According to the 2006 census figures - 20% of households in Ireland have Broadband access.
The town with the lowest broadband uptake is Castlebridge - where only 3.25% of households had broadband in May 2006.
Malahide has the biggest use of broadband - 46.34% of households have it.
It is still one of the lowest broadband penetration rates in the EU. The large rural and smaal town population still have very poor access to broadband in Ireland.
Oct 1, 2007
Jul 24, 2007
Irish Census Figures 2006
The census figures for 2006 have been broken down to show which nationalities live in the larger towns (poulation over 1500). It makes interesting reading.
Overall - 11.24% of the population are not Irish (457000 out of a pupulation of 4.06 million).
The town of Clogherhead in Louth has no Asians (but they have a Chinese restaurant?)
The town of Gort has 40% non-irish - mainly Brazilians (900 of them)
The second in the list of towns with the most immigrants is Ballyhaunis in County Mayo - 36% foreign nationals there.
The town with the least foreign nationals is Clara in Kildare - with just 5.29% (156 people) - but 45 didn't state nationality - so the figures could be wrong.
The town with the lowest number of non irish is Portrane in County Dublin - with just 88 non irish (6 people didn't state what nationality they were).
The town with the highest percentage of Asians is Ballyhaunis Co mayo (just under 10%) - the next highest is Ballaghadereen in Mayo too - with 7.5%. The presence of asylum seeker hostels in both these towns might be a contributory factor.
Overall - 11.24% of the population are not Irish (457000 out of a pupulation of 4.06 million).
The town of Clogherhead in Louth has no Asians (but they have a Chinese restaurant?)
The town of Gort has 40% non-irish - mainly Brazilians (900 of them)
The second in the list of towns with the most immigrants is Ballyhaunis in County Mayo - 36% foreign nationals there.
The town with the least foreign nationals is Clara in Kildare - with just 5.29% (156 people) - but 45 didn't state nationality - so the figures could be wrong.
The town with the lowest number of non irish is Portrane in County Dublin - with just 88 non irish (6 people didn't state what nationality they were).
The town with the highest percentage of Asians is Ballyhaunis Co mayo (just under 10%) - the next highest is Ballaghadereen in Mayo too - with 7.5%. The presence of asylum seeker hostels in both these towns might be a contributory factor.
Jul 17, 2007
WHO says Ireland is safest country in Europe
Ireland is the least violent country in Europe - based on 2005 figures - according to a new study by the World Health Organisation.
The WHO compared murder and assault rates across 27 European countries.
The Irish rate, 0.32 killings per 100,000 people, contrasted with that of Finland (1.96) and Scotland (1.75) which topped western Europe's violence blacklist.
Malta, with a rate of 0.48, was almost as peaceful as Ireland.
More recent press reports and coverage would suggest that the 2005 figures are no longer valid - a study released earlier this year showing Dublin's murder rate is increasing faster than that of any other European capital city.
At the last WHO conference on violence five years ago, Ireland's murder and assault rate was recorded at 1.13 per 100,000 population.
Irish rates have dropped in each subsequent year, culminating in the low of 0.32 recorded in 2005, the last year for which Europe-wide figures are available.
Many of the murders are confined to gangs in certain areas of Limerick and Dublin.
Scotland's murder rate, the highest in the UK, is blamed on areas of high unemployment in Glasgow, where one third of Scottish murders occur. But Scotland and Finland's murder rates are still low compared to recent EU entrants from the Baltic area.
In Estonia, it is 8.85 per 100,000, while Lithuania has 8.9 and Latvia 10.37.
This year in Ireland there seems to more reports of violence and deaths of natives of Eastern European contries living in Ireland.
The WHO compared murder and assault rates across 27 European countries.
The Irish rate, 0.32 killings per 100,000 people, contrasted with that of Finland (1.96) and Scotland (1.75) which topped western Europe's violence blacklist.
Malta, with a rate of 0.48, was almost as peaceful as Ireland.
