5 Reasons To Love Ireland

TV star Nadine Higgins embraces the Emerald Isle

- Nadine Higgins

Since becoming a Higgins last year, Ireland has been calling my adopted name. So, equipped with a tiny hire car laden with giant suitcases, my hubby and I hit the ground in Dublin, aiming to have some good craic (which has nothing to do with cocaine and everything to do with fun).

1 The locals

Once I decipher the local lingo – and the accent – I decide the Irish must be some of the most fun people on the planet. They’re not complainers either. When the European heat wave deserts the place, replaced by a bit of midwinter in midsummer, everyone just got on with it. Their sense of humour is second to none. Our guide on an historical walking tour of Dublin calls the Spire – a large, pin-like riverside monument – “the stiffy by the Liffey”, and encourages us to get a photo touching one of the Molly Malone statue’s breasts for good luck. “But not two – that would be greedy.”

2 The beer