Ireland Named Best Place To Live

[cojones]

Wednesday, 17 November, 2004, 19:27 GMT

Ireland is named 'best country'

Dubliners have reason to be cheerful, the survey finds

Ireland is the best place to live in the world, according to a "quality of life" assessment by Economist magazine.

The country's combination of increasing wealth and traditional values gives it the conditions most likely to make its people happy, the survey found.

Ireland was followed by Switzerland, Norway and Luxembourg. All but one of the top 10 were European countries.

The USA languished in 13th, while Britain was 29th - the lowest of the pre-expansion EU nations.

'TOP TEN COUNTRIES'

1 Ireland

2 Switzerland

3 Norway

4 Luxembourg

5 Sweden

6 Australia

7 Iceland

8 Italy

9 Denmark

10 Spain

The survey was prepared for the Economist's "World in 2005" publication, with the remit: "Where will be the best place to live in 2005?"

Researchers took into account not just income, but other factors considered important to people's satisfaction and well-being.

They included health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate, political stability and security, gender equality and family and community life.

The Economist said: "Ireland wins because it successfully combines the most desirable elements of the new, such as low unemployment and political liberties, with the preservation of certain cosy elements of the old, such as stable family and community life."

The magazine admits that measuring quality of life is not a straightforward thing to do, and that its findings will have their critics - "except, of course, in Ireland".

Breakdown in Britain

The Republic has made significant gains from its membership of the EU, earning the soubriquet Celtic Tiger for its economic progress.

Commentators say it is widely admired by the EU's newest members, and has become a model for what they hope to achieve.

Although European nations generally do well in the survey, the continent's major industrial powers of France, Germany and Britain finish 25th, 26th and 29th respectively.

The researchers said although the UK achieved high income per head, it had high levels of social and family breakdown.

The worst of the 111 countries to live in was considered to be Zimbabwe, "where things have gone from bad to worse under [President] Robert Mugabe".

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i cant find out where Thailand comes in the figures

[Dickie]

With the amount of money pumped into Ireland from the pockets of - guess which? - three eu members I'm not surprised it's a good place to live.

[ProfessorFart]

Norway #3!?

Biggest dump I've been to.

[Boon Mee]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story. What a grim place! Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent.

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

[RDN]

With the amount of money pumped into Ireland from the pockets of - guess which? - three eu members I'm not surprised it's a good place to live.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well done "The Economist". The next time the Irish request more money, I hope the EU tell 'em what they can do with it.

[TRIPxCORE]

Isnt our favorite Paddy with the 3-name persona gonna chime in on this one?

[jackr]

Who did the survey...an Irish Stevie Wonder

That's right about the money from the EU...where's their patriotism ?(stick the EU right up your bottom). As for Switzerland coming second, not surprised, that gold was a real winner, interest wise.

You can shove both countries right up your...(see original quote), not a patch on muang Thai!!!

[nogutsnoapplepie]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

[Dickie]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From stuff I've read on the web it seems to be another name for Ireland, but I could be wrong.

[nogutsnoapplepie]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From stuff I've read on the web it seems to be another name for Ireland, but I could be wrong.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Any there was I thinking it was a soup!!!

[brubo1]

Ireland the "best" country to live in

Advanced intelligence, progress, civilisation - what a marvellous thing!

I must be really backward for loving Thailand!

[nogutsnoapplepie]

Ireland the "best" country to live in

Advanced intelligence, progress, civilisation - what a marvellous thing!

I must be really backward for loving Thailand!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[jackr]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

Where is Erin?

...doesn't he mean Eire??

[chanchao]

So.. anyone find the complete list and the spot Thailand is in? Enquiring minds want to know...

[RDN]

Dickie's right - it's an old name for Ireland. Look here

[marquess]

Where is Thailand on the list?

[RDN]

Where is Thailand on the list?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

List not long enough - what we like about Thailand probably wasn't included in the criteria for the research

[Bizz]

http://www.world-newspapers.com/ireland.html

Yes it is a beautiful place to live and yes it has rain lots of it .quality of life is great community awareness help and support are still very much in Irish society

Eire Irish word for Ireland

I am proud to be Irish.

No it does not have Alice in Wonderland this is what I call my Girlfriend

In Thailand but it does have a sense of fair play and community awareness second to none. Moral values and a stet fast belief in private enterprise

November 19, 2004, 14:45

Irish beat Swiss to top quality of life survey

Switzerland has taken the silver medal in a global quality of life survey published by the London-based “Economist”.

Ireland topped the poll, which rated more than 100 countries based on criteria including income, health, unemployment, climate and political stability.

According to the survey’s authors, Ireland is officially the best place to live in the world.

But Switzerland also scores well, coming in ahead of Norway, Luxembourg and Sweden. Zimbabwe brought up the rear end, coming in in 111th position.

Apart from Australia, which came in sixth, all the countries in the top ten were European. The United States came 13th, while Britain scraped into the top 30 in 29th place.

“Some countries did well when it came to material well-being, but less well in some of the other factors,” said The Economist’s Daniel Franklin.

