Four cross-Border commuters tell Rosita Boland why it's worth their while to live one side of the Border and work in the other

Dublin-Derry

"If you have a row with me, it might take two or three weeks to resolve," says Nollaig Ó Fiongháile wryly. Ó Fiongháile is programme specialist at the Northern Ireland Centre of European Co-Operation (NICEC) at the University of Ulster's Magee campus in Derry. She commutes weekly between Dublin, where her home is, and Derry, where she lives in a house-share during the working week.

NICEC is a body which focuses on building links between Northern Ireland and other parts of Europe, particularly in areas of cultural regeneration, and diversity and conflict management. "It can sometimes be two or three weeks before I get home to Dublin, because I travel about twice a month to Europe for work, so that eats into my weekends," Ó Fiongháile explains. "That's when the logistics of the commute really makes complications for your personal life. You end up spending a lot of time with strangers, rather than friends."

She took the job two years ago because it was a very interesting time in post-conflict Northern Ireland, and she wanted to be able to contribute to the changes and developments that are ongoing. Sometimes she drives between Derry and Dublin, and sometimes she flies. "As you don't have the Border-stops on the road any more, the physical Border crossing isn't what you notice any more, but you notice it in the administrative culture. You are constantly addressing bureaucracy in Northern Ireland."

The logistics of maintaining two homes means that Ó Fiongháile has to have two of everything. "And even if you organise yourself really well, it's very difficult to maintain a routine. Also, you do become disorientated, living between two cities and two states. When you're away from your home so much, you become a little bit isolated from your own life. You begin to disengage a bit from people."

She points out that weekends in Dublin can be as busy as her working week, since she tries to catch up with family and friends during that time. It's difficult to ever switch off. But it's worth it to her. "You take these things in your stride in order to do something meaningful and important."

Armagh-Dublin

Donal Sheridan works as a civil engineer in Dublin, and has been commuting daily from Armagh for almost seven years. For two years prior to that he commuted weekly; living in Dublin during the week and returning to Armagh at weekends. These days, he's up at 6am to help with his two young children, and then he drives from Armagh to Newry to catch the 7.35am train to Connolly. Finally there's a Dart journey to Lansdowne Road. He always tries to make the 4.50pm train back, which means that most days he eats lunch at his desk.

"We did look at living in Dublin over six years ago, but the problem was the cost. The cost of property was horrendous. So was childcare, and we'd have no family support here. My wife works in Belfast, so we considered buying in Newry, as a half-way place for commuting, but Newry was full of buyers who'd been priced out of Dublin and were making cross-Border investments. Prices were over-inflated there too."

Almost nine years into the job and the cross-Border commute, Sheridan has no regrets. "Financially, it made sense. If we had bought in Dublin, we'd be crippled with a very large mortgage."

What about the fact that house prices have increased significantly since they first considered buying in Dublin, and that their investment would have paid off? "Moving as a family to Dublin was never going to happen. The quality of life in this city isn't the same as we have at home."

Sheridan never socialises in Dublin, although he sometimes attends the staff Christmas party. "Even though I do work here, because I don't live here, I'm not up to speed on local politics and issues."

Despite the time he spends travelling daily, Sheridan sees one definite advantage to his cross-Border commute. "There is a certain sectarian undercurrent in the North you always have to be aware of. You have to be very careful of what you say and who you say it to, and even where you work. You'd always be continuously watching yourself. So the fact that I work in Dublin means that I don't have to worry about that."

Dublin-Belfast

Oliver Comerford is an artist who lives in Dublin. For the past year, he has been commuting twice a week to Belfast, where he is an associate lecturer in painting at the University of Ulster's fine art department.

Twice a week, he's up at 6.30am and cycles to Connolly Station to catch the 7.35am Belfast train. From there, he takes a taxi to the campus. His return train is at 6.10pm and he's usually home by 9pm. "The more you specialise in your career, the further you may have to travel for it," he explains. "The fact that it's a permanent position was a huge reason in taking the job, since teaching jobs like this don't come up too often for visual artists."

Comerford experimented with staying over in Belfast as his teaching days are consecutive, but found it too expensive. "And I wanted to come home to eat dinner in my own home and contribute even in some small way to the household, like putting out the bins."

Although the post is a permanent one, Comerford never considered moving his young family North, since he feels that the fact he is based in Dublin helps him to do the job better. "I can offer the university my links or insight into the Dublin art scene, because I'm tapped into the art world in the South." Cross-Border commuting for work isn't a big issue for him, since he feels that as an artist he has already been cross-Border commuting for years. "I've exhibited in Northern Ireland several times. There's always been cross-Border activity in the Irish art world."

Warrenpoint-Dublin

Tracy Carney works in the financial services sector as an anti-money-laundering compliance manager at a hedge fund company in Dublin. She has been commuting from Warrenpoint, Co Down, for a year. She's up at 6am to take care of her young son, and leaves the house at 7am for Newry to catch the same train Sheridan takes, the 7.35am. "I could leave later, but I wouldn't get a parking space at the station." From Connolly Station, she takes the Dart to Lansdowne Road. On a good day, she gets home at 7pm, but when she misses the first train, she doesn't get home until close to 9pm.

"There are no advantages to commuting," Carney admits. "But Dublin is where there is a big international financial services centre, and that's where the need was for my skills." She did consider moving to Dublin, but "property was so expensive. I had to decide: do I put up with the commute, or do I move to a very expensive city with my child, where I have no family support for childcare?" Economics dictated that the commute won out.