Sorry, Markj - just wearing down a little after a New Year of blanks, despite my best efforts! Did catch a whiting last night though!
Agree with m.b3 above. Variety is the spice of life and it would be beneficial to have an outfit for beachcasting either on the beach or off the rocks and a lighter outfit for spinning/float fishing. I now have two beachcasters, a bass/spinning rod and a fly rod. This should just about cover most options.
As for tackle, keep it simple to begin with. If you're beach fishing, 15lb line with a 60lb shock leader, 4 to 6 oz grip lead (make sure your rod can handle a 6oz), two hook flapper rig, size 1/0 or 2/0 hooks and a variety of baits. See the Baits section of the main page
http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org . Buy some ready made rigs for flatties or general fishing to start with. Make your own if you feel like it later. They are as simple or as complicated as you want them to be.
Life is easier with a fixed spool reel to begin with, once your abilities and confidence grows, you may want to change, but it's all down to personal preference. I know a few lads who have gone out and bought a nice rod with a multiplier and suffered huge tangles on their first casts.
To an extent, it doesn't matter what kit you have on the beach, cuz all the fish are bothered about is what you have on the hooks and whether they can fit it in their mouths or not.
What ever you do, don't expect to catch a fish in daylight at this time of year and then be disappointed. Night time is generally better, depending where you are, but the fishing does die off for the next few months.