Living In Portarlington

Steve_o

Hi Mary,

I agree to a point, the bus service to nearby towns like Portlaoise and Tullamore is bad. The Green bus that links to the M7 service is really good though in my opinion.

While there are is potential for more amenities in Portarlington, it is important in my opinion to recognise the positives that exist such as the state of the art Leisure Centre with adjoining astro pitches, All weather tennis club, 3 GAA clubs, Tae Kwon Do club, Portarlington Comhaltas & The Community Centre which offers a range of activities from ECDL computer courses to Yoga and everything in between. And that's only scratching the surface of things on offer!

As for the lack of available courses, I do believe you are correct about the Night Courses which is unfortunate but Portarlington AEC (On Bracklone Street) do offer a range of courses from Leaving Cert level up to FETAC Level 5 and HETAC Level 6 as far as I know.

While I realise that Portarlington can't compete with the amenities available in a major city let alone the Capital!!, I think it has a lot to offer in a lot of areas.

It's not perfect and comparisions with Dublin are going to make it look worse but it's not all that bad in my opinion. There is a lot on offer, not always instantly apparent which is unfortunate, but there is some great stuff there if you have a look about!

Hope this helps!

LoveIreland

Hi Everyone this is my first time on this site, my husband and I are considering moving to Portarlington, we have never been anywhere near the town, I have read a lot of not so great info hear and there about the town in different places online, but he was offered a job opportunity there....just searching, trying to see what i can find....seems like the people are friendly i read that over and over, which is super important to us we are all about a nice community dont want issues with gangs and that sort of thing., ....but looking to be able to make a decent living there....

Is the economy bouncing back from where it was say in 2006 and before didnt seem to be so good, and Wikipedia said in 2011 the population was about 7800, can u guess about what it is now? i cant find any more current info. and ive read a few places the town is growing, any guesses on current population? and said like 1/2 of that was on getting gov aid assistance....? is it a struggling economy then with not much disposable income ?

i have read a few places main street is run down, but again this is like 8 and 5 year old info but cant seem to find anything more current a lot can change from 2006-2015 ....and we are trying to get a realistic feel I read alot of people commute to Dublin to work, so is there a good broad span of economic levels as far as high mid and low incomes? It seemed to say alot of folks were struggling out there and it makes me kind of nervous as far as making a living and such.

I also read that services weren't great back in 2006, hows the high speed internet and cell service out there now?
and also does it flood a lot being so flat?

ANY input is greatly appreciated, im sorry for all the questions , I do a ton of google-ing and research but i am findign a ton of really old Info, so anyone whos there now or very recent Id love to hear from you thank u so much for your time.

also, i cant get The Tannery to come up on google earth, what is that is it like a city center off of main between main and the link rd?

Much gratitude.
k