Dublin is Ireland’s capital city and is closely connected to the rest of the island by road and rail. Its air, sea and digital links also guarantee excellent connectivity with the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
Digital Connectivity
Dublin benefits from one of Europe’s most advanced and competitive telecommunications infrastructures. An extensive fibre optic network provides world-class national and international connectivity. The Irish telecommunications market is fully deregulated and a number of companies operate within it, including Eir, ESB telecoms, and Virgin Media.
Mobile networks in Dublin
A mixture of 3G and 4G mobile networks are available in Dublin. Three mobile providers operate their own networks in the market: Vodafone, Eir mobile and Three Ireland. These providers also lease wireless telephone and data spectrum to a number of mobile virtual network operators, including 48, Lycamobile, Postmobile, Tesco Mobile and Virgin Media. A nationwide coverage map is available.
A transport hub
Dublin Airport
Dublin is home to Ireland’s busiest airport, which is easily accessible by road from the city centre (25-35 mins). The airport is one of the top 20 in Europe for both direct and hub connectivity. It connects the city to over 180 destinations in 42 countries across four continents, handling 30 million passengers a year. US Pre-Clearance facilities at Dublin Airport (and also Shannon Airport in the south of the country) are the only ones of their kind in Europe, making travel to the USA especially easy.
New connections in 2019 include direct flights from Dublin to Montreal, Minneapolis and Stuttgart.
Number of flights weekly to Dublin from other cities:
- UK Other 480
- London 388
- Paris 77
- Amsterdam 94
- Frankfurt 42
- Zurich 18
- New York 56
- Toronto 19
- San Francisco 7
- Los Angeles 11
- Dubai 14
- Beijing 4
- Hong Kong 4
Source: Airport Authorities, based on summer schedules for 2018
Dublin Port
Dublin is a port city and Dublin’s deep-water port is a modern and sophisticated facility that caters for freight, ferry and cruise traffic. Just minutes from the city centre, it is quickly and easily accessible by road and by public transport.
Its main activity is freight handling and 82% of the port’s volumes are in Ro-Ro trailers or Lo-Lo containers. Ro-Ro volumes grew by 4.3% to 768,000 units in the first three quarters of 2018 while Lo-Lo containers grew by 5.5% to 544,000 TEU. 9.5 million tonnes of cargo was handled at Dublin Port in Q4 2018, an increase of 3% YoY.
Source: Dublin Port
Dublin Port volumes overall continue to grow at an extraordinary rate; by the end of 2018, it had experienced a 36% growth in six years. In order to handle this growth, a development plan, ‘Masterplan 2040’, has been implemented with a view to significantly increase the port’s capacity over the next 20 years.
Roads
The implementation of the government’s ‘Transport 21’ strategy saw a rapid improvement in Ireland’s road and motorway network. This has strengthened Ireland’s national and international connectivity for motorists and freight traffic, promoting sustainable national economic and employment growth.
Rail network
Irish Rail is Ireland’s rail network and has the youngest inter-city fleet in Europe, a result of recent significant investments in rolling stock. These have been complemented by infrastructural improvements. The initiatives have radically improved service capacity and reliability and passenger demand has responded, averaging 4% growth PA.