Traveling in Ireland: Train or Bus?

I'm going to Ireland in June, and we've decided against renting a car. (lack of stick shift talent+left side of the road fear=no rent a car.) Anyway, all I know is that buses are cheaper than trains. We need a round trip from Dublin to Galway and back. Should we take the bus or train?

I hired a car and found it great.
Ok I come from a left hand drive country and found it fine...BUT I have driven in France to and found that after an hour or so, the driving is not so bad!
You can also hire an automatic...they do have them.
I found it great ofr several reasons...I could easily get ot bed and breakfast places...of which there seem to be heaps and is the main form of accomodation in Ireland....I could go to some cheaper, more out the way places which was great.
The place may seen small but it always took me longer to get from place to place....
reconsider the car!

If you're just going to Galway, the train is faster.

Bizarre. Everyone who learns to drive in Ireland learns to operate a stick shift. What's so hard about it?

The train is better if you want to go from a big city to another. If you want to reach smaller towns or villages you'll have to take the bus. But the public transport in Ireland is very inefficient, expensive and uncomfortable... and many beautiful places can be only reached by car. If I were you I would rent an automatic car (you can find them easy enough if you book it early). Don't worry about driving on the left, I got used to it very quickly. Just keep telling yourself that the white line has to be on the side of the steering wheel, and follow the others!

The train is faster, but more expensive. But the train station and bus station are next to each other in Galway, so you'll end up in the city centre either way. By the way, I'm pretty sure you can rent automatic cars, and it's easy enough to get used to driving on the other side of the road. So don't rule it out totally.

train!!! in ireland when theres one avaible always take the train! take it from someone who does a daily commute ino dublin on bus eireann (rural bus)
nobody likes a bus journey.
its long, stuffy and cramped in comparison to the train.

bus costs €17.10
train costs €24
well worth the difference!!

have fun!

the bus would be best and i hope you have a good trip over when you come