Population:15,000
Employment:Irish Prisons Service; hospitals; CIE; Eircom; ESB and the Department of Agriculture (which already employs 300 - with 600 more to follow as part of civil service decentralisation).
Hospitals:Midland Regional Hospital (190-bed general hospital); St Fintan's (psychiatric); St Brigid's Hospital (long-stay elderly).
Education:six primary, a Gaelscoil and three secondary schools. The secondary schools are Portlaoise College; St Marys CBS; and Scoil Chríost Rí, Presentation Secondary School.
The nearest third-level university is at NUI Maynooth (46 miles) and institutes of technology at Carlow (22 miles) and Athlone (44 miles).
Culture:Dunamaise Arts Centre houses a wonderful theatre and an art gallery; well-regarded and heavily subscribed school of music; multi-screen cinema.
Sport:there is a major GAA stadium at O'Moore Park; the county council is building an €11 million leisure centre which will have a pool, gymnasium and all-weather playing fields.
There is one golf course in the town and also access to six others in the hinterland.
Must see:six miles outside town is Emo Court, designed by architect James Gandon in 1790 for the Earls of Portarlington. The magnificent house and gardens, in State ownership since 1994, are open to the public.
Names:before independence, the town was known as Maryborough and Laois, the Queen's County.
Pronunciation: a lively debate on how to correctly pronounce Portlaoise reached the letters page of The Irish Timesin 2001 when a reader from Dublin 4 claimed that the final 'e' should be heard.
But a native of the town responded, "Ask anyone who actually comes from the area and its surroundings and not one will say this last syllable."
Twinned with: Coulounieix-Chamiers, in the Dordogne area of southwest France, since 1996.
Best aspects:good supply of houses at reasonable prices; Dublin to Cork/Limerick traffic bypasses the town; secure jobs aplenty; proximity to hill walking in the Slieve Blooms.
Main issue:House prices likely to rise as Portlaoise's proximity to Dublin is discovered.
Local authority website:www.laois.ie
Information for visitors to the area: www.laoistourism.ie
Local radio station:Midlands 103 which is on 96.2 FM
