Hi BondGirl,
There are 7 Insurance companies operating in Ireland that deal with Life insurance/ Serious illness. These are Caledonian Life, Canada Life, Friends First, Hibernian Aviva, Irish Life, New Ireland and Zurich- previously Eagle Star. Most operate through brokers. The premiums can differ greatly from one to the next and it is impossible to say which is the cheapest as one may be cheaper for serious illness while another might be cheaper for life insurance, again one might be cheaper for smokers or people of a certain age. It depends quite a number of factors.
You should look for a broker that deals with all of them so they can offer you impartial advice across all of them. In some instances one might be better for serious illness cover or one might have better options on things such as indexation/convertible term options etc. These may or may not be important to you but you want to ensure that the advice you are getting and ultimately the product you buy is suitable to you and in some cases this may not be the cheapest. Most brokers can give you quotes on all insurance companies and should make these available to you.
As you are both young non-smokers it shouldn't be too expensive but again this depends on the level of cover that you require. A very quick quote for €200,000 over 20 years (joint life) assuming standard rates could cost as little as €24/€25 a month but you want to look at how much cover and what type of cover you need first.