An address to die for
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Living in different parts of Ireland can put years on you, literally. According to no less a body than the Institute for Public Health in Ireland, Roscommon wins the watch when it comes to longevity. Here, women can expect to hold out until they are 82 and men 76.
But if green acres, fresh air and clean living are the answer, how do we account for the fact that neighbouring Leitrim fares poorest? Here, the average life expectancy for a man is just 73 years.
As to why exactly people live longer in one county than another, we are still at a loss -- although the difference can be as much as 2.5 years.
Even Dr Kevin Balanda, director of the research published by the Institute of Public Health, was unwilling to single out a reason as to why people lived longer in one location than another.
Before the boffins furnished us with this useful county-by-county guide, folk wisdom suggested that the ultimate place to live for a long and happy life had to be Kilkenny.
For as any denizen of the marble city will attest, Cats can confidently expect to enjoy a minimum of nine lives.
Women continue to hold on for an average of five years longer than men -- a fact that neatly shatters any lingering diehard chauvinistic illusions about "the weaker sex".
As Dr Balanda puts it: "Life expectancy embodies a whole lot of things"; still, it is comforting to note that the address "to die for" is not after all in leafy Dublin 4, but in rugged County Roscommon.
