Darragh's Soapbox: Is Waterford the best place to live?

County Waterford recently came out on top in an overall ranking of the best place to live in Ireland.

According to the Ireland Liveability Index (ILI), published last week, Waterford is one of the sunniest counties in the country, has reasonably priced housing, is in the top 10 of the most scenic counties, and its inhabitants have ideal access to city facilities.

The ILI ascribed scores to each of the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland for the parameters that will influence a person's decision on the location of their ideal home.

The parameters included house prices, sunshine, proximity to a city and natural amenity or scenery.

We asked locals in the city centre this week if they agreed with the study's findings.

Local tour guide Jamie Murphy said that tourists fall in love with Waterford when they visit.

"I find the people who come here from all over the world are amazed with Waterford. 

"People who come on the tours love the history we have here, because it is unbelievable. 

"We also have so much to do here, between the history and the beaches, you wouldn't get it anywhere else and I also think the North Quays will make a big difference, because infrastructure is currently the biggest problem, but other than that I'd have to agree that Waterford is the best place to live."

Kevin Daly said that there are positives and negatives to living in Waterford.

"I think we should highlight the great things about Waterford, but also the negatives. There's no doubt there's good things about Waterford, and there's bad stuff too, and if we hide the bad stuff we're just undermining the issues and they won't get solved."

Gary Kenneally added:

"As a filmmaker, you can shoot scenes in Waterford that you can only dream of. There are locations here that a Hollywood studio would kill for, but we have it all here."