Figure1:Annualpopulationchanges between each Census 1961-2011 CENSUS OF POPULATION 2011 PRELIMINARY RESULTS Table A Change in population 2002-2011 Year Population Actual change since previous Census Average annual percentage change since previous Census 20023,917,203291,1161.3 20064,239,848322,6452.0 20114,581,269341,4211.6 Strong population growth ThepreliminarytotalforthepopulationenumeratedonCensus Night10April2011was4,581,269persons,comparedwith 4,239,848 persons in April 2006, an increase of 341,421 persons since2006or8.1percent.Thistranslatesintoanannual average increase of 68,284, or 1.6 per cent. Overthepreviousfour-yearinter-censalperiodbetween2002 and 2006 the population increased by 322,645 persons or 2 per centperannum,whichequatestoanannualaveragetotalof 80,661, which is the highest on record. -10,000010,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,00070,00080,00090,00030 June 2011 Published by the Central Statistics Office, Ireland. Ardee Road Skehard Road Dublin 6 Cork Ireland Ireland LoCall: 1890 313 414 Tel: +353-1 498 4000Tel: +353-21 453 5000 Fax: +353-1 498 4229Fax: +353-21 453 5555 Both offices may be contacted through any of these telephone numbers. CSO on the Web: www.cso.ie and go to Census: Population: Releases and Publications Director General: Gerard O'Hanlon Census Enquiries Census Enquiries Section, LoCall: 1890 236 787 01 895 1460 census@cso.ie General Queries Information Section, ext 5021 Information@cso.ie Central Statistics Office Thecontentsofthisreleasemaybequoted providedthesourceisgivenclearlyand accurately. Reproduction for own or internal use is permitted. This report presents the results of the preliminary count of the census which was held on 10th April, 2011. The results are based on summary counts for each enumeration area which have been compiled by 4,854 enumer at or s. Eachenumer at or wr ot et het ot al number ofpersons,malesandfemalesineachhouseholdontothefrontofthe census form and then prepared a clerical summary of the total for their area. These summaries were returned to the CSO in advance of the census formsthemselvesandtheresultsinthisreportarebasedonthis information.For further information contact Shaun McLaughlin on 01 895 1474. 2 Geographic changes Thepopulationchangevariedwidelyacrossthecountry.Byfarthefastestgrowingcountyin percentagetermswasLaoiswhichincreasedby13,399from67,059to80,458,anincreaseof20.0 percent.ThisisovertwicetheratefortheStateasawholeandsignificantlyhigherthanthenext fastest growing county, Cavan, which increased by 13.9 per cent. The population of Limerick City and Cork City fell by 5.0 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively between 2006 and 2011. However in both cases population growth was picked up in their hinterlands, Limerick County and Cork County, where increases of 8.3 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively were recorded. OtheradministrativecountiesshowingstrongpopulationgrowthwereFingal(13.8%),Longford (13.3%),Meath(13.0%)andKildare(12.7%).ThesecountiesarenowpartofthewiderDublin commuter belt and all had shown strong population growth over the previous inter-censal period 2002-2006.The fastest growing county in absolute terms was Cork County which showed an increase of 37,339 or 10.3percent.DespitethegrowthinCorkCounty,Munsterwastheprovincewiththelowest percentagechangeinpopulationat6.0percent,withKerry(3.7%)andLimerick(3.9%),whilestill showing population growth, recording the lowest growth levels across all administrative counties. Galway City (4.1%) had the slowest growth in Connacht while Galway County showed strong growth of 10.0 per cent. Table B Population of Regional Authority areas, 2006 and 2011 Regional Authority 2006 2011 Change in Population 2006-2011 PersonsPersonsMalesFemalesActualPercentage Border468,375514,152256,887257,26545,7779.8 