Quote from: Joey Terrifying on October 01, 2012, 02:29 pmQuote from: grahamgreene on October 01, 2012, 12:46 amAh yes, I forgot, Ireland is a terribly backwards place with a higher crime rate than the city of London. You need to re-examine your crime stats or else take a trip over here. :Pi think you missed my point: she can't find work or a place to stay in a big mega-metropolis and wants to leave it for a small, old-timey seaside fishing state that has only a couple cities sized small/medium which are depraved, depressed, mob-run ghettos.i've been to all four places in question and i think the comparison was an accurate one.I don't think I missed your point at all; you're implying that Ireland is similar to Rhode Island, stating that it's cities are depraved, depressed, mob-run ghettos. ??? There are no "mob" type gangs over here, and certainly no organised crime syndicates. The "Irish mob" are, funnily enough, almost entirely exclusive to the US. There are drug gangs, of course, but they keep to themselves as much as possible (except for the odd murder over turf) and certainly have no control over any cities, and only minor influence over small neighbourhoods in which they themselves live - mostly because that neighbourhood consists nearly entirely of gang members and their relatives. These areas are limited to small parts of Dublin, and one specific area in Limerick. They are not 'lawless' areas though - crime is actually very low in these areas due to the large police presence.I think you'll find that criminal gangs have much more success and power in larger cities such as London, New York, Chicago etc. There are only 5 cities in Ireland; Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Of these 5 cities, Dublin is the only one with a population of over 1 million, with Cork (the next largest city) having a population of just 198,500. The smallest city is Waterford with a population of 51,500.Ireland is not a 'fishing state', it is a knowledge-based economy centered around the service and technology industries. In fact a 2005 study by "The Economist" found Ireland to have the best quality of life in the world, a finding which directly contradicts your statement.As someone that lives here, as opposed to just visiting, I can tell you that your comparison between Ireland and a state that "is either depraved, mafia controlled ghettos or little fishing villages" is completely inaccurate.The reason that the person in question cannot find work or a place to stay in a mega-metropolis is because a) they aren't willing to take any job that comes up, or b) because any job that they can find won't afford them a high enough wage to be able to find a place to stay given the higher rents charged in a large city as opposed to lower rents charged in a smaller city / suburban town.- grahamgreene