And the winner is Westport!

Westport, Co Mayo has been voted the best place to live in Ireland. Judges selected Westport as the winner out of a short list of areas in Ireland including Ardara, Killarney and Rathmines in Dublin.

People where asked to nominate the place where they lived and why it was the best place to live in Ireland, whether it a town, a city, suburb or even a rural location. The competition attracted a large audience, with over 563 people voting from all 32 countries.

The decision was made by a total of five judges, one of those being Dr Maureen who said: “We have the very happy dilemma of discovering that Ireland is just a great place.”
The five judges were: Dr Gaffney, adjunct professor of psychology and society at University College Dublin; Paul Keogh, founding partner of Paul Keogh Architects and former president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland; Gerard O’Neill, chairman of Amárach Research and a co-founder of Hireland.ie; Irish Times Environment Editor Frank McDonald; and Irish Times journalist Edel Morgan.

Everybody is excited about the news, especially John O’Callaghan who nominated Westport as the best place to live in Ireland. John expressed his joy saying: “I’m just thrilled for the town . . . but to be the first place in Ireland . . . is a really wonderful boost,” he said. “This competition is deeper . . . It goes to the heart of how rooted the people are, of how much of a community they have.”

Westport has a total population of 5,500 people who all work together to make Westport a beautiful place to live. Westport is kept clean with the help of its 97 voluntary associations who all work hard to create a fantastic place to live for both young and old.