Ireland's metric change-over is almost as flawed as the UK's.
We adopted metric measurements around the same time in the early 1970s. However, schools continued to teach imperial measurements for a few years after that and then both... It was quite a while before they went to fully metric.
Even though metric measurements became the standard for selling goods, people didn't really adapt. While it's compulsary to display price per kg or per liter or whatever. It's optional to display price per LB or per Pint etc and very few people will ask for, say, meat in KGs. This applies to younger people as much as it does older people. It's quite strange.
Also, a lot of UK and Irish food companies didn't actually convert their container sizes. They continued to sell in imperial measures and just converted the labeling to metric. This made the system look ridicuously confusing as there were some very odd awkward direct converted figures printed on containers.
Body measurements are almost exclusively in feet and inches and weight is in stone. The only people who use metric are the medical profession.
European shoe sizes (not metric, but harmonised) are starting to creep in though as they're just easier due to the smaller size graduations and the fact that the UK sizes printed on shoes are often inaccurate anyway.
We changed all of our distance signs to KMs quite some years ago. However, it was a badly carryed out change over and we ended up with a mixture of some signs in miles and others in KMs for years. This wasn't the metric system's fault, more a question of incompetant local councils here.
Then, finally last year we converted the speed limits to KM/H. As of 2005 all cars are sold with KM/H speedometers or at least with the KM/H dial in the more prominant position with miles in the inside.
In recent years, we're seeing a more logical approach to metric measurements and people are starting to feel more comfortable with them. It's not something that's easy to change a very well engrained centuries old system.
As for Irish water... it's 100% free of charge. No metering at all, paid for out of income tax! Any suggestion of even thinking about privatising water supplies or charging for them would probabally put a government out of office. So, it's very unlikely to ever happen.
[This message has been edited by djk (edited 10-10-2005).]
