Is it possible to commute to either Dublin/Belfast from somewhere in the middle?

zuluboy

Living in London currently and thinking of moving back to Ireland, if made redundant!

Would like the option of being able to work in Dublin or Belfast (IT job).

Is it possible to commute to either Dublin or Belfast from somewhere in the middle like Dundalk. I also have other reasons for wanting to live in this area.
I've gone from Newry to Dublin in about an hour but not driven the other direction. I guess it'll speed up when the Newry by-pass is completed.
Any thoughts?

jdivision

Don't know whether you've been following the situation here but there's been a lot of layoffs in Ireland too. I know people who commute from Dundalk and Newry, depending on where you are it's a long slog. Also you should look at using the trains, there's a taxsaver commuter ticket that would save you several hundred euro.

Mylow

zuluboy wrote: »

I also have other reasons for wanting to live in this area.

Well I think you have answered your own question

I would look at living close to new by-pass around Newry. Some nice houses out the Rathfriland Road, handy for going north bound.

I live on Southide of Drogheda and can comfortably do Belfast in 1hour 15mins especially since Westlink has been completed in Belfast.

I can get into Dublin (Whitehall) in 30 minutes. I have managed to get into Dawson Street in 40 mins, but that was early start. Look at an hour from Drogheda and 1 hour 20 from Dundalk to get into Dublin city centre.

ecaf

I would imagine that Dundalk to Belfast would be handy enough, but I have never tried it in rush hour traffic.
Not so sure about Dundalk to Dublin (City Centre) unless you go by train, at the moment there are still a lot of hold ups around the M1 / M50.
Maybe if you had a job near Blanchardstown corporate park you could cut across some back roads - but I know that the Airport road over by Kilshane cross is always pretty backed up too.

Also IT jobs are starting to decrease here too. Very few on the northside, mostly city centre & south Dublin.
Don't be fooled by the recruitment websites, myself and another guy at work have spotted that lots of jobs are repeated by multiple recruitment agencies. And also that the recruitment agencies are putting out speculative positions to get in CV's and then hounding companies to see if they can employ X type of person. :eek:
I know this because the guy at work has his own website too and gets agencies asking if he has a need for X type of employee, we also get phone calls in our office seeing if we need programmers etc.

Maybe you have an interview or something - but be warned!

zuluboy

No, I don't have an interview, haven't even updated my CV!

Moonbeam

I do Balbriggan to Connolly Station every day on the Train, it takes about 45 minutes and is horribly packed,driving can take from 35 minutes in the summer to 2 hours if there is an accident on the M1.
Newry to the city centre in an hour is very optimistic,though Newry to county Dublin in an hour is no bother.
I would look more towards Belfast for jobs and houses as they are cheaper and the commute might be less hassle.

aquascrotum

Firstly, salary scales in NI don't match up with living costs in RoI, so imo it's counterproductive to consider working in NI and commuting from Dundalk or similar. Living in NI and working in RoI is ideal but not if you're only able to find work in Dublin.

My experiences of commuting - I live in Bettystown (nr Drogheda) - it takes me an hour with no hitches to make it to Blanchardstown round the M1/M50, thats leaving at 7am. Can't comment on getting to the city centre, train could be a possibility though on the occasions I've used it when I've had reason to be in the city centre for work, it's been jammed.

To do Drogheda to Belfast takes about 90mins even on a weekend, never mind peak commuter times, though that will come down when the Newry bypass opens.

Newry to Belfast is easily do-able though - quick hop up the A1/M1, probably 35mins to broadway. With the Westlink approaching completion there will probably be a noticable improvement.

zuluboy

I earn just less than £50k in London and am thinking of moving to ROI or possibly NI.
I can do the currency conversion to judge house prices etc but can I assume the euro equivalent of £50k which today is 63k euro will give me an equivalent lifestyle in ROI?
I suspect the cost of living in ROI is significantly more but is it possible to quantify that?

biko

http://www.easyexpat.com/en/mod/cost.htm
According to that website you only need 42798 GBP to get same value in Dubland as 50K in London. £42798 = €54K

Take it with grain of salt I think.

