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So what’s the Urbanite consensus on the death sentence imposed on Saddam? Well half of Urbanites while not agreeing with capital punishment do think that he should be imprisoned for life. One third of Urbanites felt he simply deserved it. Only 5% were of the opinion that it was not harsh enough.

One in five of Urbanites would have welcomed the lower income tax/wider tax bands which was one of the giveaways in the budget. However, 16% of Urbanites will have been disappointed that Mr. Cowan did not abolish/reduce stamp duty on houses. The third most desired budget giveaway was “improve the healthcare service”. In fourth place was “improve infrastructure”, with “increases in childcare allowance” emerging in fifth.

Ah… its heartening to know that Urbanites still get into the Christmas spirit. Interestingly the majority will send a traditional Christmas card (68%) this year, but many of Urbanites will also send a text message (67%) as a Christmas greeting to friends and relatives this Christmas. Just under half of Urbanites will send an email greeting or make a phone call as a Christmas greeting, with 16% sending e-cards this year.

The majority (69%) of Urbanites will be spending Christmas Day with parents/in-laws. About one in five Urbanites will spend Christmas Day with friends, while 2% will be alone this year.

14% of Urbanites will spend Christmas Day 2006 abroad, the rest will mostly remain in Ireland. However, 43% of our foreign Urbanites will be spending Christmas out of Ireland.

A lot of Urbanites sure did get bad Christmas pressies in the past. Number one on the list was “hideous clothes”, followed by “cheap toiletries” and in third place “socks & tights”.

It’s Christmas party time and one third of Urbanites feel their Christmas party is not the best, but they still have fun. An additional 32% of Urbanites love it. Only 14% feel obliged to go and don’t really enjoy it that much. 6% of Urbanites avoid it at all costs!

Urbanites sure have used the internet in the past month! Apart from the top 3 internet uses which are pretty standard; using email, online banking and making travel plans, the most interesting uses were as follows. In the past month …

www.metroireland.com

For more complete highlights & information please contact:Cáitríona Byrne, Research Manager.Direct Telephone: (01) 6375968Email: [email protected]

• 47% chatted online /instant messaged/blogged• 55% watched video clips • 49% looked at job opportunities• 23% listened to the radio• 12% met new people/dated• 11% gambled online

In terms of favourite websites Urbanite’s top five are:

• bebo.com• bbc.co.uk • youtube.ie • google.ie• google.co.uk

Questions for our clients are asked in this section of the survey. If you’d like any more detail on these results then please get in touch with me and I’ll see what I can share with you. A summary of what we covered is as follows:

• 1. Charities• 2. Cars & Driving• 3. Internet• 4. Staple Brands – Tea, Co�ee, Bread, Cereal, Detergent• 5. Mobile Phones• 6. Broadband• 7. SSIAs

• Skangers! People who are o� their heads on drugs shouldn't be allowed to annoy the public. Southside girls trying to look like they are from L.A. House prices being so expensive - in fact everything being so expensive.

• Dubliners are clueless about the rest of the country and say stupid things like referring to 'the regions. This is a small country - get over yourselves!

• Litter, Scum bags who drop litter should be put in stocks and beaten. They then should be made pay for cleaning up any blood they drop.

• Let me count the ways I love thee: Congestion, filth, smell of urine in every alley and street, Dublin Bus, lack of decent train/metro-service to the airport (or anywhere else, for that matter, unless you're lucky enough to live on top of the luas line or the Dart line), weather, Smog, rude people, RipO� Ireland, Gangland, Teflon Taoiseach, the average shop assistant as service minded as a general horses ass.

• Young girls with piercings, buggies and ciggies wearing pyjamas, it ruins a lot

• The people of Dublin. The railway ticketer smiling at you at 6.30 in the morning, the laughing students on the train, the cheery girl handing out the Metro outside Tara St station, the funnily grumpy bus driver, the Good morning's coming in to work, the Good bye's leaving work, the happy welcome's from the bar man for the after-work pint, the nods and smiles from passers by walking to back home, the soothing chit-chat from the radio DJ at night.

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urban ranturban rantWe asked Urbanites about what they thought of the cost of living in Ireland? What they thought about the increased price hikes for gas and electricity? Did they think they were justified? Had they any great or awful experiences with the services sector? Do they think that the cost of living in Ireland is relative to the wages they are earning? What would they like to see happen to improve the cost of living situation in Ireland?

Here is a selection of how you are all feeling…

The Positive Remarks included…

• On the positive side, the cost of living in Ireland relative to wage levels is comparatively very healthy.

• The one thing that can be said for "Rip-o� Ireland" is that the wages are generally compara-ble to the high price of goods and services.

• The Cost of Living in Ireland - christ are there any? It’s cheaper to travel now than it has been for years - the price of petrol is ok.

• I think the average person in Ireland is not too badly o�. We are mortgaged up to the hilt but we have beautiful comfortable homes and good food for our tummies. We have to work hard to maintain the standard of living we choose for ourselves, (no one said we need a 4 bedroomed house) the majority here have choices and options. Open your eyes and look around, there are so many both near and far, for whom the cost of surviving (not living) is too high.

• Dublin is a great city to live - vibrant, multicultural, friendly, always something going on. Great consumer choice. Excellent restaurants. Customer service has greatly improved in last few years. Better service from Eastern European workers.

• I'm fed up listening to people giving out about the cost of things in ireland, we have higher wages than most other european countries!

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