One-third of people living in Dublin and surrounding counties would like to move west of the Shannon for a better quality of life, according to an opinion poll.
However, people hold back from moving out of urban areas in the east because of worries over a lack of job choices and poor transport in the west, according to the poll carried out for the Western Development Commission.
Most of those surveyed in the eastern counties believe the western region offers a superior quality of life relative to Dublin, while three-quarters of those polled in the west hold this view. Among under-35s, 41 per cent said they would like to move to the west.
The commission says the poll reveals a dramatic shift in the way Irish people work, with 43 per cent of those in the east and 41 per cent in the west saying it is possible to work remotely in their job.
However, over 40 per cent of people on both sides of the Shannon believe the gap between east and west has widened in the past five years.
The commission says this shows that despite improvements in infrastructure, the perception remains that the west is falling behind the east.
"These results show that a lot of people value the higher quality of life available outside the major urban areas on the east coast," commented Gillian Buckley, chief executive of the WDC. "This underlines the importance of the Government policy of balanced regional development.
"Around two-thirds of those surveyed in the east believe that the quality and availability of transport is inferior in the west relative to Dublin and this is something that the Government can tackle immediately by ensuring commitments to the road routes to and through the west are delivered."
While over 70 per cent of respondents were of the opinion that job opportunities were poorer in the west relative to Dublin, the commission claims there are a growing number of top-level vacancies in high-tech areas such as computer software, medical devices and internationally traded services. The commission says the sooner fast, reliable broadband is available, the sooner people will move away from congested areas.
