Irish Towns Guide

Greystones came fifth in our league table of the BEST towns in Ireland .
Our top 20 chart was based on census figures from 2006 and was compiled using statistics on Education, Housing, Lone Parents, IT, Unemployment to analyse all the towns. Only towns with populations over 1500 were included.At the 2006 census - the population of Greystones was 14569 .The unemployment rate in Greystones was 3.1% - almost half the national average in Ireland of 5.89%
In Greystones - only 2.22% of the workforce are unable to work because of disability or ill health - which is again under half the national average of 4.71% .

Most workers in Greystones are are employed in management or clerical jobs (27% of the workforce)
Lone parents- make up 15.81% of all households in Greystones - this is just below the national average which is 19.29%

Housing: Local Authority rented homes make up 4.64% of the dwelling units in Greystones about half of the average for Irish towns of 9.06% of Council houses.

Rented homes in Greystones make up 15.86% of all homes in the town - which is just over half of the national average of 28.1%.
More than a quarter of all homes (27.56%) in Greystones are owned outright - with no mortgage outstanding - This is similar to the average for Ireland as a whole which is 28%.Central Heating is not installed in just 4.85% of dwellings in Greystones - which is better than the national average of 10.2%.

Information Technology. : 72% of households own personal computers in Greystones - compared to 53.3% nationally. Broadband connections were at 36.3% in Greystones in 2006 about 75% above the national average which was a fairly poor 20.18% .
33% of homes had no internet access at all in Greystones - compared to the national average of 51%.
Education : Just 8.24% of the people living in Greystones were only educated to primary school level or had no formal education at all. This is half the national average of 16.72%. eople with a third level degree or a higher qualification - make up 33% of the Greystones workforce - which is more than double the national average of 16.57%.

Community involvement in Greystones is above the average for the country - 19% of the over 15s said they carried out some sort of voluntary work.The percentage of people with a disability in Greystones is below the national average of 9.8% at 8.6%.

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Annacotty came fourth in our league table of the BEST towns in Ireland .
Our chart is based on census figures from 2006 and was compiled using statistics on Education, Housing, Lone Parents, IT, Unemployment . Only towns with populations over 1500 were included.At the 2006 census - the population of Annacotty was 1839 .The unemployment rate in Annacotty was just 2%- well below the national average in Ireland of 5.89%
In Annacotty - 8.53% of the workforce are unable to work because of disability or ill health - which is almost double the national average of 4.71% .

Most workers in Annacotty are are employed in professional or technical jobs (33.14% of the workforce).
Lone parents- make up only 8.27% of all households in Annacotty - this is under half of the national average which is 19.29%

Housing: Local Authority rented homes make up only 1.1% of the dwelling units in Annacotty the third lowest in the country and way below the average of 9.06% of Council houses.Rented homes in Annacotty make up 22.92% of all homes in the town - which is 20% below the national average of 28.1%.
Just 15.2% of houses in Annacotty are owned outright - with no mortgage outstanding - well below the average for Ireland as a whole which is 28%.

Central Heating is installed in 98.6% of all dwellings in Annacotty - which is higher than the national average of 89.8%.

Information Technology. : 73% of households own personal computers in Annacotty - compared to 53.3% nationally. Broadband connections were at 35% in Annacotty in 2006 about 75% above the national avearge which was a poor 20.18% .
37.665% of homes had no internet access at all in Annacotty - compared to the national average of 51%

Education : Annacotty residents are quite well educated - 13.3% of the people living in Annacotty - were only educated to primary school level or had no formal education at all. This is better than the national average of 16.72%. People with a third level degree or a higher qualification - make up 37% of the Annacotty workforce - which is more than double the national average of 16.57%.

Community involvement in Annacotty is average for the country - 15.4% of the over 15s said they carried out some sort of voluntary work.The percentage of people with a disability in Annacotty is above the national average of 9.8% at 12.9%.

See the list of best and worst locations in Ireland Here 

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The following Irish towns have levels of THM’s which are above the current standard in the Drinking Water Regulations. These standards are being made more strict from Dec 2008 - to 100 migro grams per litre - so these water supplies will be well above the safe levels unless something is done to rectify things.  The politicians seem to be keeping quiet about this recent news from the Irish EPA )Environmental Protection Agency) .

Ennis
Ennistymon
Ballintra
Ballinasloe
Gort
Inishere
Killimor
Kinvara
Loughrea
Roundstone
Spiddal
Dingle
Clogh-Castlecomer
Inistioge
Mountmellick
Kiltimagh
East Meath
Trim
Killarney

THMs  are Cancer Group B carcinogens (shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals). Trichloromethane (chloroform) is by far the most common in most water systems. Dibromochloromethane is the most serious cancer risk, (0.6 ug/l to cause a 10-6 cancer risk increase) followed in order by Bromoform (4 ug/l), and Chloroform (6 ug/l).

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Galway residents had to suffer months of having to buy bottled water because of Cryptosporidium in their water supply for a large part of 2007. Several people became ill because of the poor water quality and tourism was badly affected. The bad news is that it could get worse for many other Irish towns.The following towns are some of the larger ones in Ireland where drinking water supplies have been identified by the Environmental Protection agency as needing improvements because thay have inadequate treatment for Cryptosporidium. (Over 184 thousand people are supplied by these sub standard water schemes).

Letterkenny
Clonmel
Kells
Oldcastle
Tipperary
Carrick-on-Suir
Castletownbere
Moate
Kenmare
Ballinalee
Edgeworthstown
Rathdrum
Graigue
Castlegregory
Rosmuc
Cleggan
Claddaghduff
Cong
Sneem

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E Coli in the Water Supply  in Several Irish Towns
A recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that there are a few places in Ireland with E Coli in the drinking water . E Coli is usually derived from faeces - human or animal - and can cause severe illness and possibly death .

According to the EPA - the following large towns water supplies  “failed to meet E.coli standard as reported in the Drinking Water Report and need investigation and improvement if necessary - to ensure that the root cause of the problem has been rectified.”
Waterford City
Athlone
New Ross
Swinford

There were many other smaller water schemes that failed the  E Coli tests including

Lanesboro , Inishmore, Mullenbawn, Leap ,Ball ,Clarinbridge ,Kilcolgan
Boyle Ardcarne Avoca Templemore Pettigo Ballingeary Drimoleague Gowna
Rahan Craughwell Omeath Donoughmore Kilbritten Kiltealy Adrigole Ballinaclose
Kilconell Clare Island Keadue

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