More recent press reports and coverage would suggest that the 2005 figures are no longer valid - a study released earlier this year showing Dublin's murder rate is increasing faster than that of any other European capital city.
At the last WHO conference on violence five years ago, Ireland's murder and assault rate was recorded at 1.13 per 100,000 population.
Irish rates have dropped in each subsequent year, culminating in the low of 0.32 recorded in 2005, the last year for which Europe-wide figures are available.
Many of the murders are confined to gangs in certain areas of Limerick and Dublin.
Scotland's murder rate, the highest in the UK, is blamed on areas of high unemployment in Glasgow, where one third of Scottish murders occur. But Scotland and Finland's murder rates are still low compared to recent EU entrants from the Baltic area.
In Estonia, it is 8.85 per 100,000, while Lithuania has 8.9 and Latvia 10.37.
This year in Ireland there seems to more reports of violence and deaths of natives of Eastern European contries living in Ireland.
Jul 13, 2007
Irish Economy still looking Good?
Bank Of Ireland chief economist Dan McLaughlin said that Ireland has not lost competitiveness, and the economy is still in a period of unprecedented growth
Despite media reports of a slowdown in the housing market and a loss of national competitiveness, the most recent figures - for the first quarter of 2007 - showed that the economy was accelerating, with GDP growing by 7.5 per cent in the first three months of the year.
He said that interest rates were approaching a peak, which would result in a sharp fall in inflation next year, and the housing decline would not be as bad as had been suggested.
Dr McLaughlin said the strong pick-up in exports belied the claim the Republic was "losing competitiveness at a rapid clip".
He said wage increases and job losses did not necessarily mean that the economy had become less competitive.
Unit wage costs - or the cost of manufacturing in relation to productivity - were currently 40 per cent below where they were 10 years ago.
He said IT companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Dell, were experiencing competitive pressures on a worldwide basis - any redundancies were not necessarily the fault of Ireland.
Dr McLaughlin is forecasting that the economy will grow by 6 per cent in 2007 and by 5 per cent in 2008. The consensus forecast among economists is that growth in gross domestic product (GDP) will be lower, at 5 per cent in 2007 and 4 per cent next year.
Despite media reports of a slowdown in the housing market and a loss of national competitiveness, the most recent figures - for the first quarter of 2007 - showed that the economy was accelerating, with GDP growing by 7.5 per cent in the first three months of the year.
He said that interest rates were approaching a peak, which would result in a sharp fall in inflation next year, and the housing decline would not be as bad as had been suggested.
Dr McLaughlin said the strong pick-up in exports belied the claim the Republic was "losing competitiveness at a rapid clip".
He said wage increases and job losses did not necessarily mean that the economy had become less competitive.
Unit wage costs - or the cost of manufacturing in relation to productivity - were currently 40 per cent below where they were 10 years ago.
He said IT companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Dell, were experiencing competitive pressures on a worldwide basis - any redundancies were not necessarily the fault of Ireland.
Dr McLaughlin is forecasting that the economy will grow by 6 per cent in 2007 and by 5 per cent in 2008. The consensus forecast among economists is that growth in gross domestic product (GDP) will be lower, at 5 per cent in 2007 and 4 per cent next year.
Cost of Living in Ireland 5th in Europe
A 2006 survey of the price of basic foodstuffs and non alcoholic beverages in European countries shows that Ireland is in 5th most expensive.
The survey was published by Eurostat - the Statistical Office of the European Union. The results presented refer to the survey on food, beverages and tobacco carried out in 2006 in the 37 participating countries. This survey covered a total of approximately 500 comparable products.
The figures are expressed as the costs compared to the EU average (100)
Ireland came out as the most expensive for alcoholic drink - and the Irish still manage to get through a fair bit of it despite the price.
