Recommend a hedge

Which direction does the fence face? What kind of soil is it? Is this an urban or a rural situation? Is it a 5/6ft panel fence or a post and rail?

So the hedge will be on the south facing side? I'd suggest putting in a mixed rural hedge of fruiting native trees and shrubs. There are some ideas here https://futureforests.ie/a/search/native-hedging?filter_collection=choose-your-own-native-wildlife-fruiting-hedge. Also check out the other collections on that site. A blackthorn hedge would be lovely in the spring but all blackthorn would be less interesting most of the rest of the year, though the fruit are very attractive, and difficult enough to manage, the thorns are savage. A few mixed into a mixed hedge would be fine.

If you want to clip the hedge you will get much less flowers and fruit, and you should look at their 'neat natural hedge' mix. Or you could choose just one of the suggested plants, but for variety, wildlife and interest I'd suggest a mix.

...and easily looked after, compared to some plants

So I thought as growing up a neighbour had one and as you said a dead zone. It was thick as bedamned though. In the house I bought there's one between me and the neighbour and it does be alive with songbirds. I've a laissez faire approach to cutting it though. Keep it tidy with a shave once a year but that's it.

It won't give you privacy in the winter, nor will any deciduous or semi deciduous hedge plant.

Bees love it and ours has lots of activity

Well, it's a dead zone where I am. Nothing goes near it.

Could not edit previous comment - Escallonia Hedging – Rubra macrantha is nice and good if in a coastal area. You don't want something that goes excessively woody

I'd go for cotoneaster, loads of varieties to choose, bees go mad for the flowers and birds for the berries.

Beech does hold the dead leaves over winter but does so better if trimmed at the right time. Hornbeam is similar but does better than beech if the soil is a bit damp and seems to me to be a bit more robust. If you want a native hedge with thorns that are less severe than blackthorn white thorn is a good option. but like blackthorn it is not evergreen. Another option to consider might be Pyracantha. It has nice flowers in spring and berries that are good for feeding the birds and thorns that make it good for the hedge being impenetrable. Another option might be Berberis darwinii with more just prickly leaves rather than thorns but still good flowers for pollinators and berries for the birds, The Berberis flowers are longer lasting than the Pyracantha. If you would prefer to avoid the hedge being prickly or thorny another evergreen option I like is Cotoneaster franchetii which in spite of the flowers being not very big is very popular with pollinators and the berries are good for the birds as well.

Happy gardening!

I have a laurel. It's full of birds!

I also have hornbeam. I've never managed to get it to keep brown leaves over winter - despite trimming it as recommended by gardeners online.

I planted a double staggered row of beech 5 years ago and it keeps most of its leaves in the winter, I think the single rows won't keep their leaves if it's any bit exposed. I see some bee's around it, do they like the moisture from the leaves I wonder?

I also have a Portuguese laurel hedge, this was chosen as it's more aesthetic pleasing all year round but I don't think it’s great for the wildlife unfortunately.

I give the beech a light trim on the sides in early June and trim both in September, best of luck with picking your hedge type the mixed variety sounds like a great option.

OP said good for wildlife and privacy. Almost any other plant hedging plant is better than laurel for biodiversity in Ireland. Try field maple if you want quick growth.

I have a narrow but long garden out the front of a terraced house in Baldoyle. Neighbours have just installed the ugliest bin boxes you would imagine. Not much we can do about that, they are not the most pleasant people in the world.

Going by this thread a laurel hedge on our north east facing garden would do the trick for us to block out the people next door and their dirty hedge?

We have a about 100 meters of hedge, a mixture of field maple, whitethorn, blackthorn, Holly, honeysuckle and a few climbing roses. It also has 11 birch trees spaced out nicely. Its that mature now that we get the neighbour to include it when he gets a contractor in to trim his hedges and ditches with the tractor. Absolutely full of wildlife but as I said above eventually too difficult to maintain yourself. But it only costs us €50 or so to get the neighbour to include it.