Looking around at 1-bed rentals (apartments) in decent areas (such Islandbridge/Chapelizod/Knocklyon etc…) all seem to be asking ~ €950. I know many people say wait for the rents to drop, but would be looking to move in before mid-Feb, so waiting indefinitely is not an option.
So I guess what I would appreciate is some advice/opinions on what would/might be accepted as rent for such places, before I head off to view some of them. The more info I’m armed with the better 
I have been monitoring 1 and 2 bed apartments in another part of the city. While the prices are definitely trending downwards, it is a slow, drawn out process. My advice would be to track particular properties that you are interested in using the property bee. If the properties are on the market for a while then you will have more confidence low ballling. If a property is rented out shortly after going up on daft, well then there is no point low balling as there is demand at that price. I would say that you should figure out what range you would like to pay and then make offers within that range for apartments. There is probably little point where your offer is going to be 25% less than the asking price, people seem to be very sticky on price, preferring to leave it idle than renting it for “less than it is worth” but I think that 15% to 20% reduction should be possible.
My 2c.
You probably have a better chance of getting a 2 bedroom for €1,000.
Try to get something a lot bigger and better for very little extra.
I would agree with xman. My girlfriend and I are currently looking for 2 beds in the same area and moving in the same time frame. Little difference in price between 1 and 2 beds. Most landlords seem very willing to reduce their asking prices. Try to get a 6 month lease if you can and look to move again in 6mths when prices have reduced further.
as above, get the shortest lease you can and be prepared to move. Even if you like the place you are in, a short lease gives you leeway to renegotiate rent with the landlord who will prefer to keep a tennant than have to go through the hassle and expense of finding another one.
Cheers for the replies. Much appreciated. Very helpful.
I have proprtybee installed already a good while. Very handy. Problem with ads being up for a few days and then getting let is teh old chesnut of “what did it REALLY get let out at” - same arguement as the no idea of the sale price of houses.
Place is for myself so as you can imagine every few quid saved the better, hence the looking at price rather than “pay an extra 100/150 to get a 2-bed”.
A 6-month lease isnt a bad idea - but from asking around there isn’t that many LL open to the idea 
was hoping that something advertised at 950/900 would be able to be had for much less.
Another tip is to go through the local newspapers rather than daft or myhome.ie
Local papers are generally used by private landlords who don’t use agents and are more flexible regarding rents as they don’t have to pay a commission or management fee. The place I just rented in ennis for 500pm (3 bed semi) was not advertised on Daft and the landlord seems like a decent bloke. The great thing is many private ads don’t advertise the price they are looking for, so the landlords will probably be getting calls from people who will tell them the property is too expensive
On daft 3 bed properties in much worse condition in bad locations are between 100 and 200 quid more expensive