Some solid advice here I can confirm from personal experience. I bought in Dublin City Centre about 8 years ago exactly for the reasons you mentioned. I will likely jump directly to empty nester or winter years in about another 5-10 years as I started on my property ladder at 31.

Been helping a few of my friends find places, and get good solicitors in Ireland over the last 2-3 years and I have to say, there may be a property crisis, but it's not as bad as it's made out to be. I find that a lot of people want to buy the wrong sized place, or refuse to downsize when the 5-bed doesn't make sense anymore. Young people want to go for a 2-3 bed place, because of a potential future where they're not single anymore and have a kid or two, only to find them still unmarried many years later. If I thought like that, I'd still be renting and wasting money. Instead I bought a 40sqm one-bed in the heart of Dublin. Its sale value has gone up by 30% and its letting value by 40%. And I pay a lot less mortgage (with overpayments and on a short-term mortgage) than people pay rent for a place like this.

P.S. My ex rejected a few really good apartments at decent prices because, and I quote "it's not a great fit for my cat." 🤦‍♂️