"Ireland -- Best in the West" a Ireland Travel Page by RhineRoll

My last visit to Ireland already dates back 5 years, so it was high time to visit again! As for Scotland, my preference lies on the northern and western regions.

Ireland has gone from a 3rd world country to a very modern full-blown European player within 30 years. It is inevitable that some things have been lost in this dramatic process, but it's still a charming place, and how cynical can you get as a tourist if you wish improvements to be slowed down only so that you are able to enjoy some (from your perspective) romantic sights! Ireland's greatest asset is its friendly, open and gifted people and these are now able to stay in their homeland instead of having to emigrate for a better life.

One of the side effects of this explosive growth is excessive land consumption: If you take the Burren coastal road from Kinvarra in Co. Galway to Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher looking across Galway Bay to the Connemara coastline west of Galway, you'll notice how urban sprawl has set in. On Achill Island where villages like Keel and Dooagh are also quite sprawled out, they are now trying to build new houses in a more clustered way and to make it more difficult to get planning permissions for previously undeveloped land. This is nothing new to countries like Germany and GB -- another telltale sign that Ireland is getting there!

Having become prosperous, the Irish now also own a lot of cars -- great news for the German car industry!!! The unfortunate thing not just for the German tourist is that the road system hasn't really kept pace with this development -- especially within and around towns and villages. Some national roads are in a very good state now, but in the absence of bypass roads tiny crossroads villages can become nightmarish bottlenecks for traffic.