This is easy. The pros of having a car (own music choice, cheeky cigs out the window, fewer detours - except of course for those dodgy-Sat-Nav-necessitated ones) are far outweighed by the benefits of public transport. It's cheaper, for one thing. Never mind bus fare versus petrol costs. What about that heart-sinking letter from the Motor Tax Office that sails onto your welcome mat on a palpable air of dismay every few months - always when you're convinced you only forked out for the last one yesterday? The fecking insurance - thanks so much, Mum, for the fab Christmas present of my ickle Peugeot a few years back... but it's just not the time of year to be scraping coppers together for the insurance renewal. Hours on 1890 numbers (NB - these are NOT Lo-Call if you're ringing outside the hours of, oh, 4.15 a.m.- 4.17a.m.on anything but your Granny's landline) listening to little robot men who always find a way to shaft you out of the discount promised on the back of the bus (the irony!).. Car servicing! I always put it off, but guilt (and curious steam) eventually makes me cave and use my shoe kitty money for greasy men to poke around under my bonnet. Sigh.

Since moving to town, the ickle Peugeot has slept peacefully (okay, perhaps with a little trepidation) on the street here in Dublin 8. The reason? I have discovered Dublin Bus! Forget all you hate about the bus. It's cheap! (Just look anywhere but at the driver when he queries the minimum fare and mentally prepare your fake Latvian address, in case of ticket inspection). Sit at the front on a Double Decker and savour the thrills of narrowly missing a pole - or a low-flying pedestrian - on a sudden turn. Take off the headphones and keep a straight face at some of the conversations on more... colourful routes. (But whatever you do, keep your mouth firmly shut on the bus to Liffey Valley. If you see anyone dragging a piebald pony by a rope on board, best to disembark.)
Oh, and don't eat egg sandwiches on buses. People get annoyed for some reason. Marijuana and happy house on full volume are totally acceptable though.
When you've done a week on the bus, try the Nitelink. You'll never get a taxi again.