New Driving Test Centre in Dun Laoghaire

Batesy

Passed mine here last Monday. !!

Testers name was <SNIP>.

My Route was:

Right turn out onto Pottery Road.
Right turn at the lights.
Left onto the N11 (60kmph)
Left at Cherrywood onto the old dual carriageway.
Left onto Church road.
Right just before Tesco.
Pulled in here to do the hillstart.
Left at the top of the road.
Right about half way down the road.
Pulled in here to reverse around a corner.
Came out at Watsons and went right.
Left at the lights and then to the roundabout at the Gradguate Pub.
Took the 3rd exit onto Avondale Road (speed ramps)
Took about the 3rd right onto a pretty narrow road. (did the turnabout here and when I pulled in after the turn was asked the hand signals)
Left back onto Avondale Road.
2nd exit off the Gradguate roundabout onto Rochestown Ave.
Left onto Granville Road.
Right onto Pottery Road.
Left into the test centre.
Finished.

Hope this helps anyone who's looking to practice the routes.

Third_Echelon

I passed mine in Dun Laoighre as well last week. Martin was my tester. Nice guy and he put you at ease from the beginning.

I think it was route 2 that I took. Overall it was long enough. About 15 mins in the test centre between road signs and engine questions at the car. About 40 minutes of actual driving.

Cazbah

Passed my test in Dun Laoghaire on Wednesday doing Route 3. So relieved! Really nice tester, helped me relax a lot. I ended up with 3 Grade 2 errors and a Grade 1. The tester was very helpful and even gave me the option to have a chat about the test afterwards and on the faults I did make. I applied for the new licence straight away. Can't wait to remove the L-plates, just waiting for the Licence before I do. Looking forward to cheaper insurance and my first drive up the M50

Advice - Preparation, Observation and Indication!

dudara

Passed on Monday. My tester was a nice man called <SNIP> (I think) who was easy going while not being over friendly. I got Route 2 according to the bottom of the sheet, but I'd never been out there before. Nothing awkward at all. Very happy overall.

Third_Echelon

dudara wrote: »

Passed on Monday. My tester was a nice man called <SNIP> (I think) who was easy going while not being over friendly. I got Route 2 according to the bottom of the sheet, but I'd never been out there before. Nothing awkward at all. Very happy overall.

That's the same guy that I had... Nice fella.

surgeon_general

Passed the test two hours ago in Dun L. SGS on Route 4. The whole thing was a blur, but I remember my examiner, <SNIP> was very friendly.

Good luck to anyone reading this with the test coming up!

EDIT: Please do not give the name of your examiner on the post - use PM function if you need to.

Mac daddy

Third_Echelon wrote: »

That's the same guy that I had... Nice fella.

Passed :-)
Same here very nice guy he moaned a bit about other drivers while doing the test such as look at that moron did route 2.

sbm

Just passed made such a mess of it, but really sound tester and she said she could see i could drive so passed!! Im delighted!! went on route 1, cant remember the exact route but was all up round estates in killiney and the through the main street in sallynoggen. If you make a mistake my advice is forget about it and just keep going!!

Thanks for all your advice with routes ect. was big help!!

fiona-f

Just a heads up for anyone doing their test here in the next while - EVERYWHERE in the area is completely taken over with roadworks at the minute, including the car park and entrance lane to the centre. So make sure you get a lesson on part of the route during the day when the workers are present - I was faced with three sets of flagmen on my test route today, two of which involved the traffic in my lane changing over to the far side of the road and I started doubting myself about whether I had to indicate, etc. Also, on my return to the test centre, there was a massive JCB blocking two-thirds of the gate and it took a bit of precision steering to slip my wee VW Golf approaching at a bizarre angle in through the gate! As far as I know, none of the roadworks actually affected my test result (which was unfortunately a fail, but I don't think necessarily related to the extra obstructions) but it was a bit disarming to have all these additional obstacles to negotiate, so best to be forewarned.

Best of luck to all.

ylawlor

John wrote: »

I've been sent there instead of Churchtown and I'm a bit concerned about driving around there as I don't know the area at all. Does anyone know exactly where this test centre is? I went up around that Lidl on Pottery Rd. to see where it was, followed the map they sent out and didn't find any trace of a test centre there.

And does anyone know of any driving schools that work in that area (aside from ISM)? I should get a lesson or two up there just to familiarise myself with the probable test routes.

The test center is on the right past Lidl just befoure the end it looks like a building sight at the moment. go right in down to the back.

qz

Just want to say thanks to everybody for their replies and inputs in the thread, particularly those who posted routes. I have my test here next month and I'm completely unfamiliar with the area. I've printed out all the advice and maps, routes etc. to give to my co-pilot for my extra lessons! (My Dad, he shouldn't mind :P)

Thanks all, I'll update.

seilky

I have my driving test in Dun Laoghaire tomo, has anyone passed here recently??

Dexter2008

I had mine there yesterday afternoon. Was nervous right from the moment i woke up in the morning. The tester was a reasonably polite lady... but nerves got the better of me, and I performed pathetically.

Questions were:
I. Identify symbols of:
Hospital @ 100 Meters
Dangerously narrowing roads
Pedestrians only
No parking
No right turn
Unguarded railway crossing
Road works ahead
T juction ahead - joining side road to a dual carriageway
II. a.When would you use your dip lights?
b.How would you identify a pedestrian crossing?
c.What does a continuous white line signify?
d.What is the rule associated with yellow boxes?

III. Technical questions:
1. how would you do a technical check on your tyres?
2. how would you check if your handbrake is functioning properly?
3. If you are on your own, how would you ascertain whether your brake lights are working properly?

I cannot remember the test route correctly, but we went out of the test centre, took a right turn near Lidle onto pottery road, on the signal at the end of pottery road, we turned left onto Johnston road...thats all i can recollect...

Best of luck for all you guys going for their tests.
Cheers!

forkassed

Is this test centre closed??

I dont see it in the drop down menu on this page

https://www.drivingtest.ie/secure/DTSapp2.php?status=new&lang=ENG

driverite

The test centre in Dun laoghaire is open untill 10th of april, Then all the sgs driving test centres will close for ever. At the moment there are 3 testers currently testing in Dun Laoghaire.

Dexter2008

U wont find dun laoghaire on the dropdown menu - its an SGS center. Apply to churchtown and if they feel that the applicants are too many in churchtown & rathgar, they'll give u dun laoghaire.

forkassed wrote: »

Is this test centre closed??

I dont see it in the drop down menu on this page

https://www.drivingtest.ie/secure/DTSapp2.php?status=new&lang=ENG

newie4

I have my test in 2 weeks there , i must be one of the last to have it there so. Thanks for all the tips and if you can think of anymore keep em coming

fmagosso

I have my driving test in Dun Laoghaire and in a couple of hours I'll be doing a pre-test now! Nice and bright saturday!

But hey... Don't know about this route in DL... It's said it has 4 or 5 different routes so, it's very likely the pre-tester won't cover up all the routes.

I've been trying to contact Tony a lot of times now but he never answers. Probably ppl are flooding his answering machine and he has pre-test scheduled for the entire year (thanks to boards! lol)

Well, let's see what this pre-test brings.

Alanstrainor

Best of luck with the test! Dont worry if you haven't covered the test route beofre you do it, just give it your best shot and be confident!
Let us know how you get on!

fmagosso

Yes, unfortunetely it went harder than I thought.
I've been driving for the last 10 years on my home country and now I want to get the irish licence because (obviously) I live here. So I did the test in Dun Laoghaire yesterday. I have to say, I'm full of bad habits. I don't know which route I took so I'm going to DL this afternoon again to remember it. Anyway, my bad points were:

- Clutching: I clutch way too much. On every corner I'm used to press it. I definetely have to cut this habit.

- Reverse around the corner: well, I really thought it would be easier. I always reverse around the corner but the tester said I SHOULD be looking over my shoulders. I can reverse around the corner just using the mirrors but the testers didn't like it and said I'd FAIL my test if I don't look over my shoulders...

- Steering: I can drive normally like everyone else does. I hate the idea of pushing with one hand and holding with the other when doing turns.

The rest was fair enough.
I have good observation. According to the tester, the important part is moving off and stopping the car. Once or twice I forgot to indicate.

Well, I still have a couple of pre-tests to do and I'm going to start reading the rules of the road and another book recommended by the tester called GET IT, which is written by a driving tester. Let's see how it goes. I'll keep on posting here until I'll do the real test, which is in ONE week time.

newie4

does anyone know of a good driving school to get a mock test with for pottery road ? id like to go with a stranger rather than my normal driving instructor.

Dexter2008

<SNIP> has a couple of good instructors -They cover Dun laoghiare/Churchtown/Rathgar etc

newie4 wrote: »

does anyone know of a good driving school to get a mock test with for pottery road ? id like to go with a stranger rather than my normal driving instructor.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.