For the third year in a row, the most popular baby names for Irish parents to give their kids are Jack and Emily.
The Central Statistics Office have released the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland for 2014, and there are some standout findings amongst all the numbers reported therein that present a "comprehensive picture of Ireland today".
Among the figures of interest were the data on baby names, which show that Jack and Emily are once again top of the pile for parents for the third year running. Jack has been the male name of choice since 2007, so we can expect to see a decline in the number of Bort licence plates sold in the coming years.
Other stats showed that there was a decrease in unemployment of 6.9%, while average weekly earnings varied pretty widely between sectors. The Information and communication sector were the best paid, raking in a high of €1,002.93, while the Accommodation and food service sector made the lowest, at €316.12 per week.
The number of credit cards in the country decreased to 2 million, while the level of overall credit card indebtedness also fell from €3.13m to €2.4m.
It turns out we're also getting away on holiday a good bit, with almost 6.6 million trips out of the country taking place in 2013, 85% of which were to other EU countries, while research also showed that we bought fewer cars, there was an increase in the number of houses granted planning permission and that 8 out of 10 houses have internet access.
Main pic via Wikipedia
