| Dublin gets mixed reviews in survey
Dublin has been named as one of the best cities in Europe for jobs but
one of the worst for housing in a new survey.
The survey looked at life in 75 European cities.
Nine in every 10 people living in the Irish capital said they were happy
living in the city but only slightly more than half think it will be a
nicer place in five years time.
The survey also found that most Dubliners are unhappy with the quality
of hospital care in the city and gave a thumbs-down for housing, noise,
dirt and how the city council spends its money.
But two-thirds feel it is a good place to get a job and eight-in-10 are
happy with the availability of cinemas, concert halls, theatres, libraries
and museums.
Internet access
Less than a half of Irish households have access to the internet despite
the number of homes with an internet connection doubling in the last five
years.
According to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO),
of those that do have a connection the vast majority are still using dial-up
rather than broadband.
The figures also showed that the percentage of mobile phone users has
also jumped dramatically in the same period to almost 85 per cent.
Census figures
New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that more than
one-in-four black people living in Ireland were born within the State,
with Co. Louth having the highest proportion of people with black ethnicity.
The figures from last year’s Census also show that one-in-three
black people in Ireland are Catholic, while a further one-in-six are Muslim,
with more than one-in-four of the Asian Irish community also Catholic.
The figures revealed that the Travelling community, which makes up 0.5
per cent of the Irish population, has a much younger age profile, with
an average age of 18 compared to a national figure of 33.
Two in every five Travellers are under the age of 15 and Tuam in Co. Galway
has the highest proportion of Travellers, followed by Longford, Birr and
Ballinasloe.
Gypsies leave
The remaining members of the Roma community who were camped out on Dublin’s
M50 roundabout have agreed to the Irish State’s offer of free flights
back to Romania.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau arrived at the camp and brought
the families to Balseskin Reception and Immigration Centre in North Dublin.
They were repatriated with around 70 other Romas who had accepted flights
home earlier in the week. |