Dublin1,187,1761,270,603618,541652,06283,4277.0 Mid-East475,360530,437263,764266,67355,07711.6 Midland251,664282,195141,267140,92830,53112.1 Mid-West361,028378,410188,929189,48117,3824.8 South-East460,838497,305247,802249,50336,4677.9 South-West621,130663,176329,326333,85042,0466.8 West414,277444,991222,182222,80930,7147.4 State4,239,8484,581,2692,268,6982,312,571341,4218.1 Map 1 Population change by Regional Authority area, 2006-2011 0-5%5%-10%10%-15%AlleightNUTS3regionsrecorded populationgrowthoverthe2006to 2011 inter-censal period. TheMidlands(12.1%),Mid-East (11.6%)andBorder(9.8%)regions recordedthestrongestpopulation growth with the lowest rate recorded in the Mid-West region (4.8%). BorderWestMidlandMid-EastSouth-EastSouth-WestMid-WestDublin 3 Map 2 Population change by county 2006-2011 4 Electoral Divisions The most detailed administrative areas associated with these preliminary census results are Electoral Divisions(EDs).Thetablespresentedbelowprovideasummaryofthetop20EDsintermsof population growth and decline. Of the 3,440 EDs, over 700 showed population increases in excess of 15 per cent, while a further 550 showedincreasesabove10percent.Populationfallswererecordedinjustunder900EDs.Thisis illustrated figuratively in Map 3. The fastest growing ED in the country was Balbriggan Rural, followed by Lucan-Esker. The EDs with the largest fall in population were Limerick North Rural and Mionlach. Full details for all 3,440 EDs are available on http://www.cso.ie/census/2011_preliminaryreport.htm. . Table C Top 10 Electoral Divisions ordered by population increase, 2006-2011 Electoral DivisionCounty Population 2006 Population 2011 Actual change Percentage change 1Balbriggan RuralFingal9,61515,1465,53157.5 2Lucan-EskerSouth Dublin25,82829,8263,99815.5 3GlencullenDn Laoghaire-Rathdown 13,92517,8643,93928.3 4Blanchardstown-BlakestownFingal32,28835,9703,68211.4 5Portlaoighise RuralLaois County11,07514,6143,53932.0 6North Dock BDublin City3,6906,8433,15385.4 7Tallaght-JobstownSouth Dublin1351716,6163,09922.9 8KilcooleWicklow County6,8329,8393,00744.0 9The WardFingal5,1818,1813,00057.9 10Navan RuralMeath County2368326,6752,99212.6 . Table D Top 10 Electoral Divisions ordered by population decrease, 2006-2011 Electoral DivisionCounty Population 2006 Population 2011 Actual change Percentage change 1Limerick North RuralLimerick City7,2516,454-797-11.0 2MionlachGalway City5,7524,996-756-13.1 3Mountjoy BDublin City3,4462,703-743-21.6 4Galvone BLimerick City1,574883-691-43.9 5Tralee UrbanKerry County5,4564,852-604-11.1 6Ballymun DDublin City3,5222,924-598-17.0 7BallynantyLimerick City3,4682,916-552-15.9 8DanganGalway City4,2063,671-535-12.7 9Killarney UrbanKerry County10,1949,671-523-5.1 10Tallaght-KilnamanaghSouth Dublin4,9454,456-489-9.9 5 Map 3 - Percentage change in the population of Electoral Divisions, 2006 - 2011 6 Map 4 - Percentage change in the population of Electoral Divisions within County Dublin, 2006-2011 Recent developments along North Wall Quay and around the Grand Canal basin are clearly illustrated in the map above, as are developments in Balgriffin, Glencullen and Lucan-Esker. Notable population decreases can be seen in Ballymun, Tallaght and Portmarnock. 7 Map 5 - Population density per square kilometer of Electoral Divisions, 2011 8 Population by Constituency Table 3 on page 28 provides the 2006 and 2011 populations along with the number of TDs in each of the 43 Dil constituencies as defined in the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 4) Act 2009. The table shows the percentage change in the population of each of the constituencies as well as the average number of persons per TD based on the preliminary population figures contained in this report. Based on these preliminary census results, the constituency of Dublin North, which covers the areas