Unlikely Dubliners

Twenty minutes after our arrival at Dublin airport Monday afternoon, we were introduced to the city's traffic woes. Through the airport, into a taxi, then onto the M-50 motorway…only to be immediately halted.

Ireland, especially Dublin, has changed in big ways in the 10 years we've been spending time here. One of the biggest has to do with the number of vehicles on the roads.

"I guess we've hit early rush hour?" I suggested to our taxi driver.

"No, love. This is just Dublin traffic. Doesn't matter the hour."

Every lane of traffic, in both directions, all the way from the airport to Dun Laoghaire, inched along.

Bottom line, now that every Dubliner can afford a car (or two)…there are too many of them. Roads and highways are being expanded…which means endless construction spots…which means further traffic delays.

The other thing that's noticeably different in this town over the past decade is that it's harder and harder to meet an actual Dub (that is, native resident of the city). I guess they're all off driving around in their cars somewhere.

Instead, behind the taps in the pubs, behind the reception desks in the hotels, behind the counters in the shops, you encounter a lot of non-Dubliners, mostly East Europeans who've migrated to the Emerald Isle over the past few years in ever-greater numbers in search of gainful employment.

Used to be you'd adjust to the Dublin accent…and be able to negotiate your way around the city. Today, you can't adjust, for every accent you encounter is different--Romanian, Polish, Hungarian… Your ear can't cope.

The country that, historically, has sent a greater percentage of its own nationals to foreign shores in search of opportunity than any other is today on the receiving end. And little Eire is not altogether happy with the turn of events, which are straining her social welfare systems.

Dublin is booming, enjoying an unprecedented prosperity that has brought with it an unheard-of rate of escalation in the cost of living and, especially, the cost of real estate.

World's most over-valued property markets? I'd put Dublin at the top of that list. Our taxi driver concurred and assured us that prices are beginning to fall. But Irish taxi drivers have been telling me that for a long time. Still, prices in Dublin estate agents' windows beg disbelief. Small, undistinguished (I'd say downright unappealing) structures in residential "estates" (that is, tract developments) list for 800,000 euro ($1.1 million) and more.

Ireland is suffering through its Celtic Tiger hangover…the costs of living and of purchasing a home here are so high that Dublin is increasingly a jet-setters' haven…and, all the while, the capital is becoming a melting pot, attracting the poor, huddled masses of every Central and East European country that manages to achieve EU member status.

Beneath it all, the Irishman, when he's not stuck in traffic, is the same friendly, chatty fellow he's known for being, always up for a pint and a soulful ballad.

This is one reason Ireland is one of the 29 countries included in this year's Global Retirement Index, unveiled this week in the September International Living magazine. This beautiful green country is also one of the safest and most stable on earth…an idyllic place, in fact, to think about whiling away your retirement years.

The best place, though, to retire overseas? Our 2007 Index says…drum roll, please…Mexico!

Big upset. For the past six years running, Panama has come out on top in our annual Retirement Index. This year, though, the Hub of the Americas has fallen to #4 position.

Our Man in Mexico, Dan Prescher, puts things in perspective:

"Suzan and I have always maintained that, all economic and lifestyle categories considered, Mexico should have ranked #1 in IL's annual Index all along."

"Other countries gain more attention, but, long-term, Mexico sets the standard among Latin American countries for cost of living, ease of doing business, modern infrastructure, great weather, incredible cultures, delicious cuisine, varied geography, relative political stability…you name it.

"Mexico is blessed and cursed by being the closest southern neighbor of the U.S. Unfortunately, long-standing stereotypes still abound, and negative news gets much heavier coverage in the U.S. media when it happens next-door. However, there is more to Mexico than Tijuana and Cancun, and there is a reason that more U.S. and Canadian expats have chosen to settle here full- and part-time than in any other country in the region. Mexico simply has more to offer. That's why Suzan and I have chosen to live here, too."

Dan's better half, Suzan Haskins, our Woman in Mexico, concurs:

"It's about time! For six years now, I've been lobbying, cajoling, and even trying to bribe my fellow IL editors to move Mexico up in the annual rankings. But IL editors can't be influenced, it seems…so I just sat back and waited. I knew that eventually Mexico would end up in the well-deserved #1 spot."

No question, Panama still makes sense…but this year, in our eagerly anticipated 2007 Index, our editors decree: Three other countries make more sense.

Read all about it in the September International Living magazine (if you're not already a subscriber, become one now).

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. Find out more about why Mexico ranks #1 in our Global Retirement Index at our Live and Prosper in Mexico seminar in Puerto Vallarta, Sept. 23-25. It seems one of our conference directors got the short end of a friendly disagreement with Our Woman in Mexico, Suzan Haskins. Suzan has convinced him to kick in a lot of freebies for this event. For example, he's covering the first-night's hotel accommodation at the Fiesta Americana for everyone who attends the conference. Plus: Our conference director, good sport that he is proving to be, is paying for everyone's dinner one night…and he has agreed to a random drawing in which one lucky attendee will get his or her four-night seminar stay at the Fiesta Americana Hotel comped in full…that's right: FREE. And, oh, yes, if you say the word "tequila" when you call to register for the conference, you'll receive a free bottle of one of Mexico's finest tequilas upon arrival in Puerto Vallarta. This is shaping up to be one conferencia loca!

To learn more, e-mail Events@InternationalLiving.com or call 1-866-381-8446 (toll free in the U.S. and Canada).

P.P.S. The debate over what countries deserve to be the world's top retirement havens will continue at our Ultimate Event this October. Many of our staff and writers, and over 100 speakers, experts, and exhibitors from more than two dozen countries are gearing up to do battle. Ringside seats are still available.