.....the United Kingdom, occupying the northeastern sixth of the island.  The name 'Ireland' derives from the name Ériu (in modern Irish, Éire) with the addition of the Germanic word 'land'.

The population of the island is slightly under 6 million (2006), with just over 4.2 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.6 million in Greater Dublin) and about 1.7 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast.

Ireland has the highest per capita home ownership rate in the world at .....

.....nearly 85%. The tradition in Ireland has always been to build or buy a home and live there all your life. Only since the 1990's has this "build for life" ethic started breaking down. For the first time, moving around to get better jobs and moving up to get better homes has become common.

The summary is this: the country is in the aftermath of its greatest economic boom since the first hollowed out log arrived in-country about 10 millennia ago. House prices rose accordingly. An annual immigration of 67,000 mostly affluent immigrants to Ireland boosted prices, as did two income families. Dublin sprawled outward and anyplace within an hour's drive experienced significant inflation. The rest of nation followed the upward path.

Since 1995, home prices have trebled or even quintupled. Building costs, by contrast, have risen only by 75%.  It's no wonder builders and investors swelled the building rate to nearly 80,000 units in 2004 and 2005.

Late 2005 Housing Basics:

Average Dublin house price – EUR 346,576

Average outside Dublin – EUR 224,938

There are three things underpinning this everyday-over-the-rainbow market.

Good economy – two income families are feeling secure and buying in. Anything to get a foot on the ladder.

Good interest rates – Germany and France continue to languish and the low dollar is pouring on the pressure so rates remain low in the hope of stimulating something approaching growth in the EU.

Good demographics – 50,000 immigrants in the last year and loads of youngsters hitting prime house buying age.

It is Ireland's high standard of living, high wage economy and EU membership that attract many migrants from the newest of the European Union countries: Ireland has had a significant number of Romanian immigrants since the 1990s. In recent years, mainland Chinese have been migrating to Ireland in significant numbers. Nigerians, along with people from other African countries have accounted for a large proportion of the non-European Union migrants to Ireland. After Dublin (1,661,185 in Greater Dublin), Ireland's largest city is Belfast.

The three most important international airports in the Republic are Dublin Airport, Cork International Airport and Shannon Airport. All provide extensive services to the UK and continental Europe, while Dublin and Shannon also offer a range of transatlantic services. Ireland West Airport (Knock) is designated an international airport but on a limited basis, serving mainly the UK and some charter flights to holiday destinations. The Irish national airline Aer Lingus and low-cost operator Ryanair are based at Dublin. Shannon was once an important stopover on the trans-Atlantic route for refueling operations and, with Dublin, is still one of Ireland's two designated transatlantic gateway airports. There are several smaller regional airports in the Republic: Galway Airport, Kerry Airport (Farranfore), Ireland West Airport (Knock), Sligo Airport, Waterford Airport, and Donegal Airport (Carrickfinn). Scheduled services from these regional points are mostly limited to Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, climate all year. The island is not noted for its weather extremes. The warmest recorded air temperature was 33.3°C (91.94°F) at Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny on 26 June 1887. The coldest air temperature was -19.1°C (-2.38°F) at Markree Castle, County Sligo on 16 January 1881.

Precipitation falls throughout the year, but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west, however, tends to be wetter on average and prone to the full force of Atlantic storms, more especially in the late autumn and winter months, which occasionally bring destructive winds and high rainfall totals to these areas, as well as snow and hail. The regions of North Galway and East Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually (5 to 10 days per year). Prolonged snowfall is rare, and tends to be confined to the northern half of the island. 

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