told The Irish Independent that Ireland 'feels like home' to the couple whenever they take a break from their West Village house in New York City.
'It always feels like it's a place that is perhaps foolishly more private to us, and there's a simplicity to the time that we spend there, and the people are so lovely.
'At this point it feels a little bit like home, in some way. We would be delighted to decamp to Ireland. Move the children, put them in school there, have tea every day, a proper fry.'
The couple revealed that their three children – James, 22, and twins Marion and Tabitha, 15 – have always asked to return to Ireland whenever they're at home in the United States.
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