Going across the sea to Ireland

Telegraph | Property | Why we're going across the sea to Ireland: "The Irish republic seems to offer everything that England lacks: low crime, quiet roads, friendly people ? and the best quality of life in the world. No wonder so many English people are relocating there, says Thomas Harding
Ireland, according to a quality of life survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, is the best country in the world in which to live. The English, it seems, didn't need to be told this: already, a small army of them - from London and the South-East, in particular - have upped roots and started new lives in the west of the country.

In Co Kerry: 'it's been a non-stop stream of people, mainly from the south and south-east of England'

Following in the well-heeled footsteps of scores of actors, musicians, writers and film-makers - to whom Ireland gives significant tax breaks - the new ?migr?s ignore sarcastic sniggers from those who point to the grey skies, the corrupt politicians and crumbling moral authority of the Roman Catholic church.
They come to enjoy Ireland's negligible rural crime, its space, excellent education system, open roads and friendly welcome. They leave behind, they say, a country where people barely bother to speak to one another and where children require a constant escort.
While the Irish have enjoyed the benefits of a blossoming economy since the Eighties, they have also, without self-consciousness, retained much of their tradition and culture. In any town, in any part of Ireland, you will find a pub where two or three musicians thump away on hand-drums, fiddles and guitars, heartily singing old songs before getting down to Guinness and the reflective or sparkling conversatio"