BEST PLACE TO LIVE JUDGES PRAISE GLASLOUGH AND MONAGHAN TOWN

Waterford City has been named as Best Place to Live in Ireland 2021 – but the judges of the Irish Time competition this week showered praise on Glaslough village on its achievement in making it into the final five shortlist and Monaghan Town on achieving a top twenty placing. Waterford was the unanimous choice of the judging panel, but they emphasised that the winner beat off stiff competition from Glaslough and the other short-listed locations of Clonakilty, Co Cork, Galway City and Killarney, Co Kerry.

Among the things which impressed the judges about Waterford were its beautiful buildings, its liveability, its pedestrian friendly public space, its weather, and its easy access to the Comeragh Mountains and the Copper Coast. Monaghan was one of just four counties to have two representatives make it through to the Top 20 after a total of 470 locations were nominated by more than 2,400 people from all 32 counties for the title of ‘Best Place to Live in Ireland 2021’.

Glaslough received over 250 nominations, the second highest in the country. Chair of the judging panel Conor Goodman congratulated Co Monaghan on its fine showing in the competition. “Given the level of entries and the extremely high standard of those entries, having two locations make it to the Best 20, with one of those going on to make it into the Best 5 Places to Live in Ireland really is a wonderful achievement which I’m sure everyone in Glaslough and Monaghan is really proud of. “We were delighted with the level of interest in the competition and would like to thank everyone who nominated a place or who engaged with us on it.”

The Irish Times Best Place to Live in Ireland contest, supported by Randox Health, began in June. While the number of nominations was a factor in the selection of the top locations – Waterford received 47 – the quality of the place itself was the chief consideration. Each one of the nominated places – whether a city, town, village or suburb – was assessed on a range of criteria including: affordability; natural amenities; buildings; housing; community initiatives and spirit; presence of clubs, societies and activities; good local services; diversity; a welcome for outsiders; transport links; employment opportunities; digital links for distance working; and safety and security.