“But Switzerland scored highly across the range of criteria,” he told swissinfo.

Not just economics

Unlike other surveys, which tend to focus on economic output and GDP, researchers at The Economist focused on a range of criteria – including factors such as “stability of the family and community life”.

Gender equality and climate were also taken into account during the research and evaluation stages.

“Simply measuring economic well-being doesn’t capture the full quality of life,” said Franklin.

“We have tried to go beyond this… to get a broader measure of relative well-being in a new and interesting way.”

Room for improvement

Franklin says there is room for improvement, even for countries at the top of the table.

“Ireland falls behind slightly on climate, as you might imagine, and gender equality, but does particularly well in all the other factors,” he said.

“Switzerland is known for its civic virtues and strong sense of community, as well as [high] life expectancy. But clearly what will matter in future is continued economic growth.”

Franklin points to the “danger” that Switzerland could “fall behind in the economic stakes”.

“It will also have to hold on to some of the community and family structures that really matter for quality of life.”

[jackr]

Ireland topped the poll, which rated more than 100 countries based on criteria including income, health, unemployment, climate and political stability.

Yeah, but where's the best place to live?? Enjoyment factor

[Neeranam]

Where is Thailand on the list?

I remember reading that Thailand was about 65 th on the list.

[paddy]

Sorry, Boon Mee, I have to disagree with what you said about Norhtern Ireland. It's not true to say 'nobody' trusts anybody etc.

Also not everybody greets you with 'are you cathcolic or protestant', granted, with recent history, there is problems in certain areas but it is few and far between.

I'm not neccessarily agreeing that Irleland is the best place in the world to live, but it's doing something right or else it wouldn't have been voted NO 1.

As to funds Ireland have received from Germany & France, many other so called 'poor' countries in Europe received the same grants but Ireland used these incredibly efficiently and as a result has one of the best ecomomies in the world. Whats wrong with that? The idea of giving grants in the first place was to improve and progress Europe and that's exactly what it did. Next year Ireland will be standing up to the plate and making contributions to other EU states instead of receiving them. Not bad for a small Island with only 4 million people.

By the way, Ireland could never be the No 1 place to live, the weather is just too shit, at the mo it's 0 degrees celsius outside and pitch black (it's only 5pm)!!! How's that goog no matter what else you have.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...doesn't he mean Eire??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eire is yet another name for Ireland

[jackr]

As to funds Ireland have received from Germany & France

A large portion of your handouts also came from Britain and Italy.

[RDN]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...doesn't he mean Eire??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eire is yet another name for Ireland

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is Ireland the land of ire?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...doesn't he mean Eire??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eire is yet another name for Ireland

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is Ireland the land of ire?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The ire comes out of the mandatory hangovers

[Jockstar]

No thanks. Wouldn't want to live there. Too cold.

[paddy]

As to funds Ireland have received from Germany & France

A large portion of your handouts also came from Britain and Italy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apologies Jackr, I didn't mean to leave them out !

[Bizz]

If you need more information on Ireland please feel free to ask.

http://www.irlgov.ie/

http://www.finfacts.com/comment/irelandeun...commentpr27.htm

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=irelan...=cr%3DcountryIE

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=irelan...=cr%3DcountryIE

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~edrice/news/facts.htm

http://www.ndpgenderequality.ie/publicatio...cations_18.html

Ireland - Basic Facts

Population - 3,917,203

Population of each Province, County and City and actual and percentage change, 1996 and 2002

Population Persons1996 Persons2002 Males2002 Females2002 Actual change 1996-2002 Percentage change 1996-2002

Provco

Leinster 1924702 2105579 1038015 1067564 180877 9.4

Carlow 41616 46014 23403 22611 4398 10.6

Dublin City and County 1058264 1122821 544075 578746 64557 6.1

Dublin City 481854 495781 237813 257968 13927 2.9

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 189999 191792 91337 100455 1793 0.9

