Survey finds Irish the happiest homebirds in Europe

Irish people are the happiest with their neighbourhoods in western Europe and Cork is the best city in which to live in Ireland, according to a new European survey.

The Pfizer Healthy Neighbourhood Survey, which was released today, shows 69 per cent of Irish people are happy with the quality of the communities they live in, compared to a European average of 61 per cent.

A number of factors are taken into account when determining the quality of a community, including environment, health services, community support, local amenities and safety. The survey was conducted among over 11,200 people in 112 urban and rural areas in nine European countries.

It found that people living in rural areas around Cork were the happiest of those surveyed in Ireland, followed by people in the hinterland of Dublin, Cork urban dwellers and residents of the capital.

Dublin won the best overall capital city in western Europe to live in.

Britain and France were joint second behind Ireland, with a 66 per cent satisfaction rating. Greeks were the unhappiest people in Europe, with only 46 per cent saying their home has what it takes to be a happy neighbourhood. Italians were slightly ahead at 54 per cent, with Norwegians at 55 per cent.

The Irish have the greatest sense of community support (77 per cent) and community safety at74 per cent. The Germans are most satisfied with their local environment (70 per cent), while Belgians registered Europe's highest levels of satisfaction with their local health services at 70 per cent. They also reported a 65 per cent rate of contentment with everyday amenities, the highest of those surveyed.

Overall, respondents from the rural areas outside of Antwerp are the most satisfied in Europe, while residents from Antwerp city are the most satisfied urban dwellers in Europe.

Belfast was the winner of Best City in the UK award, followed by Cardiff and Glasgow. Residents of rural Lothian (excluding Edinburgh) in Scotland were the most satisfied across the UK,closely followed by the rural areas around Belfast.