Porto I saw an internet poll a few days ago which voted Ireland as the friendliest country in the world to visit. I’m not sure how much provenance these polls have but nonetheless it’s nice to hear. Not that far behind Ireland was Portugal and as we recently visited that country, I can personally attest to this. I have heard it said by foreigners that Irish people give such detailed directions when asked, that they practically go with you to your destination. We found similar

Beautiful Dunluce on the Antrim Coast For those of you unfamiliar with Irish colloquialisms, Norn Iron is short for Northern Ireland, or the six counties of Ireland which are still part of the UK. It probably derives from the inhabitants’penchant for speaking rapidly. People will be aware that the region suffered over thirty years of civil strife, during which over three thousand people lost their lives. Consequently, there was very little investment in the six counties durin

The Summit of Lovcen Mountain I have long been an admirer of Pat McDonagh. Who is he, most international readers would say? He is the founder and owner of a fast-food chain called Supermacs, which operates mainly in Ireland, although they have some international outlets. Pat is the guy who took on the giants of McDonalds, Burger King and KFC and beat them at their own game. His burgers are better (and bigger), than McDonalds; his chicken is tastier than KFC, and he sells all