Moving to Dublin in Sept!
 

I will be a grad student for a year at Trinity beginning this September. Anyone have tips for a relatively older (31) student? Where to live? Where to look for vacancies? How best to take advantage of a full year in Ireland? I've visited once for only a week, so I've still got a lot to see and do...

Maureen, <BR>If you haven't organised your accommodation by now start looking NOW and ask Trinty College to help you as Dublin is jammed packed and apartments/flats bed sits etc are very difficult to find - and when you do very expensive. Re where to look - ask the college for their lists, check out the Evening Herald newspaper each afternoon (but so are thousands of others), visit supermarkets in areas you would like to like and look at their noticeboard. Be prepared to pay more to live on the southside as opposed to the northside. The days of choosing an area and deciding to love there are long gone in Dublin - it is very difficult to find rental accommodation. So I won't advise on what part of the city to live in. <BR> <BR>Re travelling around - check out www.cie.ie for bus and rail schedules etc (train strike at the moment which hopefully should be solved by the time you get here).

Thanks, Cathy. If you see my posting again up top, ignore it: I thought it didn't work the first time, but I just didn't realize that there were so many visitors to this forum in one afternoon! <BR> <BR>

Cathy: Can you advise me on any areas I should not consider? I've been finding some apartments on the web, but because I'm only somewhat familiar with Dublin, I don't even know, for example, if a few blocks east of Trinity is particularly bad...I certainly don't want to pay too much, but a lot of the rents aren't too bad compared to the New York area (where I've lived for 7 years) these days!

Maureen, <BR>Can you be a bit more specific - a few blocks east of Trinity covers a lot of Dublin. <BR> <BR>Cathy

I had seen an apartment listed on Sir John Rogersons Quay, but generally, I wanted to know if you recommend any areas more than others. <BR> <BR>Thanks.

Maureen, <BR> <BR>Dublin is a small city and there are apartments to rent all over the city so it is impossible to list all the places you should look at. However city centre would be better for you than outer regions as the traffic situation is chaotic in the city and there is a major lack of taxis to be had at the weekends so it would be financially better and timewise too for you to be within walking distance of the city. Popular places for students in the opast have been Ranelagh, Rathmines, Donnybrook (most of these require a bus journey or if you want to take your life in your hands then a bicycle) A lot of UCD students stay in these areas. Sir John's Quay is within walking distance of Trinty and is a quite acceptable area. Some places not to consider include Sherrif Street, Gardiner Street (there are some apartment block on Gardiner Street and I cann't remember their name). Also avoid Parnell Sq. Anywhere with the even digits eg Dublin 2, Dublin 4 are southside of the river, Dublin 1 and Dublin 3 are northside. <BR> <BR>The tel number for the local police station - Pearse Street - next to Trinity is 01-666 9000 and they can help if you have any major worries. Post if you have any more queries or options, <BR>Have you checked with the residents office in Trinity ? They might have some lists that could assist you <BR> <BR>Cathy

Thanks again, Cathy. Trinity posts vacancies, but they don't send any out because they go so quickly. I'll start pounding the pavement as soon as I get my bearings. Your recommendations are really helpful, especially since I recently saw an apartment for rent in Parnell Square.

Cathy, is the housing situation throughout Ireland similar to the situation in Ireland? I haven't a clue yet where I'll end up when I arrive, and I suppose I haven't worried about it too much, but your messages concerning the availability of flats in Dublin worries me a bit....

Maureen, <BR>My husband and I moved to Dublin two months ago from Chicago and will be here until the end of November. A relocation specialist found us our apartment. We live in the custom house harbor apartments-on the north side of the river across from trinity college. The aprtment complex has a security gate and each building has a locked entrance. I feel safe here and I walk all over the city from here. All the apartments here have nice balconies and I beleive the complex is only six years old. I can give you more details if you like and any other information that was helpful to me moving over from the states. Good luck!

Dear Lee Ann: <BR> <BR>Thanks for your message. I'd love any advice you might have. If you don't mind my asking, are the apts. in your complex expensive? I really can't spend much more than 650 pounds a month, and even that is stretching it. Also, where did you find a relocation specialist, and did he/she have a fee? <BR> <BR>Maureen

Maureen, <BR>There are several relocation experts that will help you - all those (inlcuding me) young Irish people who emigrated in the 1970s-1990s are now returning bringing with them families etc as well as the 1000s of non-Irish who are relocating to the country due to the Celtic Tiger and booming economy and as a result traditional flat land is not there any longer. Be warned many of these agencies do charge a high fee and cater for the professional market. Check out some of the following web sites to get listings of agencies etc - www.iol. www.eircom.net (they are just 2 of the several ISPs for Ireland and have good home pages) and also www.independent.ie (another national newspaper - not sure if they carry adverts on their web site edition they do in their printed one). 1 bed room apartments tend to be in the range of 600-800 Ir pounds (NOTE VERY DIFFERENT FROM UK POUND). Some letting agencies to check out include Max/Dolmen at 01-850 0555. Trading Places at 01-475 5544, MTS 01-4750753. <BR> <BR>The custom house apoartments (International Financial Service Centre area) where Lee Ann is secure but it is down along the docks and if you are walking at night then I would have reservations but maybe Lee Ann has done it and found it ok - I will defer to her on her opinion of the it. However it is short term lettings and expensive. Rents tend to be in the region of 800+ <BR> <BR>Joel <BR>The housing situation in Ireland is chaotic and Dublin a nightmare at times, for example I was in a small town in the south today with a friend who was looking for an apartment for the academic year and anything that was acceptable and available was above Maureen's 650 limit and this is a SMALL TOWN about 110 miles from Dublin with not a lot of industry during the winter months. The Irish are used to owning their own homes and it is one of the national talking points now - property prices and the lack of suitable property. People are driving 50 to 60 miles a day to Dublin to work and back in the evening on roads that are defintely not highways. Traditional student housing in Dublin when I was a students way back in the 1980s was in Ranelagh, Rathmines etc - the % of student vs professional in those days was about 75 to 25, now it is about 10 to 90. In addition to the returning whizz kids coming to work with Dell, HP, Gateway, Intel, Microsoft etc we also have a housing crisis for refusguees who are flooding into Ireland as a result of the economic boom (Refuguees are the 3rd most talked about topic after housing in Dublin circles, Traffic tops the list). <BR> <BR>So after all that I would advise you Joel to GET LOOKING NOW. Dublin is no longer just an easy going capital city - it is hopping 24 hrs a day.When you do come to Dublin you may find yourself ordering a beer from a Spannish waitress, buying grocery items from a Aussie, asking a French man directions etc. (I had to speak German recently to order a pint of Guinness in a major Dublin hotel due to the fact the bartender was new to Ireland and didn't understand much English). Ireland is the largest exporter of software in the world in front of the States and most of that software is produced in the Dublin region and as a result there is a big demand for housing and employees. <BR> <BR>Finally remember on top of rent add in bills - heating, tel, electricty etc <BR> <BR>Good luck <BR> <BR>Cathy <BR> <BR>