“Told you so” – Dublin ranked as the best city to live in Ireland and the UK
By Geraldine Carton
21st Mar 2018
21st Mar 2018
If you’re on a mission to convince overseas friends or family members why now is the time to return home, then this latest report will surely help your endeavours.
This week global consultancy firm Mercer presented their 20th annual Quality of Living survey, and we were delighted to see that Dublin has been ranked 34, making it the highest ranked city across the UK and Ireland.
This means that we beat our neighbours London (41), Edinburgh (46) and Belfast (68), not to mention the big European hitters such as Paris (39), Lisbon (38), Madrid (49) and Rome (57).
Vienna took the #1 spot –no surprise there seeing as they’ve won the coveted spot for last nine consecutive years – with the other top five including Zurich (2), Auckland and Munich (sharing 3rd place) and Vancouver (5).
The ranking is determined by factors such as security, public transportation, political and economic conditions, climate, health, infrastructure and sanitation standards.
So for all the complaining and bewailing we do about the terrible weather, unreliable transport system, housing crisis and chart-topping homelessness levels, it seems this town of ours isn’t all that bad, after all.
According to Noel O’Connor, a consultant at Mercer Ireland “The results demonstrate that Dublin remains an attractive location for international businesses to send their employees”, and we’re hoping that it might also encourage friends and family members who have emigrated to come home…
image via istockphoto
Some of us being Dublin dwellers, we couldn’t help but gush about our top three favourite things to be found in the city right now:
1. The urban art scene
Dublin is currently enjoying an abundance of incredible street art at the moment, with new pieces cropping up at every turn and corner. These artists are making statements in beautiful, striking and thought-provoking imagery and bringing life and colour to our city on even the darkest of days. One of our current favourites is this gorgeous
2. The food
In recent years Dublin’s food offering has become a brilliant reflection of the intercultural hub that it has become.
Far from the bread and butter upon which we were raised, we now chomp on spicy Indian street food and munch on middle eastern mezzes. This is something we really shouldn’t take for granted, especially when our parents still reminisce back to the time they first saw a pineapple.
With such an abundance of choice of eateries in Dublin at the moment, naming our favourites is proving pretty tricky. However, no list of must-visit spots would be complete without Forest Avenue, Etto, Pickle and Kinara Kitchen.
3. Live music, spoken word and comedy
True to our name, us Dubs really are a bunch of storytellers, joke-sharers and music-blarers. Whelan’s is an old reliable for a steady stream of gigs and live performances, but the likes of The Bowery in Rathmines and The Sugar Club on Leeson Street are particularly piquing our interest of late; with a huge range of music, spoken word and comedy gigs on offer throughout the week.
Mian image by João Jesus from Pexels
