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Thoroughly, utterly, disastrous day.


Lisa O`Brien

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Supposed to be flying to Liverpool this morning so my son could look around Liverpool Hope Uni, where he has applied to, and then later at Man Met where he has been offered a place. The earliest bus leaving Newry going to Belfast was 6am. The earliest train 7am. Our flight was booked from Belfast International airport at 8.20 am. The bus was supposed to get into the Europa Bus Station in Belfast at five past seven. It. Stopped. At. Every. Stop. Along. The. Way. Which isn't many. But lots of people, about eight at each stop, got on, all paying the driver in cash. Got to the bus station and jumped into a Hackney cab. The taxi fare cost £30. The airport was the International airport, not George Best airport, as flights from the latter were at a completely impractical time. The International airport was miles out, and the traffic desperate.  Got to the airport, rushed through to Departures. Our flight was already in the air. Enquired at the desk about other flights. The next one to Liverpool was at 3pm. We were supposed to be at Liverpool Hope for 10 am and Man Met for 12 Noon or thereabouts. Supposed to be meeting my sister and her husband at 4pm and getting a flight home at 7.50 pm. Enquired about flights actually to Manchester. One on another airline was at 10 am. That was doable. Except it took off from the other airport and we wouldn't have got there in time, allowing in for checking in as well. What about a flight to say, Birmingham? We could then get a train or National Express coach over. Flight to Birmingham is at 7 pm. All of the flights anyway would have cost us around £96 each one way, which we simply couldn't afford. Got the bus back home and got in, around Noon, just as we were supposed to be arriving at Man Met. We now don't have any money between us for Sean on his own even to be able to afford to get any other flight over to England at any time in the foreseeable future to look around the Universities. Happy days, eh?

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Yes need to watch Belfast:- Flybe go to George Best which is the city itself, from Liverpool and Manchester. easyjet go to the international airport a good 17 miles away from "Belfast" from Liverpool and Manchester. Usually loads of flights throughout the day but what an absolute pain. Any chance of going by the ferry to Birkenhead/Liverpool instead,  foot passenger price might be cheaper? 

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Might have to do. Foot passenger fare is only a tenner. Takes 8 hours to get there though. Departs Belfast 22.00 arrives in Birkenhead at 6am. I assume you just crash and try and sleep wherever you can on board. It would hardly be conducive to travelling around all the next day. But might be only option. 

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I'm sure there used to be a crossing that only took 3 hours. They must have done away with it, as I can't find any ferry company that does that. Travelling from Dublin to Liverpool is not an option. He doesn't have a passport  and neither do I. We were going to show both our Electoral Identification Cards today.

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Did you check Dublin ferry ID requirements? In theory you shouldn't need a passport. (Common travel area, though airlines don't seem to respect it. Wait, Aer Lingus do, it's just RyanAir being ***** again.)

 

Irish Ferries page here:

 

http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/frequently-asked-questions/top-10-faqs/passports-identification/

 

They say a utility bill would do.

Edited by Colman
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Thank you everyone. Just had a look at the Irish Ferries route [ thank you Colman]. There are 6 ferry journeys each day from Dublin to Holyhead, which is great. Only 22 Euros each way per person, which is also great. Unfortunately to then get the train from Holyhead to Liverpool will cost us an additional £80 + as the fare for one person one way is £37.60, plus booking fee, totalling £40.30 one way. So we would still be looking at a total cost of around £200. Grr. But seriously, I really appreciate everyone's suggestions.

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Is this going to spoil his chances of getting a possible Uni place though?

 

i must admit it looked a lot to do for just one day especially where flights are involved ....is there no way you could have stayed with your sister.You can PM me if don't want to discuss too publicly etc. 

When I had an early flight to St Petersburg last November the thought of ANYTHING going wrong made me go up the night before and stay at the airport. An additional expense yes ....but not extortionate at the Ibis hotel at Heathrow. 

However the peace of mind was just enormous as the thought of missing this flight ( going out with our Ballet group) was too much to bear!!!

Hope you can get something sorted as good for Sean to have the widest choice if possible.....as this choice could affect so much of the direction of the rest of his life.

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Thank you. A friend has told me that Ulsterbus operate a service from Belfast, drive you to the ferry and then drive you to Manchester's Chorlton Street Bus Station. Only problem with that is it gets in Manchester at 12.30 am. Don't really think it would be nice being in the centre of Manchester at that hour. Plus, the uni wouldn't be open to look around until 9am at the earliest.  As for Linda's suggestion of staying with my sister. I wish. Apart from the fact she and her husband live in a tiny one bedroom flat [ Sean could sleep on the sofa and me on the floor], she is severely mentally ill; suffers from a condition called Borderline Personality Disorder and one of the ways this manifests itself it that she doesn't allow anyone other than her and her husband to enter her flat,unless it's a repair man just for a short period of time, let alone stay there for any longer period. She even arranged for us to meet her and her husband on Market Street when we were going yesterday, as we wouldn't have been allowed inside her flat. I'm used to her and she can't help it.

