mortgage payments

With the fixed you are guarenteed to pay a set amount each month however you will
miss out any interest rate falls from now until either the two year or 5 year is up.

saying that you will also miss the rate increases.

there is no real science to it but really a preference on having static payments of fixed or taking the gamble on the variable in the hope it will stay or go down and not go up.

I fixed mine 5 years ago and will be coming out of it in July but because I am with the robbers of PTSB the current variable is the same as the fixed I entered into 5 years ago.
which is around 5.15%.

I probably wont get a choice of fixed this time around either but be forced onto a variable due to the amount of NE my house is in.

for me it would depend on the fixed rate being offered, If i felt it was too high versus the variable I would take a gamble on the variable for a while and if there are signs of rate increases then you should still have an option to jump on to a fixed rate at any time, just check this with your bank that they will still offer the fixed once choosing your variable.

If you go on a fixed rate you cant jump onto a variable until that term is up or pay a hefty penatly for coming out of it.

Good Luck with what ever you choose.