Dublin is a different animal than the rest of Ireland because the country is very centralised there (despite some efforts to combat this). It would like measur

Dublin is a different animal than the rest of Ireland because the country is very centralised there (despite some efforts to combat this). It would like measuring the average house price in the US by just measuring the BA. I can buy a house in my hometown which is well serviced by schools and more than the essentials for about €150k. The one thing that Ireland gets right is access to 3rd level education. I'm constantly floored by the amount of debt that students in North American and UK (or wherever else) pile up getting educated. I will concede that their standard of education is probably higher but, personal experience, I see very little difference in the average standard of graduate produced. Coming from a working class background, I was lucky enough to be on the grant system so would have received about €3.5k a year to attend college - it wasn't huge and I obviously had to work part time but it certainly helped. Anyway, the point I'm trying to arrive at is that the best way for a society to progress is via education and I think we're doing good (though it could be much better) at this right now.