Re: Redundancy
Flake, sorry to hear about your situation. I have been made unexpectedly redundant twice during my working life. I can't say I'm an expert, but here's what I learned :
(1) Sign on ASAP - to get the (small) cash and to preserve your PRSI. I also discovered that my PRSI had been credited against a wrong number, delaying my benefit for quite a while.
(2) Treat getting another job/deciding what you want to do as a job. I.e. even if you are lucky enough to be able to afford to sit back for a while (financially) - don't !
I used to tweak my CV, phone agencies and companies, send out emails in the morning, then go out to see employers and agencies in the afternoon.
(3) Generally, I found job agencies pretty useless. Some good individuals, but overall not great. Most jobs I got via direct applications.
(4) Don't despair - in both cases I got a much better job following redundancy than before.
Good Luck !