Ireland is the third largest island in Europe. It consists of Northern Ireland - which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland � which is certainly not part of the United Kingdom, however is considered part of the �British Isles� (but you probably shouldn�t say that here!).
The country�s flag consists of the green, white, and orange. The green symbolizes Catholics, the orange symbolizes Protestants, and the white symbolizes a lasting truce between the two �sides�. The Catholic-Protestant clashes in the Republic of Ireland are pretty much unheard of these days, however in Northern Ireland, particularly around the capital city, Belfast, tensions sometimes arise � with discrimination, vandalism, violence and even death as a result.
The entire island is populated by around 6 million people � with nearly 2 in Northern Ireland, and just over 4 in the Republic. The City of Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland, and has a population of around 1.6 million. The city is built at the mouth of the River Liffey along Dublin Bay, just north of the Wicklow Mountains � which, as you could imagine, makes for quite a unique and picturesque setting.
In terms of climate, Dublin is very similar to Victoria � with mild, wet winters and warm, pleasant summers. I did a bit of research, and discovered that Dublin gets about 20% less rain than Victoria, however Dublin has around 30% fewer hours of direct sunlight. Nevertheless, Dublin has a very comfortable climate. The lowest temperature ever recorded here was -12�c, while the hottest was 33�c...probably quite comparable with Victoria�s records. When I lived in Halifax, I think the coldest day was -30�c with the wind-chill, while Dubai got up to 48�c!!
Dublin is supposedly the 6th best city in Europe to live in, and the 22nd best city in the world (scoring about the same number of �points� as Montreal�and far surpassing the likes of San Francisco, Paris, Singapore, London, New York, Seattle, Brisbane, or Barcelona - yet well behind Vancouver, which ranked third!!
However, according to this survey, Dublin is also the 13th most expensive city in the world�ranking immediately behind New York! Dubai, interestingly, was the world's 26th most expensive city, but ranked much lower in terms of quality of life!
Dublin is quite a multicultural city, particularly in the last ten years as the Irish economy has been transformed. The city is rapidly changing, with cranes all over the city skyline. If I hadn�t just come from Dubai, I would have been very impressed by it all! One of Dublin�s nicknames is �the Celtic Tiger� to reflect its booming economy, while its �national bird� is joked to be the crane!
According to a survey just released (July 2006) by the Bank of Ireland, the country is the second wealthiest (after Japan) of the OECD nations (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development � which is an international organisation of developed countries �that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy�). These nations include the likes of Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Australia, etc.
In another 2006 survey (citymayors.com), Dubliners were found to be the 4th highest-paid workers in the world, just above the world's three big stock market cities of New York, London, and Toyko. Interestingly, Dubai rated number 31 (lower than Toronto, which ranked #17)...probably because of the horrendous amounts of cheap/slave labour Dubai uses.
With all the wealth, a large number of immigrants (such as yours truly) have come to Dublin for work. I just read a website that said there are around 160 nationalities represented in Dublin, which is twice as many as in Dubai � which too is considered a very multicultural city. The largest group of immigrants living in Dublin are from Poland, followed (in no particular order) by Italians, Russians, Spanish, Romanians, Indians, Nigerians, Chinese, and Filipinos.
Most Dubliners, regardless of their ethnicity, are super-friendly, have a good sense of humour, and are very easy-going and laid back. It�s a very young population here too. About 50% of Dublin residents are under 30 years of age!
The city has three major universities (each about the size of the University of Victoria or Dalhousie University in Halifax), and about a dozen other colleges and higher-learning technological institutions, etc. Ireland�s two official languages are English and Gaelic, with all Irish students required to learn both in elementary and high school. Gaelic, by the way, was just announced to become an official European Union language in 2007!
The city has an amazing array of tourist attractions, heritage buildings, historic sites, ethnic cuisines, pedestrianized shopping and nightlife districts, as well as recreational activities in the surrounding areas like golfing, fishing, surfing, camping, mountain climbing, etc�a lot like Vancouver Island in many ways. Dublin of course is also a center for music and culture, and is where one of my favourite bands started out, U2. According to one website I visited, Dublin attracts 5 million tourists per year, which compares to 2 million per year who visit Victoria.
Now, they say that pictures are worth a thousand words, so to get a better feel for Dublin, go to the Photo Gallery next!
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