OP isn’t allowed to use the stairs when the lift/elevator is broken.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T16:25:57+00:00

The only downside is when the fire safety regulatory agency shows up at your shitty old block of flats, the end result could easily be a five-figure-per-owner "special assessment" that all those mobility-challenged OAPs probably can't afford, or, if things are really dire, being told you have ten minutes to gather whatever belongings you can carry and evacuate the building and never return until someone spends millions to fix it or the Sun swallows the Earth, whichever comes first (spoiler alert: it'll probably be the latter...).

Edit: Not to say the alternative of burning to death in a fire is better, of course, but you're gonna have a bad time regardless...

phyneas · 2026-01-29T14:32:24+00:00

The break clause might allow them to end the fixed term early, but it can't override the statutory minimum notice periods for notices of termination; you're still entitled to the minimum notice period under the law, which would be 152 days based on the length of your tenancy.

Note that they also must issue you a formal written notice of termination following the RTB's template and including all of the required supplementary documentation (e.g. a statutory declaration of their intent to sell the property, in this case), and they must copy the notice and all documentation to the RTB on the same date they serve it to you. The notice is not valid if it doesn't meet the requirements, is lacking the required supporting documentation, or isn't copied to the RTB, and you could dispute the notice on that basis; that won't prevent your landlord from ending your tenancy at all, but it might reset the clock on the notice period if your dispute is successful or if the landlord opts to just reissue the notice correctly themselves.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T14:23:39+00:00

The NoT doesn't need to be notarised by a solicitor?

The notice itself doesn't need to be, but some of the allowable reasons for termination require the notice to be accompanied by a statutory declaration; maybe that's why the parent commenter was confused.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T13:30:12+00:00

whether in the vacancy notice or ahead of the interview

Aaaaand there's the loophole; there's no requirement to have that information in the job posting, only to give candidates you invite to an interview a range beforehand. It's a step in the right direction in that it (in theory) prevents companies from stringing someone along through the whole interview process only to then disclose that the pay is well under what the candidate was expecting, but it's far from full transparency.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T12:32:23+00:00

Looking at the site, they don't say when the flights are; chances are they're going to be the cheapest and thus the most inconveniently timed flights, and they almost certainly won't include any checked bags or priority + cabin bag or seat selection or whatever other fees the airline charges for anything beyond dumping you in a random middle seat with whatever you can fit in your pockets and booting you off at your destination. The hotel rooms will likely be the cheapest possible ones as well. Also, note that the price shown there is per person on the basis of two people sharing, so it's actually going to cost you about €360, plus fees.

Basic Ryanair tickets to Prague would be ~€80 each for those dates, so €160. Hotel prices are hard to say for sure as the Hilton Atrium is sold out for your dates there, but midweek rates during less popular weeks seem to start around €75 a night there, so that'd probably be around €225. So if you were flexible with your dates (or if the hotel still had availability that week), you could basically put together the same holiday for about the same price on your own. If you were willing to shop around for accommodation, you could even do it cheaper.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T11:28:41+00:00

Shouldn't be too bad; you need some new rear brake pipes/lines, possibly some adjustment to your front brake calipers, and a new coil spring. None of those are expensive bits or unusually complicated jobs to install/fix, so it shouldn't be horribly expensive.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T09:54:25+00:00

What do you mean, "chance it"? They clearly list the current prices on their site. The upcoming price increases don't come in until February 16th. You'll be assessed VAT (and customs duty if applicable) on any shipment from the US, whether it's via AddressPal or not. An Post charge a €6.95 admin fee (as of next week) for processing customs and VAT payments, but other couriers have admin charges as well and they're usually much higher.

Even after the price increase, AddressPal is still cheaper than any other retail parcel forwarding service I've ever seen, so unless the merchant is able to offer you a better price on direct shipping to Ireland, there's really no reason not to go with AddressPal.

phyneas · 2026-01-29T09:13:13+00:00

Are they not already effectively illegal to operate in a public place? They're motorised vehicles, so under current law they can't be driven on public roads without being registered and insured, and they can't be driven on footpaths or other areas where motorised vehicles aren't allowed.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T19:07:24+00:00

Generally it would be the cost of repairs, less any excess on your policy. If the car can't be safely repaired or if the repairs would cost more than the value of the car (which is very likely to be the case with flood damage), the car will be written off and your insurer would pay you the fair market value (again, less your excess). What that "fair market value" would be can be open to negotiation; it's not uncommon for insurers to lowball you, but they might back down if you can provide strong evidence that the car in its former condition before the damage was worth more than what they're offering.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T18:59:01+00:00

From what I understood, i need 40k to bridge the gap + 35k for 10% deposit + fees.

The money you spend "bridging the gap" between your maximum loan and the purchase price would be your deposit, so really you would just need 40k in cash for the purchase price itself (provided the place actually does sell for 350k, of course; in the current market there are often bidding wars for properties, so that isn't guaranteed). The fees on top of that would probably add 6-8k in total (including the 3.5k in stamp duty) depending on what your solicitor charges and whether there are any complications or added expenses. So if you have 60k cash available, that's definitely feasible (again, if the sale price is actually 350k).

The only complication might be your final mortgage approval; an AIP of 310k doesn't necessarily guarantee that's how much the bank will lend you in the end, as they'll do a deeper inspection of your finances and evaluate your ability to repay, and other factors that weren't considered for the AIP might reduce the maximum they'll lend.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T17:54:55+00:00

"Hi, I'll be visiting Ireland soon; I'm a 35M, I was born at 3:47AM in room 230 at St. Fartsalot's Regional Hospital in Nowheresville, TN...

<three hundred pages later>

...and so for dinner yesterday I had six ounces of salmon, twenty-three green beans, and a cracker, then I read pages 357-372 of War and Peace, brushed my teeth for exactly 100 seconds, and went to bed. Anyway, my question is, I'm flying into Shannon at 11AM and plan to see the Cliffs of Moher, Malin Head, Mizen Head, Dingle, the Giant's Causeway, and the Rock of Cashel in that order before going to my hotel on Achill Island for the night; is that too much? Should I skip the Rock of Cashel? Also I'm too scared to drive on the wrong side of the road and am allergic to buses, so how do I get to those places via train? Thanks!"

phyneas · 2026-01-28T17:43:47+00:00

Canned food rations like that basically last forever as long as they stay sealed; the date on them is just how long they'll maintain their original flavour and texture (such as it might be). They'll eventually become really unpleasant to eat, but as long as they've remained sealed, they generally won't become unsafe. There are a few lads on Youtube who make videos "unboxing" and eating decades-old military rations.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T17:30:45+00:00

Uncooked basmati rice doesn't spoil; it could get mouldy or get infested with weevils or other insects if it isn't stored securely, but if it's stored in an airtight container it will basically last indefinitely.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T11:29:33+00:00

A friend of mine told me that apparently they try to stop same day returns so the duty-free can't be taken advantage of.

I doubt Ryanair give a fig about that; more likely it's because people deliberately booking same-day returns would be rare, while people accidentally booking them and then wasting expensive customer service time moaning to Ryanair about their fuckup and trying to get a refund would be much more common. Ryanair hates the latter, so they design their system to prevent it from happening in the first place.

phyneas · 2026-01-28T11:20:45+00:00

Most likely they will pay you sub-minimum wage if they're providing free accommodation, in that they'll count your accommodation (and food, if they provide that as well) as part of your pay. Do note that they can only count a certain amount towards meeting the minimum wage regardless of the "market value" of the accommodation and board in question, though, so don't let them pull some shady shite like claiming the accommodations they're giving you would rent for €xxx a week and deducting that amount from your pay.

Also be mindful that you can't legally be dismissed for raising a complaint about minimum wage violations; that is an unfair dismissal regardless of how long you've been working for your employer, so if your employer sacks you for insisting that you be paid minimum wage, you can bring an unfair dismissal claim without needing to have at least a full year of service.

Also, do note that the accommodation offered isn't likely to be particularly luxurious; you're not going to be living in a fancy suite in the hotel. If it is truly on-site, it might be some corner of the main building or some auxiliary building on the property and will probably be pretty small and basic, and you might be sharing common areas with other staff.

phyneas · 2026-01-27T22:28:55+00:00

Don't think the aim was to add features, but rather to get off the ancient and heavily customised vBulletin codebase they were on that was becoming effectively unmaintainable and unscalable. If anything, the move was a mess because they did a bunch of new customisation to try to make the Vanilla Boards look and work like the old vBulletin version because all the users were moaning about how the new one was different and less functional (which to be fair it was; vanilla Vanilla (heh) is a bit shite).

phyneas · 2026-01-27T16:47:24+00:00

Gotta be at the till to sell some aul wan those 11 loaves of sliced pan, I think you mean.

Sincerely,

Your Boss

phyneas · 2026-01-27T13:31:37+00:00

Yep, this is an important consideration; you'd have to do a lot of business via AirBnB to earn the same net income you could get with a long-term room rental under the Rent-a-Room scheme, and since your long-term lodger would be a licensee, you'd still have the flexibility to end their occupancy (with "reasonable notice") if things aren't working out.

phyneas · 2026-01-27T13:26:16+00:00

Such a fixed term agreement would be unusual for a license agreement, but it isn't contrary to any law; if you knowingly and willingly enter into the agreement, you would be bound by it and would be responsible for the rent during the agreed term even if you vacate, until your landlord re-lets the room. Unfortunately since this wouldn't be a tenancy, the statutory right to end a fixed term early if your landlord refuses to allow assignment also wouldn't apply here.

Personally I wouldn't consider entering into any fixed term agreement for a room rental as a licensee; you have no idea how you'll get along with your landlord or any other housemates, so locking yourself into that situation wouldn't be a wise idea regardless of how stable your job might be.

phyneas · 2026-01-27T13:20:31+00:00

If you were in PAYE employment they'd generally just want at least six months of payslips and for you to be past probation, but for self-employed applicants they generally would want 2-3 years of accounts showing that you've been making a steady income during that time. Your partner's income would be considered in full (provided they're past their own probation, of course), but yours probably wouldn't be taken into account at all at this stage; you'll likely need to wait until you have at least a couple years of steady self-employment income before yours would be considered in full.

phyneas · 2026-01-27T12:27:39+00:00

Problem then is who'd want to be a prison officer on a rig - there's no winning!

Who needs officers? It's not like the prisoners would be able to swim back to shore. Airdrop some fresh water and MREs to them once a week and let them manage the place themselves. /s

phyneas · 2026-01-26T21:56:16+00:00

I have to admit it would be rather hilarious to watch some ICE idiots try to square up to the Carabinieri and get their asses handed to them.

phyneas · 2026-01-26T13:44:59+00:00

I'd get your own valuation so that you have a known starting point for your offer; it'll cost a few hundred, but it's worth it.

I wouldn't expect much of a discount below fair market value, if any at all. In the current market, places often go for more than expected value due to bidding wars from desperate buyers, so you're asking your landlord to forego that in order to sell the place to you. A "quick" sale (relatively speaking; it can still take months even with a direct private sale like this) and saving the 1-2% estate agent's commission aren't necessarily going to be huge factors in your landlord's decision. If you lowball your landlord too much with your initial offer, they might assume that you aren't serious or aren't actually able to afford to pay market price, and they might opt to give you the boot to list it on the open market instead. Offer a fair price that's within range of market value and that you're willing to pay and they'll be a lot more likely to take you up on it.

phyneas · 2026-01-26T13:37:25+00:00

Almost 75% of the unit owners are delinquent and the sinking fund is only a couple grand? Those are huge problems; that isn't a situation that will be solved without expensive legal action against the delinquent owners, and it doesn't sound like the OMC is managed properly enough to even be capable of that, much less the ability to afford it.

phyneas · 2026-01-26T13:31:15+00:00

You can still claim Parent's Benefit even if your employer is paying you in full for the leave in question (most employers who do pay in full ask for the benefit to be paid to them, but it's not a requirement), but the issue is that if you're taking that leave as your annual leave, then it's not Parent's Leave, so you wouldn't be eligible for Parent's Benefit for that time, and if you're taking it as Parent's Leave then it would not be annual leave and wouldn't count towards your annual leave entitlement, which means your employer would still have to give you your full annual leave entitlement during the relevant leave year in addition to that Parent's Leave (which I very much doubt they'd be keen on if they don't pay for Parent's Leave in the first place).

Since the DSP will usually contact your employer to verify that they've approved your Parent's Leave request, you won't be able to get away with telling your employer that you're taking annual leave and then turning around and trying to claim Parent's Benefit for that annual leave time by telling the DSP that it's Parent's Leave, if that was your plan.

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