A lot of people were very confused about Tallaght’s population last night!
By Laura Lyne
WITH the excitement of Euro 2016 and the ultimate underdog team Iceland beating England in the final 16, there was a lot of support for a country which has a population “the size of Tallaght”.
Yes, according to quite a few supporters online – Iceland has a population the size of Tallaght, or smaller than Tallaght, in a few cases.
So with the numerous questions surrounding the population, we decided to clarify. Is Tallaght’s population the same as the European underdogs of the summer? Well…
The official population of Iceland, according to the World Bank, is 323,002. Tallaght, while considered one of the largest towns in Ireland that should possibly be classed as a city, doesn’t quite hit that mark. In fact, we’d probably need to build a lot more houses to reach that (but that’s another conversation…)
While the 2016 census results are due next month and the figures are likely to change, most likely with an increase, the 2011 census lists the population of South Dublin as 265,205. Just under 60,000 short of the population of Iceland…
South Dublin incorporates the electoral areas of Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan, Rathfarnham, Templeogue and Terenure. So, what is the population of Tallaght?
Before we completely debunk the theory that a team the size of Tallaght beat England, we’d also like to clarify that not everyone claimed that theory – some people said Iceland is a country three and four times the size of Tallaght. And that theory is actually closer to the mark.
South Dublin County Council’s count of Tallaght, according to the 2011 census is 83, 152. The 2011 census, while taking in the immediate area, lists the population as 69, 454. When considering the wider electoral area of Tallaght the population is 103,301.
We’ve all heard the theory that Tallaght is a town the size of Limerick City. For clarification purposes, Limerick City’s 2011 census population is 95,854.
Not quite the size of Iceland then! Still, you can’t doubt the amazing victory our neighbours to the left of the country managed to achieve. As for our neighbours to the right, well lets pull out the most overused joke of the past 24 hours and say…it seems England made an exit from Europe twice this week!