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We both keep checking UCAS every few hours to see if Liverpool Hope or Liverpool John Moores have decided whether to offer him  a place or not. It just says both Universities are still considering his application. He has a Conditional place at Man Met. If both Liverpool Universities reject his application then that's that problem solved, and he won't need to visit either. But he will still need to visit Man Met to see if he wants to go or not. He nly decided to apply to Uni at the last minute. Literally. He completed his application within an hour to spare of the 15 January deadline. Most people know months in advance they want to go. Hence why most Uni Open Days are held months in advance of the January deadline.

Edited by Lisa O`Brien
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6 minutes ago, Ellie said:

Lisa, can Sean not go on his own to keep the costs down ? We don't live in the UK and my DS went to his open days on his own as we couldn't have afforded the extra expense. Best of Luck. x

Yes he might have to. 

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I was thinking of this too.

I travelled to Gottingen in Germany alone when I was 16 

This was all train and ferry ....no flights .....far too expensive back then....

I remember feeling very confident about it all at the time though was almost certainly a touch naive back then but made it there and back ......though wearing rosebud German headscarf on the return 

I am now a little surprised my mother and father allowed me to do this when had never been away from home before at the time but they obviously trusted me and the world at large rightly or wrongly!! 

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34 minutes ago, Lisa O`Brien said:

Yes he might have to. 

I know that it's natural to worry, but I'm sure he'll be just fine. As long as he has a decent head on his shoulders, a fully charged mobile phone and money for an emergency McDonalds :) x

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1 hour ago, LinMM said:

 

Is this going to spoil his chances of getting a possible Uni place though?

 

This seems to me the crucial question, and as long as Sean is not required for interview, does he really need to go for a look around in these internet days? The course content is the most important thing, so I would expect the Admissions Officers to be happy to discuss this with him over the phone.  

(I say this as someone who chose her university by reputation, both academic and as a desirable place to live, and came to regret it. I had a good social life, expanded my mental horizons, changed course there and managed to graduate, but I certainly didn't embark on the career I had envisaged when I started.)

 

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I encourage our three daughters to research thoroughly all the travel options available to them (split train tickets are our new favourite) and screen shot all relevant web pages on their mobile phones, in case they are unable to access the internet while travelling. Ideally, they also travel during daylight hours - not so easy when living in Scotland!

 

I try to print out a map from the internet showing the city centre they will be visiting, making sure any train stations, etc are on there too.  Any information about where buses/taxis depart from at airports/harbours is also useful to make a note of.

 

Our daughters had very little experience of travelling before starting at university and dance school recently, but they now all enjoy flying to England/Scotland, being independent and meeting new people. It's great for their self-confidence too.

 

Good luck to Sean in whatever he does in the future.

 

 

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Lisa, he has that option and it's thanks to you. From what I've seen on the forum you have a lot that's good to offer him and those of us who read your posts. The best mothers I know admit to feelings of inadequacy at times, but that's life and it's better than complacency.  You're entitled to cry today after such a rotten experience, I hope we are helping to give you a plan for tomorrow.

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Lisa, you're entitled to have a good cry. From what I understand you're taking the responsibility of raising and looking after your son on your own. You seem to be doing a great job under stressful circumstances. Now, you are not a failure as a mother, as GTL says, he has this opportunity mostly down to you. Have faith in him, hand him a bit of the responsibility (it won't harm him) take a deep breath.....and even if he can't make the open day, but gets an offer then the internet is a wonderful tool (which we didn't have- I know you also travelled the world as a young dancer - no mobile, no internet, how did we manage ??!!) and if he decides to take up the offer he can research the uni and the area online. Big hug. XXX

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It is sort of similar in you always think you haven't quite done enough somehow and always wonder whether you did the right thing when dealing with issues should you have done this or said that etc etc 

im sure I would have been a bit neurotic as a mum worrying all the time!! Though usually having a good friendship group can help with this. I do feel for people who get a bit isolated.

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Well Liverpool John Moores have rejected his application. Because he hadn't sent them the evidence of Prior Learning they asked for. Asked on The Student Room and people in the know on there say they probably assumed he wasn't interested. He hadn't sent it to them yet because he was waiting for all five Unis to reply to him first. But on UCAS it said nothing about any deadline for sending in the info. We thought he could wait until he had received all five offers and THEN send his BTEC results to them. Worried Man Met even though he has a Conditional Offer from them are going to do the same. Also worried Hope are going to do the same, even though they have asked for nothing. Someone said if you haven't heard from one or more of your choices by 5th May you can take it you have been rejected. He wasn't really interested in Liverpool John Moores anyway, but IS interested in Manchester Met and Liverpool Hope. Man Met want proof of his BTEC Level 3 result and the HND when he gets it, together with his Access NI certificate [ police background check]. But they haven't said when they want it all for. He needs to ring both Unis on Monday I think, just in case they are about to reject him too. 

Edited by Lisa O`Brien
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