The NEIC: What are we talking about?

Historically the area defined as the north east inner city of Dublin (NEIC) is from Dublin Bay to the east and Drumcondra Road/ Dorset Street/Bolton Street and Arran Street East to the west.   

To the south, the area is defined by the River Liffey, while to the north the border is a wide arc made up of the Tolka River to the west and all of East Wall to the east.  This area is inclusive of all of Dublin 1 and parts of Dublin 3.

This is the wider NEIC area, within that, there are smaller distinct communitis, such as the communities of Sean McDermott Street, Summerhill, Ballybough, East Wall, North Wall, North Strand, the Five Lmaps and Mountjoy Square.  There are also new community strongholds such as Parnell Street, the communties of Dominicl Street, the NCR, and the shopping and commerical districts including the IFSC and Henry Street/ MAry Street/ North Earl Street/Talbot Street as well as the historically significant O'Connell Street and Moore Street.

This is not a homogenous community but it is a community that  has experienced and continues to experience disadvantage and margialisation, more saliently a series of communities that experience relatively higher levels of disadvantage than Dublin City and nationally.   Key to understanding inner city communities is to be aware that the overall statistics and information on the city masks the deprivation therein and that macro average figures tell us nothing about the true experiences of the most disadvantaged.

North East Inner City: The total population of the NEIC is 45,816, a  78% increase in population 20 years.

Pobal Map of Deprivation NEIC 

The Pobal HP Deprivation Index in simple terms, is a method of measuring the relative afflunece or disadvantage of a particular geographical area using data complied from census material.  A scoring is given to the area based on a national average of zero and ranging from approximately  -35 (being the most disadvantaged) to + 35 (being the most affluent). See colour coding below. 

• The quadrant of the north east inner city area is make up of 11 ED’s all to the north east of the city. The 11 ED’s in this part of the city are Ballybough A, Ballybough B, Drumcondra South B, Mountjoy A, Mountjoy B, North City, North Dock A, North Dock B, North Dock C, Rotunda A and Rotunda B.
• Within the 11 ED’s there are 173 small areas, of which 24 are disadvantaged, 10 small areas are very disadvantaged and 14 small areas are disadvantaged.
• The overall deprivation score of the NEIC is 6.02, which is marginally above average, but as with all parts of the city this hides the complexity of the area.