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Dublin !

12:55 / 04.10.05

Um... hi!

With luck and whatnot, I'm probably moving to Dublin in early January. (woo!) Having only visited there for 3 days, 3 years ago, can anyone tell me...

Other posters have mentioned Ranelagh, Rathmines and Rathgar as sort of student-y places to live... are there any areas to avoid living? What's a good price to pay for rent, for say a shared apartment or a 1 bedroom?

Moving there depends on my wife finding work there as an English teacher... does anyone know any good English schools in Dublin? (There seem to be about 5 dozen or so)

I've heard unemployment there is pretty low...true? does anyone know any good Irish job websites? What's the minimum wage?

Um... is it true that is doesn't get all that cold in winter? (cold to me is about -10 to -20C)

Thank you for any info!

Ninjas make great pets

13:45 / 04.10.05

Howerya Baz (hello baz)
SHtorIE? ('story' - how are you)

It gets cold. Not snow cold but damp in-your-bones cold.
Place with good heating or a/c well worth it.

Raneligh / rathmines fab places to live (pubs n people n stuff - loved it when I lived there) and ranelaigh now on the luas line (tram system - light rail basically) so pretty good for south side commuting ( the liffey is the regarded divide of north and south). Check out DAFT.ie for rentng prices and locations.

Being an english teacher may not be so easy to get work in (my friends are teachers - can ask there advice later. mail me thumbninja at hotmail). Unless she teaches english as a foriegn language? may find more jobs in that? check out jobs.ie

to check out what things are like here ireland.com is a national paper. recent survay says it's cheaper to buy a house in london than dublin. Crazy.

hope this helps

See you in the new year

lonely as a cloud...

13:47 / 04.10.05

Hey, Baz. Let me just run through your questions...

are there any areas to avoid living?
I would recommend Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Phibsboro, Stoneybatter and Dundrum, being places I've lived in or known people who've lived there.
What's a good price to pay for rent, for say a shared apartment or a 1 bedroom?
Say up to €500 per month for an apartment (based on proximity to the city centre and niceness of said appartment), and up to €650 for a one-bed apt. Note that a studio is often just an overpriced bedsit. Also note that a flat is a non purpose-built apartment - usually an old Georgian house that's been divided into flats. Flats can be just as good as apartments, and also less expensive. Check out Daft for a good guide to accomodation; it's also probably the best place to start looking for accomodation in Dublin.
does anyone know any good English schools in Dublin?
You mean TEFL (Teaching English As A Foreign Language)? I don't know much about that...
I've heard unemployment there is pretty low...true? does anyone know any good Irish job websites?
Yup, unemployment is pretty low at the moment. Job websites include Recruit Ireland and Monster; although you'd probably be better off compiling a list of places you'd like/be able/are qualified to work at and checking their websites. Most recruitment sites are full of agency positions, and quite a lot of companies prefer to recruit directly rather than through an agency.
What's the minimum wage?
I think it's about €7 or €8.
Um... is it true that is doesn't get all that cold in winter?
Not that cold, no. Wet and windy, yes, but not really cold.

If you have any more questions, feel free to pm me.

Ninjas make great pets

13:51 / 04.10.05

Good stuff Cloud. Yup Baz , what he said.

though Cloud doesn't feel the cold so don't trust that!

16:30 / 04.10.05

Thank you! I'll bump this up if I think of anything else!

16:32 / 04.10.05

Wife?! Wait, when did you get married? Yay, that's great! Best news I've heard all day...

16:38 / 04.10.05

(um... about a month ago...

...she has Polish citizenship, we both want to get out of Canada, etc. Not that it's a sham marriage or anything... but the citizenship was a strong reason to go through with the whole ceremony thing...

)

16:55 / 04.10.05

Well, y'know, she seems like a very nice lady to be married to...

17:17 / 04.10.05

Thank you

...is Dublin very bicycle friendly? Used bikes cheap and plentiful? Bike lanes on the roads? Friendly motorists who'll hesitate before running you down?

(and my wife is an 'English-as-a-foreign-language' teacher, if anyone knows anyone who's doing that in Dublin....)

lonely as a cloud...

07:31 / 05.10.05

's getting more and more bicycle-friendly. Not sure about the price or availability of bicycles, but there are plenty of cycle lanes. It would be a good idea not to invest too much in a bike, as there are a lot of bike thieves around; something modest with a good lock will normally be left alone. Either that, or try to park your bike beside something more expensive-looking

Second-hand bikes are usually easy enough to pick up - which is *probably* related to the amount of bike thieves. There's Garda auctions on several times a year (the Gardai being the Irish police force) where they auction off unclaimed items, including bikes. I'm not sure where or when they're on, but they'd probably be a good place to pick up a cheap, good bike.

Ninjas make great pets

11:24 / 05.10.05

Funny you should say that. There's one on this thursday for bikes! *think* they advertise them on the garda website but not sure. Definatly a good lock worth it. Common sense goes a long way.

My current house mate is a TEFL teacher I'll ask him. There are lots of TEFL schools in dub at the mo'. Shouldn't be too difficult to get something.

(you married a polish girl?! brave boy. They're nuts! - I lived with 3 of 'em. Twas 'tak' all day long!

lonely as a cloud...

08:53 / 06.10.05

Oh, yes, and I just thought of this - Dublin does have a growing Polish community. There are a couple of Polish shops, and pubs that have Polish nights; and more broadly, there are more eastern European pub nights, shops and restaurants springing up around the place. Just thought Mrs Auckland would like to know

16:08 / 15.10.05

How goes the Dublin Adventure?

22:08 / 15.10.05

Er... sent off 39 CVs to English schools in Dublin, but haven't received any good replies yet... We're thinking of just showing up in early January to look for work, as it's easier to get a job when you're there and you can ask around rather than 3,000km away.

12:51 / 16.10.05

I suggest you send another 'bout of cv's closer to the time. Places like recruitment agencies, financial institutions, large offices, call centres etc. While I'm not sure that English Schools usually hire mid year perhaps there is some sort of specific educational temp agency you could look into?
It will be directly after the Christmas period so I'm afraid that alot of retail positions will still be filled with surplus holiday staff.
And if you don't already realise this it's really necessary to invest in a mobile phone here, there are very few streetphones and/or house phones in accomodation.
Pay as you go deals are widely available normally with something like 80E free credit incrementally given to you over a period of a few months. (Cheapest retailing at something like E120).