Iain McMenamin (29) has moved back in with his parents twice in the last five years, the second time with his wife, Virpi. After a period living in London and Poland, the couple decided they wanted to settle in Ireland.
Though she now has a full-time job, he is still studying for a doctoral thesis, so funds were tight and the only option was for them to move back into his childhood bedroom.
"It was a very large, well-appointed childhood bedroom, but we were tripping over each other. With the two of us, two computers, about 500 books and a load of wedding presents . . . I just don't know where it all went," he says.
"It went quite well though, which surprised me, mainly because Virpi got on very well with my mother. There were no fights or traumas, and I was astounded by that. But it was mainly because my parents were not there most of the time, so we had some space to ourselves."
Iain says his parents, far from being annoyed or resentful at the invasion, were very supportive, and even thrilled, as they worried the couple would settle in London, Finland, or even Poland.
While there were no major tensions, small things stick in his mind, "Cooking was a bit of a thing for Virpi. She likes spicy food, mainly vegetarian, and they're used to eating bread and bacon and that sort of thing. And watching TV, it was golf all the time."
They moved out, "for just the normal reasons you want a place of your own. It's pre-second World War Ireland, living with your parents, when you're married particularly. You just don't have much personal space."
Iain and Virpi weren't saving for a deposit to buy, however; they were saving for a rental deposit. "There's just no way we could buy. Virpi might be able to buy something . . . in Leitrim, maybe."
In the end, in utter desperation, the couple have ended up renting a small townhouse near Ranelagh from a relative, at a knockdown rent which was still their absolute maximum. As for plans to buy a place, "we don't have any."
Rebecca (26) moved out of home nearly two years ago, to share a house with three other people. She was on a salary of about £15,000 at the time and her rent was eating up her wages.
She and her boyfriend have decided to start looking for a house to buy, which meant Rebecca had to move home. "I decided I wanted to clear all my student loans to get everything ready so I can borrow again if we find a house. I had to move home because it would be impossible otherwise, rents are just so high."
Her parents were open to the idea, "but I know they had started to get used to having the house to themselves".
In the end, Rebecca moved in with her grandparents, who live near her parents' house, "because it suited everybody", though she is in and out of her parents' house all the time, using their washing machine and other facilities.
Rebecca admits, though, that if that option hadn't existed, "it would have been very difficult".
There have been no rows, or particular tensions since she moved in, and she thanks their great friendship for that but admits, "you just have to be careful," and "in 12 or even six months' time I could be saying something very different".
Even though she feels particularly lucky in her situation, she admits that her freedom has been limited. Asked what she does about having her boyfriend over, Rebecca says, "I just don't."
They are fortunate, again, in that he rents his own apartment, and at weekends Rebecca stays there. "If that wasn't the case it would be much harder, because we would have no freedom at all," she says.
Rebecca's mother, Maria, is very positive about the experience. Quite the contrary to groaning when her daughter said she wanted to move home, Maria said: "I thought it was a great idea given that it was costing her so much to rent and generally to live. I'm quite a family-oriented person, I didn't work outside the home much and I don't feel they invade my space, I like having them around. Maybe if I was working outside I'd feel differently."
"I think living away, with a crowd of people, has been a great idea. She's more inclined to bring home a bunch of flowers now. And she wouldn't react in the way she would have maybe a couple of years ago if we're discussing something."
"When she was doing her thesis she was impossible to live with, and Brian [her father] was saying, `do we have to go through that again?' In a way, you think, I'm 50 now and you feel you don't want to be having teenage rows at this stage."
"To think you're going to get back into the same mode is a great mistake, it's been much more open and friendly. It's nice to be able to enjoy somebody as an adult, and talk to each other on a completely different level."