Great place to live if you have a place to live
DUBLIN is one of the best cities in the EU to work and live - if you already have a home or place to stay. But despite a wide open job market, which puts it near the top of the list for employment opportunities, finding affordable accommodation is next to impossible, according to a major EU survey just published.
Dublin finds itself in the same position as London - easy to find work, but impossible to find somewhere that you can afford to rent or buy.
Only one-twentieth of Dubliners and just over one-tenth of Londoners said they were quite happy and able to find somewhere "reasonably priced".
Two-thirds of Dubliners and just over half of Londoners said good jobs were there to be had. The EU survey of 70 cities in the 27 EU countries found it to be a Europe-wide problem - of varying degrees of seriousness - in all but eleven cities.
Overall, Dublin comes out second worst in Europe - just behind Paris - in terms of affordable or available accommodation.
Some 94pc of Dubliners and 95pc of Parisians said they could not easily find good quality housing at reasonable prices. But the two capitals part company on the question of quality healthcare services.
More than half of Dubliners contacted for the poll said they were unhappy with hospital services but more said they were satisfied with the level of care and service they got from their GPs.
The vast majority (94pc) of Dubliners quizzed said they were happy living in the capital and 85pc of them said that they felt safe in the city.
But a smaller proportion (56pc) believed it will be as nice or more pleasant to live in thecapital five years from now.
Noise and dirt are seen as big problems that take away from the city, with less than one-third of people describing Dublin as "a clean city".
Most are unhappy with their local authorities but happy enough with their city's sports and cultural facilities: 86pc are happy with the availability of concert halls, theatres, libraries and museums, while 83pc are happy with the number of cinemas in Dublin and 66pc satisfied with the level of internet access available to them at home.
In the UK, 50pc of Geordies, in Newcastle, said they could find good housing, compared with 41pc in Manchester, 38pc in Glasgow, just 30pc in Belfast, which has been enjoying a property boom, 28pc inCardiff and just 11 pc in London.
Good jobs were felt to be readily available in all those cities, according to 51pc in London and Cardiff, 49pc in Manchester, 46pc in Glasgow, 39pc in Newcastle and 38pc in Belfast.
- Bernard Purcell
