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The Daily PollTODAY, POPE FRANCIS is to create five new saints. Among them a British Cardinal who helped found UCD.
In the Catholic church, new saints must have two “miracles” to their names — usually scientifically inexplicable healings attributed to prayers .
Prayers to saints are common and most major religions have some form of prayer as part of their worship.
So, regardless of your religious persuasion or what you consider a prayer to be, is it something you do?
Poll: Do you pray?
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I may be biased here, but Ireland is the best country in the world! Never a dull moment.
Financial regulation certainly never has a dull moment!
You need to get out more!
What’s wrong with Financial regulation?
Great achievement. Never underestimate the few pints craic and whoever she scored with on her travels ;)
Very surprised to see Morocco on the list – most tourist areas are to be avoided.
It’s grand if you’re ok with persistent sales people selling junk – bugging the hell out of you as you go for an afternoon walk.
It’s grand if you’re ok about female harassment – if a woman goes out walking alone, she is almost guaranteed to be chatted up to the point of having to possibly call the police. Local men see a lone woman as “fair game”.
Also, it’s a grand place if you”re not openly gay.
Tourist hotspots are best avoided in most countries.
And when you say ‘openly gay’, er, what were you doing?
I’m not gay myself but see below:
Under article 489 in Morocco’s penal code, being gay is a crime punishable by imprisonment. While there is something of a gay community in the country, arrests do happen. Just a month ago [May 2014], six men there were jailed for being gay.
As a woman who has travelled independently all over the world, and also Morocco I’ve had first hand experience of persistent pursuits by the local men in day light hours, this issue is something to be taken seriously.
At 11am one morning walking on a busy main street a car with 4 men passed and honked the horn shouting at me, harmless enough until they pulled up made a U turn and pulled up beside me where 2 of the men got out of the car and started to harass me, at which point I located the nearest shop/café and swiftly went in, after a few minutes they got bored & left!
Very odd list indeed. Not sure it’s good to be bracketed in that group.
Presumably we don’t know why they were chosen
It certainly is an odd list, Singapore is usually visited by people enroute to Aus. Iit is okay but hardly somewhere that you would go out of your way to visit.
A lady friend of mine was killed in Nicaragua a few years back. It is a very poor country, you won’t find an irish embassy if you need it either.
Still need to hammer down costs of accommodation and food,
Great to see Rossnowlagh get a mention – brilliant waves for surfing – beginners and experienced.
I have been to Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal. It must surely be one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. It is a tourist asset that most European countries would give their eye teeth for.
We tend to undervalue what we have in Ireland. We always put ourselves and our country down, with constant negativity or cynicism.
Tourism is one of Ireland’s very few native industries. It makes good economic sense to promote it. The ‘Lonely Planet’ is one of the world’s best known tour guides & to get on that list was an achievement.
We should be celebrating that and building on it.
Every part of Donegal is simply stunning……outside of my native Derry City…….Derry people see themselves as sort of half Donegal anyhow. The North West doesn’t get the notice it deserves……even TV3 just bypass it when your man King is doing the weather. Come up here, I promise you will not be disappointed……there is much, much more to Ireland than Killarney!
I hadn’t been in Derry in years until I went up for the City of Culture Jean. Looks great. I told a Derryman who’s moved to Belfast that it reminded me of a walled town in the Languedoc and he looked at me like I was mental but it really did. Nice that you can go over to the Waterside now without crossing that horrible road bridge.
@ZoeDaly. Totally agree. We do t sell our product well also Ireland with our wet weather needs beautiful beach bars like Spain’s chiringuitos. A place to eat drink and enjoy the view regardless of weather.
Get a wetsuit and just stay in it all day. Great for kids. You don’t have to put suntan lotion on them and they’re not covered in sand at the end of the day.
That’s a real mixed bag of a list. I recently heard that extreme nationalism in Serbia is so rife that a white, Western, English-speaking tourist was beaten to death by a group of skinheads in Belgrade for not speaking Serbian.
So it would have been ok if the tourist wasn’t white, western, English speaking?
Not ok, no, just slightly less unusual.
The Serbians, for reasons I dont fully understand, love the Irish…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEt2XdN_TbQ
I’d highly recommend Namibia. As Africa goes, it’s really safe, there’s so much to do there, it’s beautiful and the people are fantastic.
Eh Republic of Congo??! Aren’t half that population here in direct provision?
Ireland is positioned between 2 well know banana growing country’s how apt.
Now if we could just sort out our weather!!!
a roof…………..
A little rain never hurt anyone….
A wetsuit
Ann-Marie….you just dress accordingly and get on with it…..simple.
I think out of that list the only place I would visit is Ireland and possibly St Lucia.
I would recommend visiting Lithuania to anyone. Been their dozens of times now and the place is nice. To Vilnius in particular. Most people speak good English, the food has vastly improved since I have been going there. The food, beer and wine is cheap. The architecture in the city is nice and the old town “senamiestis” has loads of lovely spots, hidden court yards, modern and old mashed together. People say above 40 have the old eastern European buzz about them but the younger people are more European than Russian focused and cosmopolitan. Lots of international European and US companies their too exposing the country to new things. A great little spot really.
