Greater Dublin Area
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Former boundaries
The urban part of Dublin and surrounding areas has been defined by various statutory instruments, mainly those referring to the Garda Síochána and Courts of the Republic of Ireland. However, since 2009, the Garda Division of the Dublin Metropolitan Area no longer overlaps, if it ever did, with the Greater Dublin Area; it is instead co-extensive with the Dublin Region.The city and five counties were mentioned in the order creating the Dublin Transportation Office, giving functions and representations to the office in the Greater Dublin Area, although not using the term. The office was purely advisory and had no executive powers. The term was also defined in section 3 of the Dublin Transportation Authority Bill, 2008. This bill was never enacted. On 1 December 2009 the DTO was dissolved so this term, if it ever had legal significance, ceased to have relevance as far as the DTO is concerned.
Garda usage
The Garda used the term the Dublin Metropolitan Region which was formerly the jurisdiction, within the eastern part of Ireland, of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, which was subsequently merged into An Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. This jurisdiction covered parts of the old County Dublin as well as the County Kildare town of Leixlip and the County Wicklow towns of Bray, Greystones and Enniskerry. Swords was covered by the Meath Garda Division. In this way, it differed from the usual definition of County Dublin and did not even conform to the looser definition of the Greater Dublin Area. The definition no longer applies as during 2008 the Garda Divisions were realigned along Regional and county boundaries. As of 2009, the Dublin Metropolitan Region is co-extensive with the Dublin Region.Leixlip was moved to the County Kildare Division and became the district headquarters for the new Leixlip District . Bray moved into the new County Wicklow Division and became district headquarters for the Bray District .
The term originated from the ; that act amalgamated the Dublin Metropolitan Police and Garda Síochána as one national police force.
Planning usage
The 2003 Regional Planning Guidelines referred to the Greater Dublin Area as a planning district separated into a "metropolitan area" and a "hinterland area".The "metropolitan area" included both suburbs and commuter towns, covering the area from Swords and Malahide in Fingal, to Greystones in County Wicklow in the south, and as far west as Kilcock in County Kildare. This area differs from the Garda "metropolitan region" scope, in that it stretches approximately 20 km further west.
The "hinterland area" of the Greater Dublin Area was defined in the Regional Planning Guidelines as including a "range of towns of various sizes together with extensive areas of countryside".
Population
The population of the Dublin City, suburbs and Outer Greater Dublin as of Census 2016 was 1,904,806 persons. This equates to 40.03% of Ireland's population. Estimates published by the Central Statistics Office suggest that the population will reach 2.1 million by 2021, and 2.4 million by 2026. The figures are based on a regional breakdown of previously published national population projections and assume that current demographic trends will continue.The CSO also uses the narrower definition which comprises Dublin City and its suburbs within the 3 local Dublin authorities.
The boundaries for suburbs are not legally defined, but drawn and revised by the CSO in accordance with United Nations recommendations. The population distribution of the Greater Dublin Area as of the 2011 and 2016 censuses was as follows: