Paulstown to Sandyford Industrial Estate?

niavi

Hi all,

I'm wondering if there is anyone who commutes by car from Paulstown to Dublin? We're first time buyers considering taking the big leap and have found a house we really love in the Paulstown, Co. KK area. I work in Sandyford Industrial Estate and can either work 8am to 4.30pm or 10am to 6.30pm. I also have the option of working from home 2 days a week. So the plan would be that I would do the commute a maximum of 3 days and would probably end up staying Monday night with my parents in Wicklow as it's a short drive to Sandyford. Does anybody do this journey? I'm wondering what time to expect the journey to take now that the new motorway has opened. Have heard rumours it would be only 1 hour 15min??
On the one hand is sounds like madness - is there anyone out there doing it? the main motivation is that we really like KK, have friends and familiy there and although we love Dublin we don't want to live in a small house in a housing estate in the suburbs (currently renting in suburbs). We've looked around and even though house prices have gone down we have not found anything we could afford in Dublin... plus we can get so much more for our money in Kilkenny.
hope to hear from you soon
niavi:)

MagicMarker

If you have family there then stay with them for a week and see how you find the commute.

It looks like it would be a 90 minute drive at least. Then again, there are plenty of people who live and work in Dublin with that kind of commute when you take buses into account.

angel01

I live in Dublin and work in Dublin and I commute over 2 hours so 90 mins is nothing :eek::D

markpb

niavi wrote: »

We've looked around and even though house prices have gone down we have not found anything we could afford in Dublin... plus we can get so much more for our money in Kilkenny.

Ultimately this is a decision only you can make but I'd suggest you're going to trade space for time. You're committing to a lengthy commute which will take away from your leisure time and time with your family. Long commutes have a proven health risk because of increased obesity. On a more short-term level, you'll have added costs of petrol, wear & tear, extra depreciation on your car and you'll be more impacted by bad weather. If there is heavy snow (like last month), it could take several hours to get home (if you can get home at all.). If the people you work with want to go for a drink, you won't be able to.

As an extreme example, a friend of mine commuted from Carlow to Sandyford last year and spent 3-5 hours a day in the car. When petrol prices spiked, he could no longer after to drive and had to take the bus which added an extra hour a day to his commute. When we got heavy snow last March, it took him 8 hours to get home and was unable to make it in for the next two days. If the same happens you, will your employer be okay with that? Likewise, if your employer decides not to let you work from home in future (mine cut back on it recently), you'll have to commute 5 days a week.

I currently commute across Dublin so I spent 75 minutes each way and it's very tiring. If I had a choice again, I wouldn't do it. I live in Dublin though so when there are more jobs, it will be trivial for me to move somewhere closer. If you get tired of your commute, what will you do then?

Ham'nd'egger

Very good advice, Mark.