Best Places in Ireland

Tidy Towns 2010

Tidy Towns Competition 2010
Kilkenny city was named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban this year with the judges noting that it was “hard to find fault” with the city.
Killarney, Co Kerry, was deemed Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town for 2010

The recent IBAL table of Litter though- had Kilkenny at 22 and  Killarney at 7  – with Wexford coming out the best. The criteria must be different – and only towns that enter are judged.

The regional Tidy Town awards went to Skerries, Co Dublin; Ennis, Co Clare; Tallanstown, Co Louth; Letterkenny, Co Donegal; Emly, Co Tipperary; Killarney, Co Kerry; and Westport, Co Mayo.

Th overall winner was Tallanstown in Louth – who won  for the first time in its 26 years entering the competition

IBAL Litter League Table 2010

IBAL – The Irish Business Against Litter – have released their latest results on the litter in  50 towns and cities in Ireland.

Wexford came out as the cleanest place out of the 50 places in the survey – with Tallaght coming out as the worst Litter Blackspot.
Of course – there could be towns cleaner than Wexford and just as dirty as Tallaght – but only towns with populations over 6000 are included.

Here is the full table of rankings  released in August 2010

1 Wexford Clean to European Norms

2 Longford Clean to European Norms

3 Blanchardstown Clean to European Norms

4 Drogheda Clean to European Norms

5 Carlow Clean to European Norms

6 Trim Clean to European Norms

7 Killarney Clean to European Norms

8 Clonmel Clean to European Norms

9 Ballincollig Clean to European Norms

10 Lucan Clean to European Norms

11 Sligo Clean to European Norms

12 Ennis Clean to European Norms

13 Fermoy Clean to European Norms

14 Dungarvan Clean to European Norms

15 Letterkenny Clean to European Norms

16 Kildare Clean to European Norms

17 Waterford City Clean to European Norms

18 Cavan Clean to European Norms

19 Dun Laoghaire Clean to European Norms

20 Dundalk Clean to European Norms

21 Bray Clean to European Norms

22 Kilkenny Clean to European Norms

23 Tullamore Clean to European Norms

24 Tralee Clean to European Norms

25 Ballinasloe Clean to European Norms

26 Arklow Clean to European Norms

27 Mallow Clean to European Norms

28 Galway City Moderately Littered

29 Dublin City Moderately Littered

30 Newcastlewest Moderately Littered

31 Enniscorthy Moderately Littered

32 Swords Moderately Littered

33 Tramore Moderately Littered

34 Roscommon Moderately Littered

35 Mullingar Moderately Littered

36 Cork City Moderately Littered

37 Youghal Moderately Littered

38 Cobh Moderately Littered

39 Navan Moderately Littered

40 Tuam Moderately Littered

41 Wicklow Moderately Littered

42 Ballina Moderately Littered

43 Nenagh Moderately Littered

44 Newbridge Littered

45 Castlebar Littered

46 New Ross Littered

47 Monaghan Littered

48 Athlone Littered

49 Limerick City Littered

50 Midleton Seriously Littered

51 Naas Seriously Littered

52 Portlaoise Litter Blackspot

53 Tallaght Litter Blackspot

Top 20 Secondary Schools in Ireland

According to the Sunday Times – these are the top 20 secondary schools in Ireland.
They base their results on the numbers of students gaining places in autumn 2008 and 2009 at one of the nine universities on the island of Ireland, main teacher training colleges, Royal College of Surgeons, National College of Art and Design or any English,Welsh or Scottish university or equivalent.

This may not be the best measure of school performance – but since the Irish government and the Irish teachers don’t want to publish exam results or carry out proper inspections with meaningful comparable results – these figures are all we have.

