Is Ireland really the most prosperous country in Europe?

You would never think Ireland is that wealthy when living outside dublin with hardly any services. Do all the usa businesses here distort it a tad?

I do agree that many of regions are a lot less wealthy than Dublin, and that a stroll around most regional towns and places like Limerick and Waterford City present a very different picture than the narrative we are fed.

Really!

Dublin's north inner city is a drugged out wasteland, buildings sprouting buddelia on every side, crime statistics way beyond anything else in the country.

Limerick and Cork are a paradise by comparison, plenty of employment and much cheaper housing, less drugs and far less crime.

While this is not directly connected to the poverty in Dublin, it certainly makes for a far better standard of living.
 
Limerick and Cork are a paradise by comparison, plenty of employment and much cheaper housing, less drugs and far less crime.

Dublin does have the highest average incomes in the country.

My (amateur) view is that Cork has the best living standards of any city in Ireland when you adjust for wages and cost of housing.