In this business, surveys are both a godsend and a source of constant mirth. They are up there with dubious opinion pieces telling us how great we are. You saw the latter last week when we talked about wheelchair access in the Capital. (link)

This morning we woke up to news that Dublin is the best city in the UK and Ireland to live in. Yes, we are better than London. 800 years demolished by one survey. Yippee.

Well, maybe not.

Dublin was 34th, London was 40th. To use pop parlance, both cities are bubbling under the top 30 but have a long way to go to break into the top ten. When we look at cities which rank highest – Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Auckland and Vancouver - the word Germanic springs to mind.

‘Old world charm’ is another phrase that could be used. Even Auckland and Vancouver have the air of a laid-back colonial lifestyle about them.

This suits the target audience for the survey – UK ex-pats - as they are more than likely to like the finer things in life. They would probably love the concert hall, the clean mountain air and the still water of a lake or bay. They have that kind of purchasing power.

Dublin? Well it does have the bay and I suppose OpTrans will send us trekking up the Sugar Loaf. The euro-sterling rate and our free travel would attract the richer UK pensioner anyway.

There are surveys and surveys and if you were as underwhelmed by this one, then join the club...

There’ll be another one along tomorrow.