According to the 2010 Mercer Quality of Living worldwide city rankings report, Dublin is the 26th best city in the world to live in, beating cities such as London and Paris.

The survey ranked Dublin as 33rd in the list as an eco-friendly city. This may be due to the fact that the city has just over a million inhabitants and nearly everything is in walking distance.

The ranking is judged on a points system, based on criteria such as political stability, crime levels, banking services (guessing they failed this category), health services and climate.

International companies use the survey to award allowances for staff and families that are transferred abroad to work.

If you have plenty of money, Vienna is ranked number one as the city with the best quality of life, followed by Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver and Auckland.

The worst is Baghdad, followed by Bangui in the Central African Republic, N'Djamena in Chad, Khartoum in Sudan and Georgia's capital Tbilisi.

Belfast scores only 63 but this may be due to the disillusioned boys in balaclavas.

Mercer spokesman Noel O'Connor said, "There's a lot of competition, but Dublin continues to hold its own, ranking 26th worldwide and 17th best in Europe, ahead of London, which ranks 39th in the worldwide rankings, and Paris which ranks 34th."

Although many would disagree with Mercer's findings, the recession has reduced the cost of living in Dublin, spending $6 on a packet of chips, chocolate candy bar and a can of coke is a thing of the past.

Dublin also ranks 14th in Europe and 33rd overall in it's eco ranking. Calgary nipped the top spot followed by Honolulu, Ottawa, Helsinki and Wellington in New Zealand. Port-au-Prince in Haiti came last.