ofBalbriggan,Donabate,Lusk,RushandSwordsshowedthelargestpopulationincreasebetween 2006 and 2011 at 16.1 per cent; with the average number of persons per TD now standing at 28,536. ThetwoneighbouringconstituenciesofMeath-East(12.9%)andMeath-West(11.9%)alsoshowed strong increases. Meath-East, on the basis of these preliminary results, now has 28,844 persons per TD while Meath-West showed an increase of 11.9 per cent and has 28,494 persons per TD. Onlyoneconstituency(DublinNorth-Central)hasshownafallinpopulationsincethe2006census (down 1.2 per cent) and now has 24,789 persons per TD. Two constituencies now have more than the prescribed maximum of 30,000 persons per TD, namely KildareSouth(30,092)andLaois-Offaly(30,565).Therearefiveconstituencieswherethereare between29,000and30,000personsperTDandanadditionalelevenconstituencieswherethe number of persons per TD are in the range 28,000 to 29,000.. The map on the adjacent page shows the population per TD of constituencies. Key to Constituency Map 01Carlow-Kilkenny23 Galway East 02Cavan-Monaghan24 Galway West 03Clare25 Kerry North-West Limerick 04Cork East26 Kerry South 05Cork North-Central27 Kildare North 06Cork North-West28 Kildare South 07Cork South-Central29 Laois-Offaly 08Cork South-West30 Limerick City 09Donegal North-East31 Limerick 10Donegal South-West32 Longford-Westmeath 11Dublin Central33 Louth 12Dublin Mid-West34 Mayo 13Dublin North35 Meath East 14Dublin North-Central36 Meath West 15Dublin North-East37 Roscommon-South Leitrim 16Dublin North-West38 Sligo-North Leitrim 17Dublin South39 Tipperary North 18Dublin South-Central40 Tipperary South 19Dublin South-East41 Waterford 20Dublin South-West42 Wexford 21Dublin West43 Wicklow 22Dn Laoighaire 9 Map 6 Population per TD in each constituency, 2011 10 Components of population change Historical context Toputtherecentchangesinahistoricalcontext,TableEshowsthecomponentsofpopulation change, expressed in the form of average annual figures, for each inter-censal period since 1926. Table E - Average annual births, deaths, natural increase and estimated net migration for each inter-censal period, 1926-2011 PeriodBirthsDeaths Natural increase Change in population Estimated net migration Thousands 1926 19365842160-17 1936 1946604317-1-19 1946 19516640261-24 1951 1956633627-12-39 1956 1961613426-16-42 1961 196663332913-16 1966 197163333019-11 1971 19796933354914 1979 198173334038-3 1981 198667333419-14 1986 1991563224-3-27 1991 1996503118202 1996 20025431234926 2002 20066128338148 2006 20117328456824 Natural increase, the number of births in the State minus the number of deaths, has been positive over theperiod1926-2011.Themostrecentinter-censalperiod(2006-2011)showsthehighestnatural increase at 45,000 persons per annum, with 73,000 births and 28,000 deaths1. The previous peak of 40,000perannumwasduringthe1979-1981periodwhichhadasimilarhighnumberofbirths,but these were offset by a higher number of deaths (33,000). Netmigrationhasbeenmorevolatilethannaturalincreaseovertheperiod1926-2011.Netoutward migration has been the norm for most of that time, with a peak of -42,000 per annum between 1956-1961. The years 1971-1979 had net inward migration of 14,000 per year, but the 1980s saw the return of net outward migration. Since1991,eachinter-censalperiodhasshownnetinwardmigration,whichpeakedat48,000per annumduring2002-2006.Populationgrowthalsopeakedat81,000perannumduringthis4year period. 1 The data for births and deaths relate to events registered in the five year period ended 31 March 2011. The figures for the first quarter of 2011 are provisional. 