Marie Curie Fellowship Association-Ireland

MARIE CURIE FELLOWSHIP ASSOCIATION-IRELAND

WELCOME PACK

This document is meant to be a guidance to resolve practical problems for new fellows. It provides information on various issues:

1. Administrative issues 2. Getting to Ireland 3. Travel within Ireland 4. Taxation and Social security 5. Accommodation 6. Banking 7. Contacts at the host institutions 8. Useful hints

1. Administrative Issues Information on host institutes in Ireland is available on the web pages below.

Irish Universities and Colleges Web Addresses

Trinity College Dublin: http://www.tcd.ie/ University College Dublin; http://www.ucd.ie/ UCD administration office: 353/01706 1776 or contact [email protected] Dublin City University; http://www.dcu.ie/ University College Cork; http://www.ucc.ie/ University College Galway; http://www.ucg.ie/ University of Limerick; http://www.ul.ie/ Dublin Institute of Technology; http://www.dit.ie/ Waterford Institute of Technology; http://www.wit.ie/ Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; http://www.dias.ie/

When you arrive in Ireland, it is advisable to register at your home country embassy. The telephone number and addresses can be obtained in the local telephone directory. This is important if you wish to vote in elections in your home country. Also the embassy will inform you about current issues which are happening in your home country. It is also important that they know that you are resident in Ireland. Visa information can be obtained from your host university, or can be directly obtained from the Department of Foreign Affairs (http://www.irlgov.ie/)

Embassy Web sites:

Denmark http://www.denmark.ie/ List of address of embassies of the different European countries to follow when available on Web.

2. Getting to Ireland Airports:

There are airports at the following locations in Ireland, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Kerry and Knock. The Irish national airline is Aer Lingus (http://www.aerlingus.ie). There are approximately 5 flights per hour between London and Dublin from 7.00am to 10.00pm with connections or direct flights to all major destinations worldwide. Aer Lingus also provides internal flight services between the main Irish cities. The main European Airline companies have direct flights to Dublin.

Ferry Terminals

Sea Ferries operate between France and Ireland and Britain and Ireland. Dublin has two Ferry Terminals, located at the North Wall and Dunlaoghaire. Rosslare Ferry Terminal in Wexford and Cork Ferry Terminal have direct train connections with Dublin. There is also a connection between Larne Co Down (close to Belfast) and Cairnryan in Scotland. The Ferry companies operating to and from Ireland are:

Stena Sealink: +353-1-204 7777 http://www.stenaline.com/ Irish Ferries: +353-1-661 0511 http://www.irishferries.ie Brittany Ferries: +353-21-27 7801 http://www.brittanyferries.com/

3. Travel within Ireland

Buses from Dublin Airport to the City Centre

Dublin Airport is 10km (7 miles) from the city centre. The ‘Airport Link’ is a shuttle bus which leaves the airport approximately every 20 minutes, between 6.40 am and 11.00 pm, Monday to Saturday, and less frequently on Sundays between 7.10am and 11.00pm. This service takes passengers to the bus station in the city centre bus terminus, Busaras, at a cost of IR£3.00. Alternatively, you can take a No 41 bus from the airport to Eden Quay in the city centre. This costs £1.10.

Taxis from Dublin Airport to City Centre

A taxi from the airport to the city centre costs approximately IR£10. Taxi drivers may add extra charges for each passenger and luggage. If you arrive after 6.30pm in the airport, it would be advisable for you to take a taxi to your destination.

Budget Travel: Students can avail of a reduced rate for travel on trains and buses once they have purchased an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) IR£7 and a Travelsave Stamp IR£8. Monthly bus and rail passes cost IR£41; weekly bus and rail IR£15.50; weekly bus IR£9 (city zone), IR£10 (travelwide). All of these can be purchased at the Union of Students in Ireland Travel (USIT) Office.

Bus Atha Cliath (Dublin Bus): Dublin Bus runs all public bus services in the greater Dublin area (including DART connection buses). Timetables of the buses serving in the greater Dublin area are available from Dublin Bus Offices.

Bus Eireann (Irish Bus): Irish Bus has a nationwide network of buses serving all of the major Irish cities outside the Dublin area. In addition, there is an interlink service connecting these major points to small towns or villages. Buses leave from and arrive at Busarus (Bus centre), which is located on Store Street in the city centre.

DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit): Within the Dublin area, the train service operated by Iarnrod Eireann is the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART), which runs along the coast from Howth in the North of Dublin to Bray in the South. The times of the DART vary between every five minutes at rush hour and every half hour on Sundays. The main DART stations servicing Dublin city centre are Pearse Station, Tara Street Station and Connolly Station.

Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail): Irish Rail operates services to all provincial cities from two stations in Dublin; Heuston Station and Connolly Station, both of which are located in the city centre. There are two classes, standard class (economy) and super standard (1st class).

Taxis: Taxis are available in all cities. The best places to get taxis are at hotels, rail or bus stations or at taxi ranks, which are clearly marked. For longer distances, fares may be negotiated in advance. If a taxi is ordered, there may be a pick-up charge. Cabs are also available, these cars are not marked and cab drivers are not permitted to use the taxi ranks. Instead there are cab offices from which a car can be hired.

4. Taxation and Social Security

On arrival in Ireland it is important that you register at your local Social Security office. More information can be obtained at the following site (http://www.revenue.ie/). You will be issued with an RSI number, which you will need to provide to your employer. Marie Curie Fellows coming to Ireland should look out for double taxation arrangements between Ireland and their home country. The MCFA-Ireland and Enterprise Ireland (http://www.forbairt.ie/) have set up a joint Working Group to try to clarify some of the taxation issues. It is important to read your contract carefully and to discuss the taxation details with your supervisor and administration staff at the host institution.

5. Accommodation All Universities and colleges have an accommodation office which will be able to advise you on the best options to suit your situation. They will be able to provide contact numbers and addresses of accommodation on offer. (Please refer to web page of the Irish University or College to which you are attending)

Newspapers are a good way to find out about accommodation available. Three of these are the Irish Times (http://www.irish_times.com), the Irish Independent (http://www.independent.ie/) and the Evening Herald (http://www.independent.ie/). The latter is the best evening newspaper with the most accommodation advertisements. Local newspapers in each of the various cities are another source of accommodation offers.

If you plan to arrive in Dublin without having secured long-term accommodation, you should certainly book temporary accommodation prior to your arrival. The normal procedure in this case is for individuals to book themselves into a youth hostel or bed & breakfast before they arrive (http://swift.kerna.ie/cat/Recreation/Tourism/Accommodation/).

6. Banking The two main Irish banks are Bank of Ireland (http://www.boi.ie/) and AIB (Allied Irish Bank), (http://www.aib.ie/global/), one or both will have an office/branch in each University in Ireland. Other banks are Ulster Bank (http://www.ulsterbank.ie/), TSB (Trustee Savings Bank) (http://www.tsbbank.ie/).

Information regarding bank accounts for non-Irish nationals can be obtained by contacting these banks directly. Requirements may differ between banks but in general you will require two forms of identification, usually a bill showing your private address, your passport and a letter from your employer stating that you are employed fulltime.

7. National Contact Point and Contacts at the Host Institutions

National Contact Point;

Dr. Conor O'Carroll Forfás Wilton Park House Wilton Place, Dublin 2 Ireland Tel: + 353 1 6073262 Fax: + 353 1 6073260 Email: [email protected] Web: www.forfas.ie

National Co-ordinators:

1. Audrey Hobson ex Trinity College Dublin Tel: + 353 402 39502 Fax: + 353 402 39821 Email: [email protected]

2. William Gallagher Department of Pharmacology University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland Tel: +353 1 7061511 Fax: +353 1 2692749 Email: [email protected]

3. Robert Shorten Department of Computer Science National University of Ireland, Maynooth Co. Kildare Ireland http://www.cs.may.ie/~rshorten/ Tel: +353 1 7084598 Fax: +353 1 7083848 Email: [email protected]

4. Dublin City University Contact Stefano Fanni (DCU) Email: [email protected] 8. Useful Hints Electricity Supply: The electricity supply in Ireland is 220V/50Hz.

Other links: Irish web-sites (http://194.106.143.71/), entertainment (http://www.eventguide.ie/) a guide to Ireland.

Weather: No Irish information package would be complete without a rain forecast! (http://weather.yahoo.com/Regional/Ireland.html)

Information about Ireland: Some information about the Ireland and the Irish state http://www.irlgov.ie/info.htm

Driving in Ireland: In Ireland, cars are driven on the left-hand side of the road. In built-up areas the speed limit is normally 30 miles per hour (mph) but on certain roads higher limits may apply. A general speed limit of 60mph/ 112 kilometres per hour (kph) applies to all roads not subject to a lower limit. This is the maximum speed limit unless a special speed limit of 70 mph/112 kph is signposted. This 70 mph speed limit applies only on Motorways and only to cars, light goods vehicles and motorcycles. Drivers and passengers must wear seat belts, and motorcyclists and pillion passengers must wear crash helmets.

TV system: The television system used in Ireland in PAL. You should check that your TV/Video is compatible with the Irish TV system. Note that problems can be encountered even when bringing a PAL based TV set from one PAL-country to another. The best way to avoid such problems is to use the SCART socket (EURO adapter) rather than the RF socket for TV reception.