BootsnAll Travel Community

Hello everyone!
At the end of next month I'm going to Dublin to begin studying at Trinity College. Never having been to Ireland and not knowing anyone there, however, is starting to worry me a bit (okay, a lot) and is leaving me with a few unanswered questions that I was hoping you might be able to help me with:

I just bought a new laptop, but before I move is there any particular kind of software I might need that isn't as common in the US? I was particularly curious about whether or not Microsoft Word and Excel are popular for student use in Dublin so I won't encounter the same formatting problems I had using Corel before I graduated.

Also, I read somewhere that Meteor had the best prepay mobile phone network plans. Is this the network that you'd recommend as well? Do prepay plans in Ireland work the same way that they do in Spain where incoming calls are free?

On my student visa I'll be able to work in Dublin, but will places be open to hiring me? Where would be the best places to begin looking for work?

Finally, for some advice that's practical for a different reason, are Nitelink tickets covered by a month-long Dart pass? If not, is there some sort of multiple usage ticket that you can buy to save money?

Those are the only specific questions that I can think of at the moment, but I was also looking for any general advice you might have like which supermarket is the best to shop at and other things that you don't really need to deal with when you're just passing through a city for a few days. Sorry for the length, and I'm extremely grateful for any help you that might be able to give my anxiety-ridden mind!

Hey Michelle,

I have been living in dublin for the last 9 years so I know the place pretty well at this stage. You won't have any problems with software - there are a tonne of american it companies situated in dublin/ireland in general so you won't find it that much different to home.

Meteor is probably the best. You don't have to pay for incoming calls and they have some good text and talk time offers. You get free sms to phones on the same network. There are other networks which have better coverage - vodaphone, o2 and 3. Depends on how much time you intend to spend down the country.

You should have no problems getting part time work. Places are always looking for waiting staff, shop assistants etc etc. If you have any special skills drop into any of the millions of recruitment agencies and they will let you know what the deal is.

Nitelinks are not covered by dart passes. The Dart is just the train that runs from Bray to Howth/Malahide (via trinity college). Nitelinks only run at the weekends (except in december when they run all week). The main bus system is called dublin bus, you can get a combination ticket which covers bus rail and luas.

There are a few bid supermarket chains, lidl, Aldi are the cheapest (but by far the worst quality), tesco is the biggest chain (but I hate the place), Dunnes Stores is an irish chain which I like then there is superquinn which is my favourite of the lot. They have proper butchers doing the meat and the breads are lovely.
There is a brilliant supermarket on wicklow street which does lots of organic foods and alot of other stuff. There is also a burgeoning farmers market which runs in various places around the city where as the name suggests local farmers come in and set up stalls selling all their fresh produce. They are excellent!!

anyways enjoy dublin, its a great town. If you are stuck for something to do just grab the dart out to howth for the day, ro just go on a pub crawl. Trinity itself is a beautiful campus, the place just oozes history.

Thanks so much, Phil!

A handy website for all long term visitors to Dublin is www.doindublin.com