Supercell

Those values are likely to change after the next budget too with changes in the bands and PRSI caps

The_Conductor

zuluboy wrote: »

I earn just less than £50k in London and am thinking of moving to ROI or possibly NI.
I can do the currency conversion to judge house prices etc but can I assume the euro equivalent of £50k which today is 63k euro will give me an equivalent lifestyle in ROI?
I suspect the cost of living in ROI is significantly more but is it possible to quantify that?

It really depends on what part of Ireland you plan on living in- living/working in Dublin can have a cost of living upwards of 20% higher than elsewhere.

While I accept the figures from the website Biko linked to- I'd take their figures with a grain of salt- as from personal experience I'd consider the EUR54k figure as very much on the low side, and probably only applicable in rural areas........

ZYX

As SMcCarrick said it depends where you are living. I see from your previous post you may consider Dundalk. Well certainly the cost of living in Dundalk will be much less than London. If you own a car import it and you will find cost of petrol substantially cheaper than UK. Cost of a car is much higher. I haven't worked in UK in a few years but as far as I know tax and national insurance are lower in Ireland. Food is more expensive in Irish Supermarkets and VAT is higher.

zuluboy

Yes, I would probably plan to live somewhere in the north east of ROI, Louth/Meath probably , close ish to the M1/A1.

Which are the popular towns in this area with good schools, decent amenities etc within an hours commute of Dublin so I can have a browse at some property websites.
Is it possible to give a ballpark figure for 4 bed houses in such areas , hoping to spend 400k to 450k euros?

The_Conductor

zuluboy wrote: »

Yes, I would probably plan to live somewhere in the north east of ROI, Louth/Meath probably , close ish to the M1/A1.

Which are the popular towns in this area with good schools, decent amenities etc within an hours commute of Dublin so I can have a browse at some property websites.
Is it possible to give a ballpark figure for 4 bed houses in such areas , hoping to spend 400k to 450k euros?

Regardless of how close to the M1/A1 you are- the only way you'll be certain to get to Dublin city centre in an hour is by taking the train. Our traffic problems are enough to make seasoned travellers cry. Popular (ish- it depends) towns in the general area might include Swords, Balbriggan, Skerries, Bettystown (and then pretty much follow the old coast run northwards).

With the Irish property market problems- 400-450 should get you a very reasonable 4 bed house in most towns. Good schools and decent amenities are an issue- a lot of the Dublin commuter towns have grown beyond all recognition in the last 10-15 years without any investment in local facilities and amenities. There are recognised to be big problems in certain towns (e.g. Swords) but its an issue equally applicable virtually anywhere.

I'd seriously advise you rent temporarily in a chosen area(s) to get a feel for whether its what you have in mind- rather than buying on spec. Transport is a massive problem in Ireland- you'll be shocked, coming from London......

Victor

Note that there are no suitable commuter trains from Newry to Dublin (first arrival 0905) or from Dundalk to Belfast (first arrival 0945).

PJ_RS1800

Victor wrote: »

Note that there are no suitable commuter trains from Newry to Dublin (first arrival 0905) or from Dundalk to Belfast (first arrival 0945).

I have a friend from Dundalk who works in Belfast. Easiest thing to do is drive to Newry for train to Belfast at around 7.30 I think......

Similar for someone living in Newry commuting via train to Dublin, best thing to do would be to drive to Dundalk for 7.25 train to Drogheda. arrive in Drogheda at 07.45, train from Drogheda to Dublin leaves at 8.00......

Hard slog.....

zuluboy

yes it would be a hard slog, I guess I just want to keep my options as open as possible in the short term. I may be willing to commute for more than an hour in the short term until I got settled but don't think I'd want to do it long term.