I live in Donegal and we do have green bins but they cost a small fortune.

As for the Bureaucracy, everything has to go through Dublin in order to happen and you do have to jump through hoops. It’s all about who you know as to whether or not you can get anything done. I was told by Eircom that I would never get Broadband where I lived. After talking to a friend of a friend (who worked for the local office of Eircom) he told me how to work the system. After complaining about the actual phone line and not the lack of broadband they came and upgraded the line. I was then able to qualify broadband. Had I now known someone I would still be sitting in a cafe somewhere.

Thanks for the Garda typo heads up, I knew that but just forgot when I was typing it out. I guess you have not seen the Garda on a Friday or Saturday night when all the club and pubs close. They do look scared because they know that if things got out of control they are out numbered. I think what I really should have mentioned is the lack of respect for the Garda from most people here compared to the states. Not everyone, but a lot don’t care too much for them. I suppose since Donegal has a history of corrupt cops it’s to be expected.

BTW spelt Guarda wrong, it’s Garda as in Garda Síochána:D And they’re not usually very scared in my experience. It’s more like it’s such a small country that you will probably know someone who knows someone who knows them. Hard to get aggressive in that case!

anyway, one of the many many things I saw that I loved was the fact that they charge you for a bag a the store. fantastic idea. over in the US i swear stores try and force bags on you. I also heard that they were possibly going to start to charge for ATM slips in Ireland. another great idea…did that ever happen?