Iceland 164
Norway 158
Denmark 142
Switzerland 142
Ireland 125
Finland 120
Sweden 119
Italy 115
Luxembourg 115
United Kingdom 113
Belgium 110
Austria 110
Cyprus 107
Germany 105
France 105
Greece 98
Spain 92
Croatia 89
Netherlands 88
Portugal 88
Slovenia 87
Turkey 84
Malta 83
Estonia 75
Montenegro 74
Albania 72
Hungary 71
Romania 71
Bosnia-Herzegovina 71
Czech Republic 69
Latvia 69
Poland 67
Slovakia 67
Serbia 67
Lithuania 64
Bulgaria 56
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 56
The survey was published by Eurostat - the Statistical Office of the European Union. The results presented refer to the survey on food, beverages and tobacco carried out in 2006 in the 37 participating countries. This survey covered a total of approximately 500 comparable products.
The figures are expressed as the costs compared to the EU average (100)
Ireland came out as the most expensive for alcoholic drink - and the Irish still manage to get through a fair bit of it despite the price.
Iceland 164
Norway 158
Denmark 142
Switzerland 142
Ireland 125
Finland 120
Sweden 119
Italy 115
Luxembourg 115
United Kingdom 113
Belgium 110
Austria 110
Cyprus 107
Germany 105
France 105
Greece 98
Spain 92
Croatia 89
Netherlands 88
Portugal 88
Slovenia 87
Turkey 84
Malta 83
Estonia 75
Montenegro 74
Albania 72
Hungary 71
Romania 71
Bosnia-Herzegovina 71
Czech Republic 69
Latvia 69
Poland 67
Slovakia 67
Serbia 67
Lithuania 64
Bulgaria 56
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 56
Jun 20, 2007
Greens in Government in Ireland
Well - it's been a while since I posted here and we've had an election since. Not much change really - Fianna Fail are still the majority party - but they have got the Green Party in coalition with them along with the 2 Progressive Democrats and a couple of independent TD's (Dail members ) . It will be interesting to see what effect the Green Party will have on policies.
Personally - I voted Labour/Fine Gael. They had a few more "worker" and family friendly policies - and I just didn't trust some of the leading figures in the government - Mary Harney, Bertie Aherne. It could be another 5 years before we get to vote again.
Personally - I voted Labour/Fine Gael. They had a few more "worker" and family friendly policies - and I just didn't trust some of the leading figures in the government - Mary Harney, Bertie Aherne. It could be another 5 years before we get to vote again.
Feb 28, 2007
Growing drug use amongst Irish schoolgirls
A new study due to be published by the Irish Government tomorrow is reportedly set to highlight alarming levels of drug use among Irish schoolgirls.
Reports this morning say the research, entitled State of the Nation's Children, shows that 41% of 15-year-old boys and 40% of 15-year-old girls admit to using an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime.The figure is based on a European survey carried out in 2003 and represents an 8% increase for girls in the eight years since the previous survey in 1995.It also means that drugs experimentation among teenage girls in Ireland is the highest in the 36 countries involved in the study.
Reports this morning say the research, entitled State of the Nation's Children, shows that 41% of 15-year-old boys and 40% of 15-year-old girls admit to using an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime.The figure is based on a European survey carried out in 2003 and represents an 8% increase for girls in the eight years since the previous survey in 1995.It also means that drugs experimentation among teenage girls in Ireland is the highest in the 36 countries involved in the study.
Jan 22, 2007
High House Prices in Ireland
An International survey on housing affordability has rated Dublin’s housing as "seriously unaffordable", and is nearly double internationally accepted "affordable" levels.
The survey also showed that the cost, including mortgage interest, of the median priced house in Dublin has risen more than €350,000 compared to the Median Multiple in 1996. This equates to approximately six years of additional gross income for the median income household.
Overall Canada achieves the best performance, where its citizens only require 3.2 years of annual income to purchase a home. In the United States it takes 3.7 years; Britain 5.5 years; Ireland 5.7 years; and New Zealand 6 years. Australians fear the worst, crippled with the burden of 6.6 years of income on average to house themselves.
The Survey authors are Wendell Cox of the Wendell Cox Consultancy (Demographia) of metropolitan St Louis, USA and Hugh Pavletich, Pavletich Properties Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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