Fingal 167683 196413 97409 99004 28730 17.1

South Dublin 218728 238835 117516 121319 20107 9.2

Kildare 134992 163944 82735 81209 28952 21.4

Kilkenny 75336 80339 40540 39799 5003 6.6

Laoighis 52945 58774 30131 28643 5829 11

Longford 30166 31068 15794 15274 902 3

Louth 92166 101821 50489 51332 9655 10.5

Meath 109732 134005 67733 66272 24273 22.1

Offaly 59117 63663 32185 31478 4546 7.7

Westmeath 63314 71858 35960 35898 8544 13.5

Wexford 104371 116596 58170 58426 12225 11.7

Wicklow 102683 114676 56800 57876 11993 11.7

Munster 1033903 1100614 550118 550496 66711 6.5

Clare 94006 103277 52063 51214 9271 9.9

Cork City and County 420510 447829 222317 225512 27319 6.5

Cork City 127187 123062 59263 63799 -4125 -3.2

Cork County 293323 324767 163054 161713 31444 10.7

Kerry 126130 132527 66572 65955 6397 5.1

Limerick City and County 165042 175304 87631 87673 10262 6.2

Limerick City 52039 54023 26128 27895 1984 3.8

Limerick County 113003 121281 61503 59778 8278 7.3

Tipperary North 58021 61010 30864 30146 2989 5.2

Tipperary South 75514 79121 39999 39122 3607 4.8

Waterford City and County 94680 101546 50672 50874 6866 7.3

Waterford City 42540 44594 21782 22812 2054 4.8

Waterford County 52140 56952 28890 28062 4812 9.2

Connacht 433231 464296 233194 231102 31065 7.2

Galway City and County 188854 209077 104367 104710 20223 10.7

Galway City 57241 65832 31015 34817 8591 15

Galway County 131613 143245 73352 69893 11632 8.8

Leitrim 25057 25799 13324 12475 742 3

Mayo 111524 117446 59149 58297 5922 5.3

Roscommon 51975 53774 27583 26191 1799 3.5

Sligo 55821 58200 28771 29429 2379 4.3

Ulster (part of) 234251 246714 124837 121877 12463 5.3

Cavan 52944 56546 29015 27531 3602 6.8

Donegal 129994 137575 69016 68559 7581 5.8

Monaghan 51313 52593 26806 25787 1280 2.5

State 3626087 3917203 1946164 1971039 291116 8

Source: CSO

Total area: 70,282 km² (68,890 km² land area )

Coastline: 1,448kms

Highest point: Carrantuohill (KY) 1,038m

Frontier with Northern Ireland: 360kms

Birth rate: 14.21 births/1,000 population

Death rate: 8.59 deaths/1,000 population

Religions: Roman Catholic 93%, Church of Ireland (Anglican) 3%, other 1%, none 1%, unknown 2%

Constitution: 28 December 1937, adopted 1 July 1937 by plebecite.

Head of State: President Mary McAleese Presidential Web Site

Head of Government: An Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern, T.D.

Legislative Branch

Seanad Éireann (Senate) upper house

Dáil (House of Representatives) lower house

Money: Euro / € (Irish Pound notes and coins withdrawn from 1.1.2002)

Official Languages: Irish and English

Timezone: UTC+1 in Summer; UTC+0 in Winter

(5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time)

Capital: Dublin

Dublin City Population 495,781 Metro area 1.1 million. Other cities: Cork City (123,062) Metro Area 250,000 - Cork City & County (447,829) Limerick (54,023) - Limerick City & County (175,304) Galway (65,832) Galway City & Co (209,077) Waterford (44,594) Waterford City & County (101,546)

Northern Ireland: Belfast (330,000)

Shop opening hours: 09h - 17h30 Mo-Sa

Most cities have at least one late night where shops are open later (eg to 20h on Thursdays in Dublin). Many suburban supermarkets are open until 19h on weekdays. Most towns and cities have convenience stores which open to 22 or 23h 7 days a week.

Airports

Dublin , Cork and Shannon

Other airports at: Belfast and Derry (Northern Ireland), Galway, Kerry, Knock, Waterford and Sligo

Car Ferry Services

Detailed information on ferry services can be found here.

Ferry routes to/from Ireland:

From Cherbourg, Le Harve and Rosscoff in France to Cork and Rosslare

From Cherbourg to Dublin

From Swansea (South Wales) to Cork

From Fishguard and Pembroke (South Wales) to Rosslare

From Holyhead (North Wales) to Dublin Port and Dun Laoghaire (Co Dublin)

From Isle of Man to Dublin

Ferry services to Belfast and Larne Northern Ireland from Liverpool, Stranraer and Cairnryan (Scotland) and Isle of Man

Highways

87,400 kms of highways classified as follows:

M routes "Motorways" M1, M4, M7, M11 and M50 - ie divided highways with 4 or more lanes together with an emergency lane in either direction

National Primary Routes (N1 to N49)

National Secondary Routes (N50 to N99)

Regional Roads (R001 to R999)

Unnumbered roads

Most national primary routes have emergency lanes on either side

E Routes

The N1,M1, M11 and N11 form part of the E1 Trans European route which runs from Larne in Northern Ireland via Dublin down the East coast of Ireland to the Iberian Peninsula via Lisbon and ending at Seville in Southern Spain.

The N7, N18, and M7 form part of the E20 which runs from Ennis (CE) to Limerick to Portlaoise (where it is joined by the E201 (N8) from Cork) and on via Liverpool, Copenhagen, and Goteborg to Stockholm in Eastern Sweden.

The N25 forms part of the E30 route which runs from Cork to Rosslare, and on to London, Hanover, Berlin, Warsaw and Minsk to Moscow.

[pal78]

Ireland may be a great place to live but Northern Ireland is a different story.  What a grim place!  Nobody trusts anyone and the first question out of someone you meet is whether you're Catholic or Protestent. 

Told 'em I was Buddhist and left them speechless...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good reply What about the perpetual rain in Erin ? That'd be a downer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where is Erin?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...doesn't he mean Eire??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eire is yet another name for Ireland

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eire IS the Irish word for Ireland. Eirn is a brand of packaged food products.

I live in Ireland, and I'm really sorry for the rest of the world if this is the best place to live!!