11 Natural increase ThecensustotalisacountofthenumberofpersonsactuallyintheStateoncensusnight.The change in population between two censuses reflects the effect of births and deaths and of movements of persons into and out of the State during the relevant period. Birthsanddeathscombinedgivethenaturalincreaseinthepopulation.Withbirthsof363,500and deaths of 140,700 over the relevant five year period the resulting natural increase between 2006 and 2011 was 222,800 or 5.3 per cent of the 2006population over the five years. This is extremely strong by international comparisons2. All administrative counties experienced positive natural increase in the inter-censal period 2006-2011 withtherateshighestintheadministrativecountieswiththeyoungestageprofilesasperthe2006 Censusresults(Fingal,SouthDublin,KildareandMeath).TheareaswiththelowestrateswereRoscommon , Mayo and Cork City. Figure 2 Natural increase by County, 2006-2011 2 The rates of natural change per 1,000 population in the EU27 was 1.0 in 2007 and 1.2 in 2008.The corresponding rates for Ireland were 9.8 and 10.4 respectively 0510152025 FingalCork CountySouth DublinDublin CityKildareMeathGalway CountyWicklowDunLaoghaire RathdownWexf ordLimerick CountyLouthDonegalClareLaoisWestmeathKerryKilkennyGalway CityOf f alyMayoCavanCarlowSouth TipperaryNorth TipperaryWaterf ord CountyCork CityWaterf ord CitySligoMonaghanLimerick CityLongf ordRoscommonLeitrimThousands 12 Net migration Thetotalchangeinthepopulationbetweensuccessivecensusesisthecombinedeffectofnatural increase and net migration, which is a measure of the movements of persons into and out of the State duringtherelevantperiod.Asthenaturalincreaseisknown,thedifferencebetweenthisandtotal population change is taken as net migration. Thisresidualfigurehoweveralsoreflects,implicitly,theneteffectofnon-migratorymovements(i.e. changebetweensuccessivecensusesinthelevelofvisitorsintheState,orinthelevelofIrish residents temporarily abroad on census night) and of any other factors such as marginal variations in census coverage achieved. Takingthesefactorsintoaccount,andgiventhatthepopulationfigurepresentedispreliminaryfor 2011, users should treat the net migration estimate with caution until a greater level of analysis can be conductedontheactualCensusreturns.Inparticularanexaminationoftheoneyearflowsanda cohort analysis based on a number of key demographic variables such as age, gender and nationality is required before a more definitive picture of migration patterns can be extracted. BetweenCensus2006andCensus2011theestimatednetmigrationmeasuredinthiswayis 118,650, which represents an annual average inflow of 23,730. This compares with the previous inter-censal annual average figure of 47,832. Unlikethe2002-2006inter-censalperiod,wheretherewasaclearpatternofnetinwardmigration acrosseachofthefouryearsconcerned,thepatternoverthe2006to2011periodismarkedly different. Ireland continued to experience strong net inward migration for the first half of the latest inter-censal period followed by a switch to net outward migration over the second half. 13 The effect of migration on population change While the natural increase of the population has been steadily positive over the past 50 years the large swings in net migration have had a strong effect on overall population growth, as illustrated in Figure 3. Netoutwardmigrationhasvariedconsiderablyoverthepast50years.Strongoutwardmigration during the 1950s led to a population low point of 2.8 million being recorded in the 1961 Census. Net migration then remained negative throughout the 1960s. Net inward migration appeared briefly for the first time in the 1970s with an annual average of 14,000 between1971and1979.Thisquicklyrevertedtonetoutwardmigrationagainthroughoutthe1980s with a record low point of 44,000 in 1989. Theturnaroundbeganinthe1991-1996inter-censalperiod,withsmallpositiveinflowsleadingupto thepeaknetinwardmigrationperiodof2002to2006whenderivednetinwardmigrationmeasured 191,000 for the four year period (or 47,800 on annual average basis). It has now fallen back again for this inter-censal period to 118,650 or an annual average of 23,730.

