Chapter 24: The Dynamics of Irish Regions II: The Dublin Region SECTION (1): CONTRASTING IRISH...

Chapter 24: The Dynamics of Irish Regions II: The Dublin Region

SECTION (1): CONTRASTING IRISH REGIONS

II:

THE DUBLIN REGION


PHYSICAL PROCESSES

Climate

• Cool temperate oceanic/maritime

• Warmer and drier than the Western Region

• Temperatures: 16ºC in the summer and between 5 and 6ºC in the winter

• Rainfall: 800 mm of rainfall annually

• Rainfall is lower than elsewhere in country


PHYSICAL PROCESSES

Climate (continued)

• Rain shadow effect: most precipitation is lost before the Atlantic depressions reach the Dublin region

• Daylight: the region receives 4 hrs sunshine per day

• Growing season: is approximately 270 days

• Crops planted in the Dublin region ripen earlier than crops elsewhere

• Coastal location: frost has less of an effect on the area in spring


PHYSICAL PROCESSES

Soils

• Soil type is mainly brown earths

• A deep fertile soil that is easily cultivated

• High humus content derived from the plant litter of deciduous forests that once covered the region

• Alluvial deposits laid down by the local rivers are highly productive

• In the northern section of the region, marine, light, sandy soils are free draining and ideal for market gardening/horticulture

• Blanket bogs are found in the Dublin Mountains


PHYSICAL PROCESSES

Relief and drainage

• Lowland area that is undulating towards the north and west

• Has good drainage, as the main rock type is limestone, a permeable sedimentary rock which allows water to drain freely

• Rivers, e.g. River Liffey, Tolka and Dodder


PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Agriculture

• Dublin region is highly productive and commercial even though the area only has about 1,500 farms, a little over 1 per cent of the national total

• Highly urbanised

• Farm incomes are 40 per cent higher than the national average

• Lowland nature

• Farming is highly mechanised and intensive, e.g. the region produces 11 per cent of the national wheat crop and 15 per cent of the national potato crop



Agriculture (continued)

• Deep, fertile soils

• High yields of tillage crops e.g. wheat and barley

• Malting barley is used for the brewing and distilling industry

• Protein-rich barley is used for animal feed

• Farming output is high due to demands of a nearby large and wealthy urban market

• Due to close proximity to Dublin city transport costs for agricultural products are low



Agriculture (continued)

• Age profile of farmers is lower than in the West

• Region does not suffer from outward migration

• Farmers are well educated – use a market orientated and scientific approach

• Farmers specialise in market gardening – migrant workers from nearby Dublin city are used for labour

• Farms are constantly under threat from urban sprawl – encouraging farming in the area to be intensive and profitable



Fishing

• Main fishing port in the Dublin region is Howth; it is the third largest port in Ireland with a value of €5 million

• Dublin Bay prawns make up 40 per cent of the total shellfish exported from Ireland

• Fishing in the Dublin region is declining

• Overfishing: in the 1960s, 35 per cent of fish landed in Ireland were caught in Dublin ports; 3 per cent in 2000

• Aquaculture is limited

• Irish Sea is more polluted than the Atlantic Ocean


SECONDARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Manufacturing Activities

• 25 per cent of Ireland’s manufacturing industries and 40 per cent of people employed in the manufacturing sector are in this region

• Nodal point: a focus of routeways, rail and air networks in Ireland

• EU and worldwide markets

• Direct governmental involvement during the 1990s resulted in 60 per cent of all new industry developed in Dublin region



Manufacturing Activities (continued)

• Low rate of corporate tax of 12.5 per cent for new industries

• Modern infrastructure, state-of-the-art telecommunication links and easily accessible industrial estates

• Abundant well-educated workforce

• 80 per cent of Ireland’s colleges are located in the region



Manufacturing Activities (continued)

• Low age profile as 45 per cent of population are under 25 years of age

• Industrial output per worker is higher in the Dublin region as are manufacturing wages which are 10 per cent higher than the national average

• As the people of the Dublin region are wealthier than other areas this attracts producers of luxury-based goods

• Location of the largest financial services sector in the country is in the IFSC in Dublin: businesses can avail of its financial management and business development advice services



B. Location of industry

• Traditional brewing and distilling, e.g. Guinness, and printing, e.g. Irish Independent

• Modern growth industries of internet technology, e.g. Google, and pharmaceutical, e.g. Pfizer

