The Dublin–Belfast corridor (population 3.3 million) is a term used to loosely describe a geographical area that encompasses

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's capital city,

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 ...

and

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

's capital city,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

. It also includes the smaller cities of

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with th ...

and

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

; major towns such as

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

and

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 hal ...

; and the Dublin

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

suburb of

Swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for th ...

. The term has been used in papers regarding planning strategies in the area, with the aim of capitalising on the expanding economies of both cities. Since the implementation of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

, the corridor exists inside the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

on its Irish side, and outside the European Union on its

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

side, but there is no so-called "

hard border The impact of Brexit on the Irish border and its adjacent polities involves changes in trade, customs, immigration checks, local economies, services, recognition of qualifications, medical cooperation, and other matters, now that it is the o ...

" between the two states.

Economy

The main economic engines of the region are the

Greater Dublin Area The Greater Dublin Area (GDA; Irish: ''Mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath''), or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of Dublin and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. As of 2022, its ...

and the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Greater Dublin has a GDP of around €85 billion (2012) while Belfast Metropolitan Area has €30 bn (2013) giving a total regional GDP of €115 bn.

Infrastructure

The main route linking the two cities is along the M1 and N1 in the Republic of Ireland and the A1 and M1 in Northern Ireland. There is also the

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

train service connecting the two city regions. The

There are three major airports:

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport ( Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south of ...

(32.9 million passengers; 2018),

Belfast International Airport Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...

(6.2 million passengers; 2019) and

Belfast City Airport George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (fo ...

(2 million passengers; 2019) which together deal with over 40 million passengers each year. For the two cities: *Dublin is served by the

Dublin Suburban Rail The Dublin Suburban Rail ( ga, Iarnród Bruachbhailteach Baile Átha Cliath) network, branded as DART/ Commuter, is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland, most of the Greater Dublin Area and outlying towns. The system is ma ...

network,

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

network,

Luas Luas (pronounced ; Irish for "speed") is a tram/ light rail system in Dublin, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line which opened on 26 September 2004. Since then, both lin ...

tram network,

Dublin Area Rapid Transit The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (stylised as DART) is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin's suburban railway network, stretching from Gre ...

and the planned MetroLink. *Belfast is served by the Belfast Suburban Rail network,

Metro (Belfast) Metro is the trading name for bus company Citybus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, within the common management structure of Translink, along with Ulsterbus and Northern Ir ...

bus service, the new Glider (Belfast) bus rapid transport system and some

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which als ...

services.

References

External links

Belfast GDP

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...

Dublin GDP

Dublin Chamber of Commerce Dublin Chamber of Commerce also known as the Dublin Chamber, is the oldest chamber of commerce in Ireland. Origins The Dublin Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1783. It had been preceded by other collective bodies including the Guild of Merch ...

Irish Planning Institute – Dublin–Belfast corridor2012 Dublin Regional GDP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin-Belfast Corridor Belfast Dublin (city) Geography of Ireland Transport in Ireland Transport in Northern Ireland Transport corridors

Economy

Infrastructure

See also

References

External links