The Mid-East Region (coded IE062) is a NUTS Level III statistical region of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It consists of the territory of the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

, Louth, Meath and

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it ha ...

. The Mid-East spans 6,891 km², 9.8% of the total area of the state (roughly 7% of the

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

) and according to the 2016 census had a population of 688,857, roughly 14.5% of the national population From 1994 to 2014, the region was governed by the Mid-East Regional Authority. As of 2015, it is a strategic planning area within the

Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly The Eastern and Midland Region has been defined as a region in Ireland since 1 January 2015. It is a NUTS Level II statistical region of Ireland (coded IE06). NUTS 2 Regions may be classified as ''less developed regions'', ''transition ...

. The Mid-East has experienced continuous population growth since 1961. This growth is primarily influenced by the regions close proximity to Dublin. The region has large urban areas and contains almost 20 towns with a population of over 5,000. But the region mostly has a rural landscape and the total area of viable agricultural land in the Mid-East is 69%. The manufacturing industry employs a significant number of people in the region and it is the location of high tech industries in areas such as

Leixlip Leixlip ( or ; , IPA: �lʲeːmʲənˠˈwɾˠad̪ˠaːnʲ is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between ...

and Bray. The region contains notable tourist attractions such as Trim Castle, Kildare Cathedral,

Brú na Bóinne (; 'Palace of the Boyne' or more properly 'Valley of the Boyne') or Boyne valley tombs, is an area in County Meath, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It contains one of the world's most important prehistoric landscapes dating fro ...

and Glendalough. Prominent geographical features include the

River Liffey The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Rive ...

, the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. W ...

and the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the f ...

of Kildare which is a major centre of stud farming.

Former Regional Authority

From 1994, the Mid-East Region was administered by the Mid-East Regional Authority. The authority consisted of 21 elected representatives including the region's representative on the EU Committee of the Regions. These representatives met once a month and were nominated from the region's three local authorities: *Kildare County Council *Meath County Council *Wicklow County Council The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and their functions were transferred to the Regional Assemblies.

Territory

From 1 January 2015, it has corresponded to the Eastern strategic planning area within the

. The local government areas in the Mid-East are: *

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the so ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered ...

Territorial change

Under an EU revision to NUTS designations in 2018,

was transferred from the Border Region to the Mid-East Region, increasing the number of Mid-East counties from 3 to 4. Due to its position along the Dublin–Belfast corridor and strong economic ties with the Greater Dublin Area, Louth was removed from the Border Region despite sharing a border with

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. These changes had a number of implications. Although the least populous county in the Mid-East, the region's two largest towns are now

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and Drogheda, which are both in County Louth, and are Ireland's 6th and 8th largest towns respectively. With the addition of Louth, the Mid-East Region now also shares a border with

Demographics

Giving way to Irish in the Baile Ghib Gaeltacht - geograph

The Mid-East is the second fastest growing region in Ireland after

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. All four counties in the Mid-East have population growth rates well above the national average of 3.7%. The Greater Dublin Area refers to Dublin and its three surrounding counties, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, and contains 40% of the population of the state. Since the 2018 boundary changes, the population of Dublin and the Mid-East combined now stands at over 2 million. According to the 2016 census, the Mid-East had a population of 688,857, which constitutes 14.5% of the national population. Its population density was 100 persons per km, the second highest in the country. Kildare is the largest county in the Mid-East by population, and Meath is the largest by land area. Louth is the region's smallest county by both population and area. The Mid-East contains

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

's only

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

areas, both located in County Meath, at Ráth Chairn and

Baile Ghib Baile Ghib () is a small Gaeltacht ( Irish-speaking area) in County Meath, Ireland. It and one other village, Ráth Chairn, make up the Meath Gaeltacht. The Meath Gaeltacht has 1,591 inhabitants, representing 2% of the total population of Irela ...

. They were founded by emigrants from

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

in 1935 and 1937 respectively. With just 1,771 native Irish speakers between them, spread over a total area of 44km2, they are the two smallest Gaeltachts in Ireland. According to the 2016 Census, the percentage of Irish speakers by county in the Mid-East is: Kildare (40.2%), Meath (38.6%), Wicklow (36.6%) and Louth (34.1%). Louth has the lowest percentage of Irish speakers of any county in Ireland. The region has many large urban areas and contains 24 towns with a population of over 5,000; 14 of which have a population of over 10,000. 10 of these are located in Kildare, 7 in Meath, 5 in Wicklow and 2 in Louth.

Major settlements

A list of the ten largest settlements in the mid-east. Drogheda2005

County capitals are included and are shown in bold.

Economy

According to Eurostat figures for 2012, the region has GDP of €13,316 bn and a GDP per capita of €24,700. Figures released in February 2017, suggest that the unemployment rate in the region was 5.3% during 2016 - the lowest among other regions of the country.

References

{{Regions of RoI NUTS statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland