I would suggest flying Ryanair from London to Dublin and then a couple of days to adjust to the time difference and check things out. You won't need a car whilst in Dublin. Just use the DART or bus. Dublin has most things that any other capital city has but usually a smaller version. This is good because it means you can look around the national gallery in a couple of hours and not feel as if you have missed anything. The same goes for Dublin City museum, natural history museum. The Guinness museum is a must do. After about 3 or 4 days in Dublin I'd get the train to Galway or Cork or wherever. Everywhere is good. Rent a car once you get to where ever you are going to (try Dan Dooley). Take your time and don't try to see everywhere in one go. The far southwest is FULL of tourists so it might be worth steering clear of that area. After about a week of traveling around I'd head back to Dublin by train and then up to Belfast. Most people completely miss out on the north and it's really well worth going just so you can see for yourself that normal people are not shooting each other (save that for Oakland). If you wanted even longer in the north you can stay at a hotel in the Bushmills distillery! Whatever you do you'll have fun.

If Ryanair doesn't appeal to you then I would suggest you look out for deals on British Midland.

[This message has been edited by parra (edited 11-25-2002).]