Top 20 Schools

1  Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin
2  Colaiste Iosagain, Booterstown, Co Dublin
3  Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co Limerick
4  Mount Anville Secondary School, Goatstown, Dublin 14 G
5  The Teresian School, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
6  Loreto College, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
7  Holy Child Secondary School, Killiney, Co Dublin G
8  Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ, Sth Circular Rd, Limerick G
9  Alexandra College, Milltown, Dublin 6
10  Scoil Mhuire, Sydney Place, Cork
11  Colaiste Eoin, Booterstown, Co Dublin B
12  Clongowes Wood College, Naas, Co Kildare B
13  Jesus&Mary Secondary School, Salthill, Galway G
14  Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Cork B
15  St Gerard’s, Bray, Co Wicklow M
16  Muckross Park College, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 G 7
17  Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, Co Tipperary G
18  Loreto High School, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 G
19  St Andrew’s College, Blackrock, Co Dublin M
20  St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School, Killiney,

Cleanest and Dirtiest Towns Ireland

Yet another litter survey by  IBAL  . The 2009 results were released today (Jan 4th 2010)  The  litter survey covers 60 towns with  over 6,000 population . Sites are graded by An Taisce according to international standards.

The cleanest town was Bray – whilst the two dirtiest were Limerick and Wicklow.

IBAL Anti Litter League Final Results 2009

1 Bray

2 Cavan

3 Drogheda

4 Clonmel

5 Longford

6 Wexford

7 Carlow

8 Sligo

9 Celbridge

10 Blanchardstown

11 Ballincollig

12 Dundalk

13 Mullingar

14 Trim

15 Portlaoise

16 Navan

17 Roscommon

18 Dún Laoghaire

19 Tramore

20 Shannon

21 Killarney

22 Leixlip

23 Dungarvan

24 Ballina

25 Castlebar

26 Kilkenny

27 Fermoy

28 Swords

29 Balbriggan

30 Newbridge

31 Newcastlewest

32 Midleton

33 Ashbourne

34 Thurles

35 Enniscorthy

36 Youghal

37 Monaghan

38 Lucan

39 Cobh

Moderately Littered

40 Waterford City

41 Buncrana

42 Tullamore

43 Arklow

44 Gorey

45 Galway

46 Ennis

47 Tuam

48 Tralee

49 New Ross

Littered

50 Cork City

51 Dublin City

52 Naas

53 Nenagh

Seriously Littered

54 Ballinasloe

55 Tallaght

56 Letterkenny

57 Athlone

58 Mallow

Litter Blackspots

59 Wicklow

60 Limerick City

Top 20 Schools South Dublin 2008

Based on 2008 figures for entry into third level in Ireland – these are the 20 best secondary schools in South Dublin. This League Table was compiled by the Sunday Times newspaper in 2009 and is based on the percentage of Leving Cert students going on to third level in Ireland. It probably isn’t the best way of assessing a school – but it is the only one available in the absence of any government statistics on exam results .

G=Girls School ; B= Boys School; M= Mixed
Figures = % admitted to third level education in Ireland.

1 The Teresian School, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 G    100%
2 Mount Anville Secondary School,  Dublin 14 G   97.9%
3 Colaiste Eoin, Booterstown, Co Dublin B   97.2%
4 Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 B   96.6%
5 Colaiste Iosagain, Booterstown, Co Dublin G   95.5%
6 Loreto College, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 G   83.0%
7 Muckross Park College, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 G   81.1%
8 St Joseph of Cluny, Killiney, Co Dublin G  80.0%
9 Alexandra College, Milltown, Dublin 6 G   78.5%
10 Loreto College, Foxrock, Dublin 18 G  77.7%
11 Holy Child Secondary School,Killiney, G  75.8%
12 The High School, Rathgar, Dublin 6 M   75.4%
13 Rosemont School, Blackrock, Co Dublin G  75.0%
14 St Michael’s College, Ailesbury Rd, Dublin 4 B 72.1%
15 Loreto High School, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 G   70.5%
16 Mount Sackville Secondary School,Chapelizod, G    69.2%
17 St Andrew’s College, Blackrock, Co Dublin M    67.3%
18 Blackrock College, Blackrock, Co Dublin B    65.9%
19 St Conleth’s College, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 M   65.1%
20 Sandford Park School, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 B   63.4%

Irish Towns on Tripadvisor

This site has started some discussion on a Tripadvisor Forum. See  Here
Nice to see some people looking at the site. Just to confirm – this site uses Census 2006 data mainly but is in no way connected with the CSO.
The compilation of the best and worst towns was carried out using certain data from the census . There are probably many other statistics that could be used to get a fuller more accurate picture- (if they were available) – but the census data was all that was used.
The chart is probably more of a measure of the wealth or affluence of a town rather than trying to be an accurate measure of the quality of life in these towns.