• Traditionally located within the city limits because of close proximity to the port and a good supply of local manual labour

• Newer industries have tended to locate on the outskirts of Dublin city in close proximity to the M50 as it is easily accessible

• Close to a large labour pool in the satellite towns

• More spacious sites available



Example:

• Wyeth/Pfizer Biopharmaceutical in Clondalkin

• 95 per cent of people employed in the plant have third level qualifications

• Employs over 1,000 people

• Invested over €640 million in Science Foundation Ireland



• Manufacturing is also now widely dispersed

• Five of the world’s top 10 software companies located here

• Dublin region is highly dependent on foreign investment with over 800 of its companies from overseas and 350 of those US-based companies

• An issue that is worrying the Irish government

• Hit with many job losses: in 2005 alone 43 per cent of the 21,500 job losses nationally were in the Dublin region


TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Tourism

• The region is the main point of entry for visitors to the country

• Benefited from the removal of Shannon as a stopover point

• 27 per cent of Irish visitors stay in region

• Tourism earns €1 billion for the region annually

• In 2008 over 4 million tourists visited Dublin

• 90 per cent of all scheduled air flights to Ireland land at Dublin airport

• A year round business


TERTIARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Tourism (continued)

• Governmental involvement

• Easily accessible for visitors because of the many modes of public transport

• Dublin City Council’s involvement

• Well-developed accommodation

• Faílte Ireland has a very successful marketing strategy for the Dublin region

• A city break location, third most popular city break destination in 2003


TRANSPORT

• Most efficient transport system in the country

• Governmental investment under the NDP

• Dublin port processes 50 per cent of Irish trade

• Dublin airport is the largest in the country and a major employer; it handled 20.9 million passengers in 2009

• Well developed public transport system with Dublin Bus, DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) and the LUAS light rail system

• Suffers badly from traffic congestion


TRANSPORT (continued)

• 90 per cent of all commercial transport is by road

• In 1997 during peak times traffic speed had been reduced in the city to 14 km per hour

• Introduced the Transport 21 scheme

• In 2006 construction of Dublin Port Tunnel

• Upgrade the M50

• Create seven new LUAS lines


TRANSPORT (continued)

• Expansion of the DART lines to double its capacity

• Expansion of QBCs

• A fivefold increase in taxi numbers

• Government need to introduce a policy of higher density housing along public transport routes

• This is in line with the European model of cities

• Urban infill is also a policy that could be investigated


THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY

• Expanded rapidly since the 1950s

• Zone of influence is now a large proportion of the Eastern half of the country

• Dominant primate city

• Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century

• Low-lying land at the mouth of Dublin Bay

• Bridging point

• Centre of trade and administration

• Focus of road and rail networks


THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY (continued)

• Combined population of Dublin City, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath is 1.6 million

• In 1971, Dublin City had 35.7 per cent of the population and this is likely to increase to almost 46 per cent of the national population by 2020 if current trends continue

• Leader in economic performance

• Average economic output per worker is 108 per cent higher than the national average

• Centre of Irish Government and the headquarters of many private companies



• City has expanded due to influx of foreign migrants and rural to urban migration

• Wide variety of educational and healthcare services

• Excellent communications systems

• Modern telecommunication services

• 1970s uncontrolled expansion of the city

• Planners designed and created new towns on Dublin’s rural-urban fringe, e.g. Blanchardstown



• People continually leaving the city to live within commutable distance as house prices in the city are still up to €100,000 more expensive than in the rest of the country

• 2007 a new town to the west developed – Adamstown

• People move to Kildare, Meath and Wicklow and commute to the city for work

• Massive traffic congestion

• Workers live as far away as Carlow (90 km) from the city centre



• Newly dispersed Dublin City: three new county councils – Dun Laoghaire, Fingal and South Dublin county councils – were created

• Dublin Corporation is responsible for issues such as water, sewage and other public services

• Irish government – National Spatial Strategy (NSS) to combat the growth of Dublin by establishing gateways, e.g. Galway and hubs, e.g. Kilkenny

• Encourage development in the gateway and hub locations in the Dublin region



• The NSS will encourage that: vacant land in the city will be listed and redeveloped

existing housing is utilised

old warehouses are regenerated for business use

older people are moved to smaller houses to make larger houses more available to families

Chapter 24: The Dynamics of Irish Regions II: The Dublin Region SECTION (1): CONTRASTING IRISH...

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