Hi Jason
Like yourself i am also a newbie and have always wanted to become a airline pilot. It really is a tough decision to make with so much money involved but someday I believe for my self the reward will be worth the risk even though the outlook doesnt look too good according to most pprune forumers.A lot of negativity here! Got my class 1 medical 2 years ago which I advise you to get first before you obtain any funding. Personally I think flight schools in Ireland are way too expensive in my opinion, anyone else agree? I have looked at so many options over the last few years, trawled through hours of threads and it just makes so much more sense to train abroad for half the cost, flights, accomodation and better weather included
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After two years of research i have decided to go modular as leaving a good solid job the way the economy is at the moment would be suicidal plus I am saving a fortune. I have decided to go with the Florida to a highly acclaimed school from what ive read on pprune to do my PPL for about E7000, night rating, ground exams, accomodation and car included. Just makes more sense to me than spending E10000 upwards in Ireland plus I feel I will progress better without the weather delays we have over here. I also plan to head back later in the year to hour build with what i have saved. Some great packages available. My hope is to get all my flight training to CPL for a budget of E50000 and put whats left towars a TR.
Anyway suppose what i am saying is dont rush into anything and get as much information as you can out of this site. Everything you need to know should be here. Have been looking at this forum for years and this is only my first post!! As I said earlier Its taken me years to get to this point to start my training and i have really have thinked it through. Hopefully by going the modular route in 2-3 years the industry will have picked up again and there may be jobs available. If not I still will have my finance job (touch wood) to fall back on and I wont be saddled with massive debt.
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do Jason.
Heading out to The Sunshine State on Friday for a month. Let you know how I got on when I get back.