DUBLIN ON €60 a day. That's the kind of a challenge that would test most shoestring tourists, once they'd deducted the €19 nightly charge for a bunk in an eight-bed dorm at Isaac's Hostel. But this isn't a backpacker's budget.
€1,800 per month is the net wage of some of the locally recruited staff at the French embassy, who are so upset at the difference between their wages from the French government and the cost of living in Dublin that they've taken the undiplomatic step of going on strike.
"I will be 54 years old next spring," says the ambassador's driver Bernard Mrozinski, who spends almost half his take-home pay on rent and heating bills.
"I live in Bray and I share one duplex. I can't understand why I must share at this age. All I want is to live in a little flat - but at €1,100 a month, that is impossible."
Another embassy worker, who asked that her name be withheld, recently surrendered her gym membership in order to keep up VHI payments. "I have no car, and no children - but it would not be possible to have them on this wage. This is the most expensive city I have ever lived in."
There are 14 locally hired staff at the embassy: 10 French citizens and four others, including two Irish nationals. They work in jobs such as administration, maintenance and even junior diplomatic roles. They are paid and taxed by the French government, and earn between €1,600 and €2,300 per month, says Hélène Conway, who represents French citizens in Ireland as an elected councillor to the Assemblée des Français de l'étranger (AFE).
On Thursday the staff picketed the embassy for the second time to protest at their low wages, forfeiting a day's pay.
"They do not want to go on strike and jeopardise their careers," says Ms Conway. "They cannot afford to not be paid for the days they take industrial action. But the wages here no longer reflect the cost of living in Ireland. Ten years ago, before the boom, Ireland was a relatively cheap place to live. But now, it is one of the most expensive countries in the world."
Ms Conway says a comparative study has shown that the French workers are towards the bottom of the scale when it comes to embassy wages in Ireland. They earn far less than workers doing similar jobs elsewhere in the Republic, and about 45 per cent less than workers in similar roles in the State's civil service.
"I work in the DIT, where the basic salary for a secretary is €22,000. Someone at a similar role in the embassy who has worked there for five years earns €19,000," says Ms Conway.
IN CASE THE workers' appeal to President Nicolas Sarkozy follows the same unhappy journey as those of their nation's postal workers, train drivers, teachers and airline pilots (who are all also in the middle of industrial action), The Irish Times is pleased to offer some suggestions for maintaining a French lifestyle in Dublin:
First, move to the northside. The embassy is on Ailesbury Road, but the well-ordered foliage of Dublin 4 comes at a price. Cross to the left bank of the Liffey, where there are loads of nice new housing estates jammed with over-extended investment property owners only too willing to negotiate prices.
A three-bedroom dwelling in Dublin's 13th arrondissement may suit to share with colleagues: myhome.ie has a lovely-looking new terraced house in Clongriffin for €1,290 a month. At €320 per room, or €80 per week, that leaves more money for transport.
Clongriffin's Dart station is a work in progress, and a car is out of the question on this wage. The bus is at least €20 per week and requires a connection in the city centre for Ailesbury Road, meaning embassy workers would have to leave home at dawn. But it's only a 45-minute cycle from Clongriffin down the Malahide Road, and they should be able to piece together a bicycle from abandoned parts chained to railings across the city. Borrow the embassy bolt cutters and trick your ride.
Fortunately, it's easier for left-bankers to get to Dublin's bargain district, the glamorous Rue O'Connoll. Penneys has a grey Cedarwood State suit jacket for €15, an easy-iron shirt and tie set for €9, and casual cords for €15. Buyers will be stylishly mismatched, and at those prices, they can afford a leisure outfit - a matching tracksuit set for less than a tenner.
There will be enough left to treat homesickness with a weekly blow-out at Chez Max on Palace St (escargot de Bourgogne, Bavette ou Steak Frite with sauce béarnaise and crème brulée, with a glass of Pouilly Fumé 2006 for €44.50, not including tax or tip).
Chez Max can take care of breakfast, too - a €1.70 croissant and €2.50 cafe noisette every morning to break the journey from Clongriffin will work out at €21 a week.
Lunch is even cheaper: Cuisine de France demi baguettes from Spar are 75 cent each, and a large chicken is €7.99 from FX Buckley butchers on Moore Street. Roast it at home, and there's a week's worth of lunches for about €2 a day. Dessert is just around the corner: large blocks of Toblerone are €3 from the traders on Henry Street: a few triangles after work will deliver the blast of energy needed for the cycle back up the Malahide Road.