Named by the New York Times as ‘Ireland’s most charming city’, it’s safe to say that a move to Galway will be a great decision. The county was recently chosen to be Europe’s Capital of Culture 2020. Along with this great title for the county, it said to be worth an estimated €170 million in terms of funding and tourism and possibly worth several thousand new jobs.
The report last December stated, “the panel recognised the ambition of the region in developing its cultural and social offers. It is already a UNESCO City of Film and is bidding for the European Region of Gastronomy in 2018 and the European Youth Capital in 2019”.
Galway is an intimate and vibrant city, so we have put together the top reasons why we think Galway is the top county to live in.
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Galway Scenery
From the inner-city scenes at the Spanish Arch or the Salthill prom to the wild nature of Connemara, Galway’s scenery is second to none. Galway provides plenty of photo opportunities in the city and beyond. A crisp morning walk down the cobbled shop street and an evening stroll down the Salthill prom is a feast for the eyes.The Connemara region is renowned for their wonderful scenery. Test out the Sky Road, Clifden for an impressive coastal drive. There are hours and hours of driving and exploring outside of Galway, leaving you something new to discover each time.
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Big Attraction for Global Companies
Galway is home to 8 of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies. Galway employs one-third of the country’s 25,000 medical device employees. The success of this is due to university-industry linkages and a continuous development of a skilled labour pool.
Galway is also home to 196 ICT organisations and home to 4 of the 5 top ICT companies, IBM, SAP, Oracle, and Cisco. Galway is continuously growing its workforce with a vibrant 3rd level education sector and a highly educated workforce.
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Every day is a Festival
Galway is renowned for its Arts and Culture. The city is popping with history and art and there is always something going on, big or small. Shop street is filled with buskers and street acts to make your trip to the shops an entertaining one. Galway is well known for the Galway Races Festival which takes place on the last week of July every year. This is the only 7-day racing event in Ireland, with over 200,000 people attending over the week.Other popular festivals in Galway include the Clarenbridge Oyster Festival, the Galway International Arts Festival as well as numerous food, music and film festivals.
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Study in Galway
The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) is an internationally renowned institution, offering expertise in social sciences, medicine, and law amongst other subjects, with 18,000 students inside its doors. NUIG is frequently named in the Irish Times’ Higher Education Rankings.The influx of international students coming to Galway has increased, with NUIG estimating international students providing a large chunk of the Universities’ income, an estimated 15%. Galway also has an abundance of top primary and secondary schools to choose from.
Check out this video by Media Lab Galway adding to our list of top reasons to move to Galway
