You really need to focus on what you are looking for. If it's an airline job, then your target should be a school which shares this goal and grooms you from day one. Mightn't be as homely or fun as a club, but it's quicker and will get you through in a shorter timeframe. Pricey though but, to be honest, if you're setting out to get qualifications to get an airline job, you really need a war chest (not necessarily endless) set aside to dip into rather than making a provision of a few hundred a week and flying as you earn.
Use a convenient airfield - if you're in Dublin, pick a flight training organisation at an airfield with a hard runway (I'd recommend Weston) and compare the options there.
From my experience, students who hadn't flown for two or three weeks showed deterioration and spent half a lesson getting back to where they left off on the previous lesson. Those flying 2 or 3 times a week progress better and with fewer flying hours (and cost) to reach the milestones. For many, this is not a problem as they just like flying - many of my students looked forward to their lesson just to get into the air and didn't mind the extra cost of getting a PPL in 70/80 hours over three years.
If you want to do a PPL quickly, you need a school with daily instructor availabilty and to make yourself available for windows of weather. With a financial war chest, book as many lessons as you can each week. some will not work out, but if they do, you may be making up for ones scrubbed the next week. I do not subscribe to the "write off the winter" theory, provided you make yourself available and plan to fly often. Today in the Dublin area was a no- go according to forecasts, but fine for flying up to 1pm. I suspect many students could have flown today but were stood down.
Finally, get good reference for whatever school you choose and make sure their methods suit your way of working.
A few pointers:
- budget correctly. The last thing you need is to spend ten grand and discover you can't afford the step up to the next rating, be it 40 hours for IR or five in a twin. Don't plan to fly only when you can afford it - if at the outset your finances will be stretched, wait until you are more financially confident - unless you just want to fly for fun at first and progress at a slower pace.
- plan your exams. they are only held every couple of months so plan to fail a few and re-sit. The PPL exams are easy relative to the CPL/ATPL both in content and volume - the study commitment is hugely different also but these are all on the critical path to success and a delay in passing will delay your licensing;
- be certain of your medical condition: you will need a Class 1 medical to progress to commercial. It is expensive for the initial test (i suspect close on a thousand) but this could save you tens of thousand if it reveals something which prevents you getting a licence. A lazy eye, some hitherto hidden heart condition or suchlike may restrict you to a lower licence or none at all. Many starting out do not want to think of this but I witnessed a pilot with a foreign medical who had spent a lot abroad getting qualified fail his Irish medical on eye grounds.
Good luck!.