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IRELAND HAS DROPPED three places on a list that seeks to rank the “best countries” in the world.
Ireland came in 21st place in the annual survey which is carried out by US News & World Report, Y&R’s BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
The overall winner in the list was Switzerland which came in ahead of Canada, the UK, Germany and Japan.
The survey ranked 80 countries across a range of categories before making the overall list.
The 20 categories included areas like adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage and raising children.
Out of all the categories, Ireland’s best results were in the categories marked ‘best countries to travel alone’, where we came in 9th place, and ‘best countries for raising kids’, where we were 12th.
Interestingly given the focus on in it, Ireland performed poorly in terms of being a good destination for international students.
Ireland was ranked in 47th in the ‘study abroad’ category, our second lowest ranking behind ‘power’ where we were 51st.
In its overview of Ireland, the survey makes reference to the country’s economic reliance on foreign multinationals and the historic influence of the Catholic Church:
Long considered a traditional, even conservative society, Ireland’s social norms are evolving, causing clashes between younger generations and the Roman Catholic Church. In 2015, Ireland became the first nation to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote.
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Just as well they don’t take health care into consideration when conducting these surveys
@cryptoskitzo:
Ireland spends the second highest amount in the world on health, after the US.
The problem with making stuff up like that is people can just google it and see by OCED stats US, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands and Germany all outspend Ireland considerably on health care per capita.
And if you look at just public spending and exclude private another half dozen countries Japan, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark… all outspend Ireland per capita.
@Drew TheChinaman :):
Nope. You need to include all forms of health spending, public and private, and produce a per capita number.
@Fred Jensen:
Remember countries like Norway, Sweden, Germany have almost zero private health spending.
Drew doesn’t need to do anything, you’re the one who made the claim. Back it up?
@cryptoskitzo: Or the role of the CC and the State who facilitated the evil of so many twisted creatures who inflicted sadistic horror against other vulnerable human beings.
@cryptoskitzo: Ask anyone who worked / lived in German speaking country and you’ll find they did not like it. It surprised me for the first or second time but seems to be general rule. Unless Irish just love to live in Ireland ??
@Fred Jensen:
You also need to adjust the figures of spending in ireland – its called “purchasing power parity” – that means we spend less , but because everything is so cheap here ( I kid you not) they inflate the figures.
If you multiply the OECD per capita figure by 4.6 million the spend is over 20 billion!
Now that’s different you said spending…. your article says spending RATIO.
On a € per person basis we spend less than 6 counties based on public and private, based on just public 12 countries outspend us. They have higher GDPs and collect more tax so as a percentage of those their health spending is less.
@Drew TheChinaman :):
Yeah, its the spending ratio. Given that we have a higher GDP per capita than almost every other country in the OECD, then if our ratio of health spending as a % of GDP is second highest, then the absolute amount we spend per capita must be second highest as well. Get it?
Almost every other country*…
*except for Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, United States, Austria, Japan and Netherlands.
@Drew TheChinaman :):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Wrong, Ireland is ahead of all the countries you mentioned (including Norway, which even surprised me).
@Fred Jensen:
According to the latest figures Ireland is 15 th by GDP. Thats why these figures are meaningless.
@Fred Jensen:
And 18th looking at public spend alone @6.2% of GDP
12th place in the ‘best place for raising kids’ category – they mustn’t have watched any Irish news when they were doing their study.
Only baptised ones from married couples
Or unborn ones.
We have a great spirit and dont take ourselves seriously and have great artistry and a warm welcome. After that, theres nothing ‘great’ about the country as it stands. Crisis after crisis, shameful revelations after shameful revelations, homeless families, high suicide rates, single homeless dying in doorsteps…..
Click bait desperation.
Was Ireland a good country for the mothers and babies in mother and babies home?
Is Ireland a good place to be a child sufferer of scoliosis or cystic fibrosis?
Is Ireland a good place to be a whistleblower?
Is Ireland a good place to have to rely on the Irish healthcare system?
Is Ireland a good country to be a homeless child in?
Is Ireland a good country to be a victim of a crisis pregnancy?
Is Ireland a good country to be a victim if rape or incest?
Is Ireland a good country to be a disabled child victim of sexual abuse?
I have another 24 questions but you get my drift?
@Tony Daly: I would add , is Ireland a good country to be an honest person believing in scientific ways to measure and plan our future?
Must have had a brown envelope exchanged to put Ireland as high as 21st place!
Not bad for a country that’s apparently not even a country eh ? ha !
Came 1st I bet in having gombeens running the country
@Kevin Moylan: I think you’ll find that is actually gombeens electing gombeens to run the country
Having a crap water system which is leaking badly probably brought us down the list. Maybe we should invest in the water system, maybe everyone could give a few quid a month to improve it and get us up that list.
@Mark O’Connor: This ad has come to you courtesy of Irish Water and Fine Gael.
Not bad for a country that’s apparently not even a country eh ? ha !
What is wrong with these people, the United Kingdom is not a country
Any hope that we would maintain our good status ended when we deluded ourselves into believing we can power our factories, homes and offices from the wind. It is technically impossible but being pushed ahead anyway. It can only end in tears and Colm McCarthy has said the same in the Farmer’s Journal.
Most investment cash is going that way and it can only be repaid by higher electricity bills. Investment will flee. Welcome to Ireland of the poor.
This survey is conducted with 21,000 people across the world and it is their “perception” of each specific country that is ‘measured’ against 65 items. It is unlikely that many of the raters have actually been to anymore than a handful of the 80 countries listed. The fact that China scores above Ireland tells you how credible this survey is.
‘Causing clashes between younger generations and the Roman Catholic Church’!! What year in the 70′s/early 80′s was this poll taken? Another stereotypcial load of sh_te
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