Facts about Ireland

Because I'm just so psyched :P

1. Average rainfall in Dublin is only 29 inches per year - half that of New York, but comparable to London, Manchester, or Seattle.

2. Average home price in Ireland is 270,000 euros, or about $400,000USD, making the Irish real-estate market the second most expensive in the world (after Japan).

3. Ireland is the second wealthiest nation in the world per-capita, trailing only Luxembourg (which shouldn't even count, since it's just a city with 200k people). The US is third.

4. Ireland's economy is the fastest growing in Europe, with the EU's lowest taxes.

5. Abortion is banned within the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK's Northern Ireland, although abortion throughout the rest of the UK is still much more restricted than in the US.

6. A grandson of an Irish national born outside Ireland is automatically an Irish citizen, while a child born within Ireland to immigrant parents is NOT a citien.

7. The President of Ireland is called An Taoiseach (pronounced tee-sach).

8. The Republic of Ireland remained neutral during World War II, mainly due to strained tensions with Britain.

9. Ireland was one of the four members of the United Kingdom along with England, Scotland, and Wales from 1800 to 1921, when most of the island (except the Northermost counties) seceded in a violent War of Independence.

10. Many western portions of Ireland still speak only Irish, and the Irish language is still the official language of the Republic of Ireland (although most speak English instead). 60,000 Irish citizens only speak Irish and 1.2 million speak Irish fluently as a second language.

11. Bono sucks. Nobody in Ireland actually likes him.

12. Ireland is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as a currency, having replaced the Irish Pound in 1999.

13. Only 4 million live in Ireland, but 70 million worldwide trace their roots back to Ireland, including 40 million Americans and 10 million New Yorkers (metro).

14. Every single US President since Gerald Ford had some amount of Irish ancestry.

15. In 1972, 12 unarmed Catholic Civil Rights Activists in Northern Ireland were shot dead by the British military. The IRA gained prominance in the aftermath of the massacre, kick-starting the "Troubles."

And with that, I think I should hold my tongue and end this post ;)