Working in UK and commuting back at weekends

Hi all,

I am a engineer and I was made redundant last year and have been unable to find employment in Ireland. I am married with a 2 yr old kid and my wife is working full time. At the moment I am a house husband looking after my 2 yr old. I got statutory redundancy but now our finances are starting to get frayed and I really need to find employment in the next 3 -4 months.

We are looking at the possibility of me going to UK on my own and then coming back at weekends. I was thinking somwhere in Northwest England with a view to the shortest possible commute back on Friday night and then return early on Monday mornings. Just wondering if anyone has done this or knows of someone who has?? Is it cheaper to book ahead with airlines or maybe use the seacat??? All opinions are welcome.

Thanks...........

I know someone that does it to London. He doesn't mind it but his kids are a lot older. He books all the flights well in advance and gets decent deals. It could be short term solution but I don't it is something you would be able to manage over a significant period. Sorry I can't help more.

My 2 cents here.

I did this in the late 90's for about 2 years. After a while I started spending more and more weekends in the UK as it was such a hassle coming home.

I wouldn't bother too much about location in the UK, as the saving in flight time is really irrelevant compared to your journey time to the airport and how frequently flights are to Ireland.

Note that it is very difficult to be at your desk at 9am in the UK from an early morning flight from Ireland. On paper it all looks fine but when you factor in delays, you might only be able to make it 50% of the time.

Alot of people do this , the UK morning flights are generally full
In consultancy ,IT and for project related work it is a common practice that people are coming from various locations so you are not expected to be at your desk at 9pm
If a company takes you on they will be either happy that you are commuting or not , if they are then they understand you are going to be in when your first flight is in
Ideally if you could do a 4 day week or work from home one day a week ,it is more manageable just 3 nights away then
It is definitely work exploring as an option ,the UK no matter how bad things are there is still a much bigger job market then ireland
Also if sterling is strong via euro , it helps

On the issue of NWest , London is very easy to commute to because of the good flight schedules and although people complain about heathrow , you can get out of heathrow into the city very easy easily with the heathrow express and there is no delays with passport checks you come straight out. If you keep your luggage to one bag ,then you go straight through in dublin with online check in and no waiting for baggage.

the main problem i see is getting to the airport in ireland from your home there whether it be knock or dublin like driving expenses, toll charges, parking fees, time getting to airport etc. sea cat is too unreliable and then accommodation, travel, food expenses in the UK. a room in London is 80-90 per week minimum.

Did it for 14 months in the late 80s. Got a Ryanair Frequent Flyer tag. Worked fine but things had to go smoothly. Out first thing Monday and back late on Friday. I generally had two bed-early nights (Wed and Thurs) so when I got back wasn't panned out. Factoring in the Duty Free (both I and wife smoked in those days) and the fact that I shared taxis with a work colleague, extras were kept to a minimum. But these days with the extra security times at airports, lost leisure time will add up. In those days if you were running late you merely rang ahead, said you couldn't check in but would go straight to the boarding gate - all was OK!

Capt. Beaky said:

. In those days if you were running late you merely rang ahead, said you couldn't check in but would go straight to the boarding gate - all was OK!

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Jeeze Capt Beaky was Amelia Earhart the pilot?