I’m not one bit sure about that list. Seriously !
It wouldn’t surprise me if some of those places also featured in the list of “most dangerous” places to visit. … Morocco ? Congo ? What about IS? What about Boco Harem? What about the South American drug cartels?
Those are 3 places i wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. The others … Fine.
Morocco and Congo are hotbeds for IS alright. Drug cartels? Could you be more stereotypical! You should really travel a bit more and open your eyes.
You wont find IS, Boko Harem or South American drug cartels active in Morocco or the Congo, Anthony.
Andy – and Guru. Dont be so naieve. You will find the Drug cartels in Niceragua. and you definately will find IS and Boco Harem all over the affrican continent.
You’re right. not sure why I let facts get in the way. Ugh, I hate how naive I am sometimes!
It really is a great place to visit. To live….not so much
Don’t like it fuk off
I already have cheers
You must miss Ireland though if you’re logging onto thejournal.ie.
No?
I love Ireland, I love the people and I love getting back to see my friends and family. Not ashamed of that. It’s a beautiful country. It is at this point in time an awful place to live though and I don’t think that’s really a controversial viewpoint! Just look at the emigration figures or the comments on articles here.
Don’t go to Holland, Germany, France, Belgium, or all of Northern Europe where you’ll pay a lot, lot more tax, double the water tax, more for food, nearly treble the property tax.
Don’t go to Australia or England if you think house prices are dear here, no comparison.
For all the self pity and love of misery there are a lot worse places than here.
Yet the happiest place in the UK is Northern Ireland. You should have just come North :-)
Red-thumbed Dubs jealous of our cheap houses, low taxes, free healthcare and sexy Liam Neeson style accents.
Why are we so negative about ourselves as most of the comments suggest ?.
Positive comments please !
Low self esteem.
The self loathing of people that have been crapped on for too long and have internalized it.
It is a hell of a lot better than even 20 years ago.
Was born here but, having sampled other parts of the world, I’m here by choice. I like it. Are there people here against their will? If so, how?
Good news, it’s only living abroad that I really appreciate the top quality of fresh food in Ireland, one thing that needs urgent sorting is the shambles at Dublin airport, last 2 trips home left queuing 45 minutes at aer lingus bag drop – no better way to kill the holiday buzz
Careful now. I recently said that Dublin airport is a kip and within minutes Ray burkes mafia were all over me telling me I was Jon Snow.
that list has to be a piss take.
Yeah come and get ripped off in the shops.pubs and restuarants and get mugged by one of our many junky population
Ah yes, because that’s what happens to EVERY single person that visits Ireland? Idiot.
They are all ripped off in pubs, restaurants etc. That’s why a huge amount of tourists won’t come back a second time.
The beer is cheaper in The Congo…where the gang go.
Dick
Ireland is among the safest places in the Western World for a tourist to visit.
Remember Stevie, you are a loser because you let yourself be that way, you accept it.
You know, you don’t have to go into Oliver St. John Gogarty’s or The Temple Bar for a €7.50 pint and a €2.50 bag of Tayto if you don’t want to!
If you steer clear of Temple Bar in general, there is some really good value in Dublin. Neon Restaurant, Camden St (amazing Asian curries with a soft drink and a self-serve ice cream cone for under €11 before 7pm). Da Mimmo’s Italian restaurant a few minutes out from Connolly station is 10/10. Elephant&Castle (close to Ha’penny bridge, a Temple Bar exception) is amazing for chicken wings, great burgers and a few beers before you go clubbing – not too expensive.
Cork City is full of good value – you don’t even have to go looking for it.
Ireland was expensive during the boom but I think we’ve copped ourselves on a bit since then.
I’m a loser, pathetic and have no self respect because I express an opinion you don’t agree with ? God almighty ! What is wrong with you? It is you that has issues if you feel the need to insult anyone who expresses an opinion you don’t agree with. Cop on to yourself and grow up.
Meant for Seanie “anger issues” Ryan.
Yeah, I thought it was a bit weird that he called you a self-loathinig loser. I think he’s on some kind of a green-thumb rush at the moment and he’s getting carried away with himself.
As it happens, I don’t agree with your opinion but you may be correct in that a minority of tourists – the ones who blindly wander into tourist traps – may go home feeling a bit ripped-off.
I personally don’t think it’s all rip-off out there – but differing opinions are what makes the comments section interesting.
Rubbish Loop ..
Amazing the number of Germans / English / Americans who come back to the Dingle Peninsula etc
Its not rubbish. Ive met many tourists who felt their holidays here were fine except for the cost and they wouldn’t return because of it.
clarify .. where did these tourists stay /eat etc
and why are you constantly dissing Irish Tourism ..
It is one of the most important sectors in the Irish economy …
I stated a fact ‘Amazing the number of Germans / English / Americans who come back to the Dingle Peninsula’
Have you ever visited Washington DC etc .. prices in restaurants are high there but still a great city to visit
Yesterday you were posting negative comments about refugees and now today negative comments concerning Irish tourism ..