Cleanest and Dirtiest Towns in Ireland

The  IBAL released details of its final 2008 anti-litter survey of 55 Irish towns and cities which show a record 36 towns are now classed as “litter free”.Ireland’s cleanest town will be announced today from the top five who head the current league table — Cavan, Dungarvan, Fermoy, Howth and Sligo.

Cobh in Co Cork was branded the country’s dirtiest town — firmly rooted to the bottom of the league table along with Tullamore and the seaside town of Bray with all three described as “seriously littered”.

Only 50 towns were included in this survey –

Bucks of Oranmore

Oranmore – as made famous in the song “The Galway Shawl” came fifth in our league table of the BEST towns in Ireland to live.
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. This is not intended as a tourist guide – just an indication of the best towns to live in.
At the 2006 census – the population of Oranmore was just 3513 .
Many of the residents probably work in Galway City and the  unemployment rate in Oranmore was only 4.56% – which is below  the national average in Ireland of 5.89%
In Oranmore – only 1.51% of the workforce are unable to work because of disability or ill health – which is well below the Irish census average of 4.71% .

Most workers in Oranmore are are employed in technical or professional jobs (24% of the workforce)
Lone parents- make up 12.22% of households in Oranmore – this is two thirds of the national average which is 19.29%.

Housing: Local Authority rented homes make up just 1.3% of the dwelling units in Oranmore. This is about an eighth of the average for Irish towns of 9.06.
Rented homes in Oranmore make up 30% of all homes in the town – which is just over the national average of 28.1%.
Of the homes in Oranmore – 14.5% are owned outright – with no mortgage outstanding – This is half the average for Ireland as a whole which is 28%. This is due to the mostly new homes and yoiunger occupants. In Oranmore the population ages 24 to 44 makes up 48.73% of the population – this is well above the Irish population as a whole which is 34% in that age group.
Central Heating is not installed in 6.64% of dwellings in Oranmore – which is a lot better than the national average of 10.2%.

Information Technology. : 63.18% of households own personal computers in Oranmore – compared to 53.3% nationally. Broadband connections were at 27.8% in Oranmore in 2006 . This is about 30% over the national avearge which was a poor 20.18% .  41% of homes had no internet access at all in Oranmore – compared to the national average of 51%

Education : Education levels of Oranmore residents is the best in Ireland . This doesn’t mean the schools are the best – just that people who live here or moved here for work have a good education . In Oranmore just 4.64% of the people were only educated to primary school level or had no formal education at all. This is way below he national average of 16.72%.  People with a third level degree or a higher qualification – make up 38.35% of the Oranmore workforce – which is the highest in any Irish town. and over double the national average of 16.57%.
Community involvement in Oranmore is about the same as the average for the country – 15.9% of the over 15s said they carried out some sort of voluntary work.

The percentage of people with a disability in Oranmore is below the national average of 9.8% at 5%.

Top Ten Cleanest Places in Ireland June 2008

 A Litter League of all towns with more than 6000 population in Ireland had the 1st round of results published today.

The top 10 towns were

1 Ennis
2 Greystones
3 Fermoy
4 Portlaoise
5 Howth
6 Dungarvan
7 Dundalk
8 Letterkenny
9 Thurles
10 Clonmel

The litter figures are produced by ” Irish Business Against Litter ” – an alliance of companies sharing a belief that continued economic prosperity – notably in the areas of tourism, food and direct foreign investment – is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment.
As part of the IBAL Anti-Litter League, An Taisce monitors all towns of population 6,000 and over, independently in accordance with international grading standards.

Greystones makes top Five Towns in Ireland

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%.