Figure 3 Components of population change (average annual figures)for each inter-censal period, 1956-2011 -40-30-20-100102030405060708056-61 61-66 66-71 71-79 79-81 81-86 86-91 91-96 96-02 02-06 06-11ThousandsIntercensal periodNaturalincreasePopulation changeNet migration 14 County net migration Bydeductingthenaturalincreaseinpopulationatcountylevelfromthecorrespondingpopulation changeitispossibletoderivecountynetmigrationfigures.Itisimportanttonotethatthesefigures represent not only the net movement of all persons into and out of the county from abroad but also the net movements between counties in Ireland. Alladministrativecounties,apartfromthefourprovincialcitiesandSouthDublin,experiencedsome levelofnetinwardmigrationbetween2006and2011.Thisvariedindegreefromahighof23.5per thousandofaveragepopulationoverthefiveyearperiodinLaois,tothesmallerinflowof0.9per thousand in Dublin City. Limerick City on the other hand experienced the highest net outflow over the fiveyearperiodof17.2perthousandofitspopulation,whileWaterfordCityrecordedanetoutward migration figure of 6.7 per thousand. Itisillustrativetocharthowthecombinationofnaturalincreaseandnetmigrationaffectedthe population change in each county and this is represented in Figure 4. ThecountiesintheupperrightquadrantofFigure4(Laois,Fingal,Kildare,andMeath)experienced high rates of net inward migration and natural increase. These trends have resulted from rapid housing developmentandarelativelylargenumberofbirthsbecauseofthehighproportionofyoungfamily households in these counties. Ontheotherhand,someofthecountiesinthebottomleftquadrant(Limerick,Cork,Waterfordand Galwaycities)experiencednegativenetmigrationandrelativelylownaturalincreaseinpopulation. Thefactorsresponsibleforthesetrendsaretherelativelylowlevelofnewhousingandanageing population. At a regional level, the Mid-East no longer has the highest rate of net inward migration, and has fallen behind the Midland and Border regions. This represents the expansion of Dublins commuter belt into these regions. 15Figure 4 Natural increase and estimated net migration per 1,000 of average population for each County and City, 2006-2011 The following additions have been made to the abbreviations used for motor vehicle registration: DR Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown, F Fingal, DS Dublin South, CC Cork County and GC Galway County. CWDDSFDRKEKKLSLDLHMHOYWHWXWWCECCCKYLLKTNTSWWDGGCLMMORNSOCNDLMN0 2 4 6 8101214161820151050510152025N a t u r a l i n c r e a s eNet migration 16 Population breakdown by sex As the preliminary population data is captured for both males and females separately, the sex ratio of the population (males per 1,000 females) is available at State, regional and county level. Havingindicatedamaleexcessforovertwentyyearsfrom1961to1981,thesexratiobeganto declinesteadilyfrom1986onwardsshowingfewermalesthanfemalesineachcensus;itreacheda lowpointin1996with986malesforevery1,000females.In2006itchangeddirectionagainand showed marginally more males than females. It has now reversed again and these preliminary results show43,864morefemalesthanmalesoverallintheState,resultinginasexratioof981malesfor every 1,000 females. Onaregionalbasis,Dublinhadthelowestratiowithonly949malesforevery1,000females.The Midland was the only region to show more males than females with 1,002 for every 1,000. Figure 5 Sex ratio at each Census, 1961-2011 980 985 990 995 1000 1005 1010 1015 102019611966197119791981198619911996200220062011Males per 1,000 females 17 Housing Total housing stock Housingnumbers(dwellings)haveincreasedmorerapidlythantotalpopulationbetween2006and 2011,witha13.3percentincreaseindwellingscomparedwith8.1percentforthepopulation.The number of dwellings increased by 234,562 from 1,769,613 in 2006 to 2,004,175 in 2011, representing an annual average increase of 46,912. ThelargestpercentageincreaseinhouseholdswasseeninLaois(21.2%)followedbyCavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Longford which all showed increases of above 19 per cent. Limerick County and the five cities all showed the lowest increases. Figure 6 Percentage increase in the number of dwellings by county, 2006- 2011 0 5 10 15 20 25LaoisCavanDonegalLeitrimLongf ordRoscommonLimerick CityMonaghanWexf ordCarlowSligoGalway CountyKildareFingalCork CountyMeathKilkennyClareKerryNorth TipperaryLouthMayoOf f alySouth TipperaryWestmeathWaterf ord CountyDunLaoghaire RathdownWicklowSouth DublinGalway CityWaterf ord CityCork CityDublin CityLimerick County 18 Vacant dwellings The2006CensusprovidedfiguresforthefirsttimeonvacantdwellingsinIrelandandthedata showedthat15.0percentofallhousingwasvacantinApril2006.ThesePreliminaryResultsshow that the total number of vacant dwellings in 2011 has increased by 27,880 from 266,322 to 294,202.As the total housing stock has also increased since 2006 by 13.3 per cent higher than the 10.5 per cent increase in vacant dwellings the overall vacancy rate (i.e. the percentage of dwellings that are vacant) has therefore fallen slightly to 14.7 per cent. Thevacancyratevarieswidelyacrossthecountry,withLeinstersratefallingfrom11.6percentto 10.6 since 2006. The vacancy rate in Connacht fell slightly from 21.4 to 21.3 per cent, while Munster and Ulster saw their rates rise over the past five years. With 30.4 per cent of housing units vacant, Leitrim remains the county with the highest vacancy rate followedbyDonegal(28.5%),Kerry(26.5%)andMayo(24.8%).ThevacancyrateforDublinCity shows that one in ten dwellings in the capital were vacant at the time of the census in April 2011. Figure 7 Vacant dwellings as a percentage of total housing stock by county, 2011 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35South DublinFingalDunLaoghaire RathdownKildareMeathWicklowDublin CityGalwayCityCork CityOffalyKilkennyLouthLimerick CountyLaoisSouth TipperaryLimerick CityMonaghanWestmeathCarlowNorth TipperaryWaterford CityCork CountyWaterford CountyGalwayCountyWexfordClareLongfordCavanSligoRoscommonMayoKerryDonegalLeitrim 19 Map 7 Percentage of dwellings vacant in each Electoral Division, 2011 20 Tables Table NoPage 1Population of each Province, County and City and actual and percentage change, 2006 and 2011 21 2Population of each Province and County, 1926-20112APopulation222BActual change in Population242CPercentage change in population26 3Persons in each Constituency, as defined in the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 4) Act 2009 for elections to Dil ireann 28 4Components of population change for each Regional Authority area, 2006-201129 5Components of population change for each Province, County and City, 2006-201130 6Average annual rate of estimated net migration (inward less outward) per 1,000 of average population in each inter-censal period 1956-2011 32 7Total housing stock, vacant dwellings and vacancy rate, 2006 and 201133 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Background Notes A Census of Population was taken on the night of Sunday, 10 April 2011, in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order 2010 (S.I. No. 207 of 2010)3. This Report contains provisional results which are based on summaries returned by each of the 4,854 census enumerators. As these results are subject to revision they do not have any statutory force. Coverage of the Census The census figures relate to the de facto population i.e. the population recorded for each area represents the total of all persons present within its boundaries on the night of Sunday, 10 April 2011, together with allpersonswhoarrivedinthatareaonthemorningofMonday,11April2011,nothavingbeen enumeratedelsewhere.Personsonboardshipsinportareincludedwiththepopulationofadjacent areas.Thefigures,therefore,includevisitorspresentonCensusNightaswellasthoseinresidence, while usual residents temporarily absent from the area are excluded. Thedateofthecensuswaschosentocoincidewithaperiodwhenpassengermovementswereata minimumand,consequently,thefigurescloselyapproximatetothoseforthenormallyresident population. Members of the Defence Forces who, on Census Night, were serving abroad with the United Nations were excluded from the enumeration. Conduct of the Census Atemporaryfieldforceconsistingof6CensusLiaisonOfficers,44RegionalSupervisors,438Field Supervisors and some 4,854 part-time enumerators carried out the census enumeration. During the four weeks before Census Day the enumerators entered details in respect of 2 million private residences and communal establishments in their enumerator record books. They simultaneously delivered blank census questionnairesto1.65millionofthesedwellingsthatwereexpectedtobeoccupiedonCensusNight. Approximately295,000residenceswerevacantatthetimeofthecensus,whileintheremainingcases the household was either enumeratedelsewhere or temporarily absent from the State. The collection of completed questionnaires took place between Monday 11 April and Friday 13 May, 2011. TheCentralStatisticsOffice(CSO)wishestorecorditsappreciationofthepublic-spiritedco-operation received from households and the work carried out by the census field force. Eachenumeratorwasrequiredtoprepareasummaryofthepopulationenumeratedinhis/her enumerationarea.TheseclericalsummarieswerereturnedtotheCSOinadvanceofthemainbodyof the census field records and it is from these summaries that this Preliminary Report has been prepared. Dissemination of the definitive population figures, analysing the population by such factors as age, marital status, occupation, etc., will commence in March 2012. Vacant Dwellings Inidentifyingvacantdwellings,enumeratorswereinstructedtolookforsignsthatthedwellingwasnot occupied e.g. no furniture, no cars outside, junk mail accumulating, overgrown garden etc., and to find out fromneighbourswhetheritwasvacantornot.Itwasnotsufficienttoclassifyadwellingasvacantafter one or two visits. Similar precautions were also taken before classifying holiday homes. Dwellings under construction and derelict properties are not included in the count of vacant dwellings. In order to be classified as under construction, the dwelling had to be unfit for habitation because the roof, doors, windows or walls had not yet been built or installed. 