Dublin Region

The Dublin region of Ireland with each constituent county/city council highlighted.

The Dublin Region is a NUTS Level III region of Ireland and is governed by the Dublin Regional Authority. It consists of the area under the jurisdiction of the county councils of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, as well as Dublin City Council. The Dublin Region has an area of 922 km², 1.3% of the state and has a population of 1,187,176. The regional capital is Dublin City which is also the national capital.^[1] Its NUTS code is IE021.

Located on the eastern coast of Ireland, the Wicklow Mountains to its south with rich pasture lands to the north and west. The region has a long and varied history.^[1]

Dublin Regional Authority

The Dublin region is administered by the Dublin Regional Authority (DRA), which consists of 30 elected representatives who meet once per month.^[1] These representatives are nominated from the four administrative councils of the region:^[1]

• 14 from Dublin City Council.
• 6 from South Dublin County Council, including the regions representative from the EU Committee of the Regions.
• 5 from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
• 5 from Fingal County Council.

Like each Regional Authority, the DRA is assisted in its duties by an Operational Committee and EU Operational Committee.^[1]

Demographics

According to the 2006 census, the region had a population of 1,187,176, which constitutes 30% of the national population. This was an increase of 9.5% on 2002 figures. Its population density was 1,218/km². The population of the regional capital, Dublin, was 506,211.^[1]

The median age of the population of the region in the 2006 census was 35.6 years, with 62% of people aged between 20–64 years old. Net migration to the region between 2002 and 2006 was 48,000, with a natural increase of 33,000 people.^[1]

Economy

The economy of the Dublin Region was identified as being the powerhouse behind the Celtic Tiger, a period of strong economic growth of the state. This resulted in the economy of the region expanding by almost 100% between the early 1990s and 2007. This growth resulted from incoming high-value industries, such as financial services and software manufacturing, as well as low-skilled retail and domestic services, which caused a shift away from older manufacturing-industry.^[1] This change saw high unemployment in the 1980s and early 1990s which resulted in damage to the capitals social structure.^[1]

Regional GDP in 2002 was €42.505bn, with GDP per capita at 129% of the state average, and 171% of the European Union average.^[1] The workforce of the region in 2003 was 555,306 which equated to a 95.9% employment rate with services (80.0%), industrial employment (12.0%), and construction (8.0%) forming the key industries.^[1]

Transport

See also: Transport in Dublin

The Dublin region is the main transport node of Ireland,^[1] and contains one international airport, Dublin Airport. It is also served by two main seaports, Dún Laoghaire port and Dublin Port, which is just located outside of the city center. The two main train stations are Dublin Heuston and Dublin Connolly, both of which serve intercity trains.

Urban areas

A list of the largest urban areas (those with over 1,000 inhabitants) in the Dublin region. County seats are included and are shown in bold.

Rank	Urban area	County	Population (2006 census)
1	Dublin	Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin	1,045,769
2	Swords	Fingal	33,998
3	Balbriggan	Fingal	15,559
4	Malahide	Fingal	14,937
5	Skerries	Fingal	9,535
6	Portmarnock	Fingal	8,979
7	Rush	Fingal	8,286
8	Donabate	Fingal	5,499
9	Lusk	Fingal	5,236
10	Kinsealy-Drinan	Fingal	3,651
11	Rathcoole	South Dublin	2,885
12	Portrane	Fingal	1,532
13	Newcastle	South Dublin	1,506

See also

• List of regions of the Republic of Ireland
• Greater Dublin Area

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Irish Region Office - Regions of Ireland: Dublin Region