County Dublin


County Dublin is one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Prior to 1994 it was also an administrative county covering the whole county outside of Dublin City Council. In 1994, as part of a reorganisation of local government within Dublin the boundaries of Dublin City were redrawn, Dublin County Council was abolished and three new administrative county councils were established: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin.
While it is no longer used as an administrative division for local government, it retains a strong identity in popular culture. It is in the province of Leinster, and is named after the city of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first parts of Ireland to be shired by John, King of England following the Norman invasion of Ireland.
According to the 2016 census, the total population of County Dublin was 1,345,402, approximately 27% of the Republic of Ireland's population. The county is a NUTS 3 region, and is part of the NUTS 2 region of Eastern and Midland.

Local government and politics

Local authorities

There are four local authorities whose remit collectively encompasses the geographic area of the county and city of Dublin. These are Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council and Fingal County Council.
Prior to the enactment of the Local Government Act 1993, the county was a unified whole even though it was administered by two local authorities – Dublin County Council and Dublin Corporation. Since the enactment of the Local Government Act 2001 in particular, the geographic area of the county has been divided between three entities at the level of "county" and a further entity at the level of "city". They rank equally as first level local administrative units of the NUTS 3 Dublin Region for Eurostat purposes. There are 34 LAU 1 entities in the Republic of Ireland. Each local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing.
Dublin County Council was abolished in 1994 and the area divided among the administrative counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin each with its county seat. To these areas may be added the area of Dublin city which collectively comprise the Dublin Region and come under the remit of the Dublin Regional Authority.
The area lost its administrative county status in 1994, with Section 9 Part 1 of the Local Government Act, 1993 stating that "the county shall cease to exist." In discussing the legislation to dissolve Dublin County Council, Avril Doyle TD said, "The Bill before us today effectively abolishes County Dublin, and as one born and bred in these parts of Ireland I find it rather strange that we in this House are abolishing County Dublin. I am not sure whether Dubliners realise that that is what we are about today, but in effect that is the case."
The county is part of the Dublin constituency for the purposes of European elections. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the area of the county is currently divided into eleven constituencies: Dublin Bay North, Dublin Bay South, Dublin Central, Dublin Fingal, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin North-West, Dublin Rathdown, Dublin South-Central, Dublin South-West, Dublin West, and Dún Laoghaire. Together they return 45 deputies to the Dáil.
Despite the legal status of the Dublin Region, the term "County Dublin" is still in common usage. Many organisations and sporting teams continue to organise on a "County Dublin" or "Dublin Region" basis. The area formerly known as "County Dublin" is now defined in legislation solely as the "Dublin Region" under the Local Government Act, 1991 Order, 1993, and this is the terminology officially used by the four Dublin administrative councils in press releases concerning the former county area. The term Greater Dublin Area, which might consist of some or all of the Dublin Region along with counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, has no legal standing.

Dublin Region

The Dublin Region is a NUTS Level III region of Ireland. The region is one of eight regions of the Republic of Ireland for the purposes of Eurostat statistics. Its NUTS code is IE061. It is co-extensive with the old county. The regional capital is Dublin City which is also the national capital.
The latest Ordnance Survey Ireland "Discovery Series" 1:50,000 map of the Dublin Region, Sheet 50, shows the boundaries of the city and three surrounding counties of the region. Extremities of the Dublin Region, in the north and south of the region, appear in other sheets of the series, 43 and 56 respectively.

Media

Local radio stations include 98FM, FM104, 103.2 Dublin City FM, Q102, SPIN 1038, Sunshine 106.8, TXFM, Raidió Na Life and Radio Nova.
Local newspapers include The Echo, Northside People, Southside People and the Liffey Champion.
Most of the area can receive the five main UK television channels as well as the main Irish channels, along with Sky TV and Virgin Media Ireland cable television.

Transport

The economy of County Dublin 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 county 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. This change saw high unemployment in the 1980s and early 1990s which resulted in damage to the capital's social structure.
According to CSO figures, the region had a GDP of €87.238 bn and a GDP per capita of €68,208 in 2014.
Separately, Eurostat figures for 2012 suggested the region then had a GDP of €72.384 bn and a GDP per capita of €57,200 – the highest on the island of Ireland.
As of early 2017, the unemployment rate for the Dublin region was estimated at 6%.

Transport

County Dublin is the main transport node of Ireland, 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.

Demographics

According to the 2006 census, County Dublin 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 Dublin City, was 506,211.
The median age of the population of the county in the 2006 census was 35.6 years, with 62% of people aged between 20–64 years old. Net migration to the county between 2002 and 2006 was 48,000, with a natural increase of 33,000 people.
There are 10,469 Irish speakers in County Dublin attending the 31 Gaelscoileanna and eight Gaelcholáistí. There may be up to another 10,000 Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht living and working in Dublin also.

Urban areas

A list of the largest urban areas in County Dublin. Administrative county seats are shown in bold.
RankUrban areaCountyPopulation
1DublinDublin City,
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown,
Fingal,
South Dublin		1,270,603
2TallaghtSouth Dublin71,504
3BlanchardstownFingal68,156
4SwordsFingal42,738
5Dún LaoghaireDún Laoghaire–Rathdown38,761
6BalbrigganFingal19,960
7MalahideFingal15,846
8SkerriesFingal9,671
9PortmarnockFingal9,285
10RushFingal9,231
11DonabateFingal8,730
12LuskFingal7,022

Towns and suburbs