Commuter patterns profiled

The majority of workers in most towns of Ireland were commuters in 2006, according to new data released today.

A report published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found that Dublin had 48,000 more commuting workers than workers resident in the city in April 2006.

Sligo and Castlebar saw their number of workers almost double due to commuting

while Swords, Greystones, Bray, Navan and Drogheda saw the greatest losses due to commuter effects.

The major cities saw a 'dormitory effect', with Celbridge, Greystones, Malahide and Balbriggan appearing as large net losers of commuters to Dulbin City.

The pattern is repeated for the towns around Cork City, with significant numbers travelling from Carrigaline, Cobh and Midleton.

Twenty-seven towns, each with a working population of more than 5,000 persons, were profiled in the survey in which commuting patterns, the industrial sectors in which workers were employed and their educational and socio-economic characteristics were recorded.

The selected towns accounted for 42 per cent of the total persons at work in Ireland in April 2006.

Large numbers of workers were employed in the same sectors in many of the towns. Manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and health and social work employed large numbers in almost all of them. The dominant mode of transport to work was the car.