I get it you dislike Ireland and want to improve it .. Correct ?
I have spoken to many tourists over the years and have travelled the country myself. It is a fact that many visitors don’t return because they feel Ireland is too expensive. You may not like to hear that but it still remains a fact. I’m not going to start naming individual establishments here.
And yes I have been to Washington DC, I’ve travelled extensively within the US and found most cities less expensive than Dublin.
My comments on refugees in this country are my opinion but have absolutely nothing to do with this so I fail to see why you mention them.
Yes of course I would like to see this country improved, who wouldn’t ?
Well by putting down Ireland as a tourist destination .. you have no regard for your own country ..
“I have spoken to many tourists over the years and have travelled the country myself.”
Where have you spoken to them ? Dingle / Dublin / Belfast etc ? Please clarify Were these tourists Americans / Germans ?
Hmm Dude Washington DC is much higher price than Dublin .. maybe you stayed at the Zoo there ,, it is free
It is fantastic for an American tourist publication to say great things about Ireland but sad that an anonymous Irish poster with the name ‘Loop De Loop’ has only negative thing to say about his own country while there are people around Ireland working their butts off to give Ireland a good name in tourism
and the UK is heaven I guess..
It’s a great little country like no other …. Which would be slightly improved if we could put a roof on it !!!
Some positivity about Ireland. Great stuff well done Ireland
Even if the list is off it still gives Ireland a good name unlike the government who embarrassed the country.
It’s all on your doorstep. Lough Derg is a special place to visit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJXk1Rj08ek
Agree with you there Eoin … even if my bias is for the Tipp side of the lake :-;
I was up on Tountina last weekend and the view of the lake from there is breathtaking
Much gleeful hand rubbing at the tills of rip off Ireland I imagine!!
Back to bed Donal for a self pity w@nk.
Spent three weeks back home in Ireland this summer, great vacation, great value, craic was mighty, food was delicious, pints were divine, friends old and new were wonderful. I’m may be a bit biased, but imho, Lonely Planet is spot on.
Great news concerning Irish Tourism ..
Indeed we had a great summer season here in the Dingle Peninsula and all the tourists I met gave positive feedback on their visit to Ireland …
and yes Lonely Planet spokesperson is correct in saying
“The country’s stunning landscape and incredible hospitality are on par with the globe’s top tourist destinations, Ireland should be on everyone’s must visit list.”
Photo: http://goo.gl/bhk98I
This will merit an immediate price hike in “RIP OFF IRELAND” I imagine!!
Personally would go to the exact opposite of wherever the self depraved lonely planet flash packers out “finding themselves” recommends but how can Singapore be no.1 without paying for it? Most expensive (but great) place I’ve ever been. Ireland should follow their model, low tax, offshore tax haven, 1% unemployment, little crime, offshore tax haven, great advance military that nobody will mess with, good food, great people with higher gdp in state the size of ℅. Dublin. Maybe the gov. Could learn a thing or two before taking in the ass from europe
Serbia! Now that’s a surprise!
A beach in Belgrade.
http://www.ambassador-serbia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ada-Serbian-women.png
The tourist product in this country is generally fantastic, but there is still a lot of overpriced and bland food on offer on the main tourist trails.. there has been huge improvement in recent years but a lot of places are lazy and content with their poor/pricey offerings as they know they can rely on a steady footfall of one-off tourist visits.
Serbia, Congo……these are paces that we’re being told that we really must visit…..I’ll have Buncrana any day!
Great to see. We tend underestimate how good our country is to visit!
Also glad to see my current home the Philippines getting some exposure. It has something for everyone whether it’s lazing on a beach, doing heaps of activities, natural beauty or getting a culture fix. Generally not a tourist trap either (with the exception of Boracay). Go between December and May for the best weather. Yes there is extreme poverty there like in any third world country but increased tourism will help it. Here’s their government tourism website: http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com
Oh forgot to say that it’s cheap to visit too. Especially the beer :-)
I wonder how much Failte Ireland payed to get our name on that list.
Singapore ?
Just completed a road-trip along the Wild Atlantic Way and thought your readers might enjoy this little ditty. I fell for the spell – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlU6GNQByDo
Anything to do with Noreen Hegarty getting a gig with Lonely Planet at all?
No protests this weekend then?
This was just in relation to bring terrible last week.
In the past a lot of tourists only came as far as Donegal Town. People have campaigned for years to attract tourists to also visit the beautiful North Donegal this would mean coming through Barnesmore Gap. Recently planning has been obtained to build 49 wind turbines at 156 metres high starting in Barnesmore Gap, through the Finn Valley to Castlefinn. This beautiful hillside and area will be scarred for years to come, wildlife displaced, Lough Mourne, Mourne Derg river waterways polluted, farmland and homes depreciation and the impact on the health of the local community. This will have a significant impact on tourism in this natural, unspoilt area.
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