Virgin flies into Gatwick and from there you can connect to Dublin quite easily, if you're planning on flying right out again to Dublin the day you arrive.

British Airways flies to Dublin from Gatwick too, which is probably the best (although definitely more expensive) option. You can find the timetable for flights on the Gatwick Airport website. (Ryanair have ludicrously cheap flights to Dublin (like a penny a ticket, plus taxes) BUT you can only book them from the UK, and they only allow 15kg (30lb) of baggage, and that includes checked baggage.)

If you're planning on a day or so in London before flying out to Ireland, or when you get back from Ireland, if you give me enough notice, I'll arrange my office days so I can meet you at the airport and travel with you into London. Gatwick Airport is in fact about 30 miles outside of London, and you'd need to take a train and then change for the Underground to get anywhere near Central London. It's daunting for visitors. A taxi would be prohibitively expensive from Gatwick into London, probably at least £100.

The last time we went to Dublin we flew on Ryanair. It was cheap but unfortunately we both felt like we were treated like cattle (there are no seat reservations which results in lots of scrabbling for seats, queueing and general unpleasantness).

These days major airlines like British Midland (BMA) and British Airways (BA) have had to cut their prices to compete with the budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet. I would say it's well worth paying a little bit extra to fly with BA and BMA if you can - it makes a bigger difference than you might think.

When getting a hotel you might not want to be too close to Temple Bar. It's the main tourist area and can be quite loud. I'm quite used to sleeping with noise so it didn't bother me at all but I can imagine it would bother some folk. Dublin's a blast, you'll have a great time.

BTW, when in London go to Greenwich Market. It rarely gets recommended to visitors and it's a cool place - and it might not be there for too much longer thanks to the Olympics.

I came across the Ryanair site and knew there had to be a catch. I think our luggage will probably preclude that option, which sounds just as well. Thanks Dodgy, and for the Greenwich Market tip as well.

You're so lovely to offer help, Jan. I will definitely keep you posted on our plans, and even if we don't need a train escort I think we'd love to have that curry we talked about.

Most definitely I'm on for a curry. You can get to Greenwich really easily on the Docklands Railway, from (almost) Central London, at the station at the Bank of England. And Greenwich itself, not just the market, is spectacular. And mostly free :-)