You could join one of the clubs in Dublin airport, theres annual fee of about 500 euro but you can the aircraft at a good rate,
C-152 for 90euro and a C-172 for 115euro.
If you know Dublin well you can get accomodation very cheap.
With the odd delay on the ramp for jet traffic you get to operate out of an international airport and fly to the likes of shannon, waterford, belfast etc and for the small airfields there is a cheaper cost for landing fees compared to the UK