jayok:
One thing you could possibly look into is moving to either Portarlington, Mullingar or Maynooth if prices in Dublin make your eyes water, that way you could actually live in the same place either side of the decentralisation move: currently you can get a train from Portarlington to Ballinasloe in the morning, leaving at 710 and arriving in Ballinasloe at 8:55. OK, that's a pretty hefty 1h45 commute, but it might give you a bit of breathing room after the decentralisation so you don't have to move straight away, and you would be closer to relatives in Dublin.
I reckon Mullingar and Maynooth would be between an hour and an hour-and-a-half's drive from Ballinasloe.
Just thinking that living on a train line might be handier because of the job.
Anyway, best of luck with your application. If you picked up any useful info at the interview stage it'd be great if you could pass it on, mail
info@platform11.org if you don't want to post publicly!