3TheStatistics(CensusofPopulation)Order2010wasmadebytheTaoiseachinpursuanceofpowersconferredonhimby section 25 (1) of the Statistics Act 1993 (No. 21 of 1993). 35 Administrative and Census Areas There are many different geographic divisions of the country. Those which were used in the 2011 Census of Population are described below. All the areas are as defined at the date of the census. Small Areas The enumeration of Census 2011 was organised using Small Areas, which are a new administrative unit developed by the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) at the behest of Ordnance SurveyIreland(OSi)andincollaborationwiththeCSO.Thereareapproximately19,000SmallAreas containing,onaverage,between75150households.TheSmallAreasnestwithinexistingElectoral Divisions. Each enumerator was assigned an area averaging 420 dwellings consisting of 3-4 Small Areas. Electoral Divisions (EDs) ThesmallestadministrativeareaforwhichpopulationstatisticsarepublishedistheElectoralDivision (formerlycalledDistrictElectoralDivision).InruralareaseachElectoralDivisionconsistsofan aggregation of entire townlands. There are 3,440 Electoral Divisions in the State and their populations are available on the CSO website at http://www.cso.ie/census/2011_preliminaryreport.htm. Town and Rural Districts Electoral Divisions are aggregated to give Towns (or Cities where appropriate) and Rural Districts which, in turn, build up to counties. The Rural Districts, which numbered 160, were abolished as administrative areas in 1925 (in the case of Rural Districts in County Dublin, in 1930) but have been retained for census purposesasconvenientgeographicalentities,intermediateinsizebetweenElectoralDivisionsand Counties. They are termed rural areas in the present report.

Counties and Cities Inthecensusreportsthecountryisdividedinto29CountiesandfiveCities.InDublin,fourareasare identified separately, i.e. Dublin City and the three Administrative Counties of Dn Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Outside Dublin there are 26 administrative counties (North Tipperary and South Tipperaryareseparatecountiesforadministrativepurposes)andfourCities,i.e.Cork,Limerick, Waterford and Galway. TheboundariesoftheCitiesaresubjecttoperiodicextensionstokeeppacewithbuildingdevelopment anditisnotpossible,therefore,toshowcomparableretrospectivepopulationfiguresoveranextended period. Counties, on the other hand, have only been affected to a very minor extent by boundary changes anditispossibletocomparecountypopulations(includingtheappropriateCities)overalongperiodof time. This is done in Table 2, which shows county population figures for each census year from 1926 to 2011. Dil Constituencies For the purpose of elections to Dil ireann the country is divided into Constituencies which, under Article 16.4 of the Constitution of Ireland, have to be revised at least once every twelve years with due regard to changesinthedistributionofthepopulation.TheConstituencieswerelastrevisedin2009andthe ScheduletotheElectoral(Amendment)Act2009(No.4of2009)containsdetailsoftheircomposition. The 2011 population figures for these areas are given in Table 3. Maps All maps in this release are Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001. 36 Regional Authorities (NUTS3 Regions) Thegeographicalsub-divisionsusedinTable4arebasedonRegionalAuthorities.Theseeightregions were established under the Local Government Act 1991, Regional Authorities Establishment Order 1993 which came into operation on 1 January 1994.

Name of regionConstituent counties Type of area BorderCavanAdministrative county DonegalAdministrative county LeitrimAdministrative county LouthAdministrative county MonaghanAdministrative county SligoAdministrative county DublinDublinCity Dn Laoghaire-RathdownAdministrative county FingalAdministrative county South DublinAdministrative county Mid-EastKildareAdministrative county MeathAdministrative county WicklowAdministrative county MidlandLaoisAdministrative county LongfordAdministrative county OffalyAdministrative county WestmeathAdministrative county Mid-WestClareAdministrative county LimerickCity LimerickAdministrative county North Tipperary Administrative county South-EastCarlowAdministrative county KilkennyAdministrative county South Tipperary Administrative county WaterfordCity WaterfordAdministrative county WexfordAdministrative county South-WestCorkCity CorkAdministrative county KerryAdministrative county WestGalwayCity GalwayAdministrative county MayoAdministrative county RoscommonAdministrative county