I discovered that it's cheaper to fly to Barcelona than it is to travel by train in Ireland
A flight to Barcelona is cheaper than getting a train to Sligo or Cork
I did some research to see if it's cheaper to fly on a plane to another country instead of using Irish public transport.
It turns out in most cases it was cheaper or it was more worthwhile paying for a flight to another country instead.
My first comparison was a trip to Portugal compared to a trip to Cork.
A return flight from Dublin Airport to Lisbon in Portugal currently costs around €230 give or take.
A return train ticket from Heuston Station in Dublin to Kent in Cork costs around €65 altogether.
For only €165 more, you can fly to sunny Portugal for a few days and back.
My next find was a bargain.
You can now get a flight from €15.99 from Dublin to Manchester, which is cheaper than a train from Dublin to Galway!
A single train ticket from Hueston Station directly to Galway costs €16.60.
If you wanted to go to Sligo instead, it would cost around 17 euro one way.
There are currently flights available to Amsterdam from around €30, but can range as high as €150 depending on the time of the flights.
Alternatively, public transport in Ireland from Waterford to Wexford costs over €30 as well. Also, there is currently no direct trains so the trip would involve two trains and a LUAS and the journey is six hours long. This is despite it being only an hour drive.
I would very much rather the short and cheap flight to Amsterdam.
You can also buy a flight from Dublin to Barcelona in Spain from as cheap as €18.
Compared to Irish public transport, a train from Maynooth in Kildare to Sligo costs €14.95.