Vista - uk laptop internet access in ireland (eire)

can anyone please tell me what i need to access the internet in ireland south (eire) this is what i have.uk laptop running vista h/p, i also have an irish mobile phone (for use only in ireland) pay as you go with o2 ireland.
ive heard people talking about a "dongle" (whatever that is)
i will only be over there for a couple of weeks,so i dont want to sign up to an irish contract, even dialup would be ok. many thanks for any suggestions/ideas

i mean you could by a dongle ( the usb broadband modem) and then you can use almost where ever you travel* for example with vodaphone if you buy the dongle (79€) then can pay five bucks a day for internet access. then when you get back to the uk use it there just might have to get another sim or something

thanks for that ill look into it

Use your phone! Cheaper...than buying a dongle...
What phone do you have?
Does it have free internet access?

thanks for your help, my phone is a " sony ericsson k510i",on payg , i also have a usb lead from phone to laptop,and bluetooth,i never used the internet on the phone, not sure how to

you'll need to setup roaming with your phone company and at the same time ask them to input the details for the phone to use as a modem...
I did this a few years back should be fairly cheap now but ask them whilst your phoning them...

ok thanks