There has been some discussion recently as to where jobs in Ireland are being created, with the claim the notion that most of the jobs are going to Dublin. It is true that of the 8 regions in Ireland, Dublin is getting the most jobs, but this is to be expected given that Dublin is the biggest region.

Perhaps the best way to examine where the jobs are is to look at how the share of jobs in each region has changed. During the ‘real’ Celtic Tiger Dublin lost job share to the Mid-East region (the commuter belt). Overall these changes are relatively small.

Between Q2 2008 and Q2 2015 Dublin’s share has risen by 29.7% to 30.2%. This isn’t particularly dramatic. If Dublin were to have the same job share in Q2 2015 as Q2 2008 the difference would be roughly 10,000 jobs. Not nothing, but not a huge change over seven years.

The table below shows that changes in the regional share of employment have not been dramatic either. Although proportionately the South-East was the second hardest hit region (after the Border region) from 2008 to 2012 (losing 22% of jobs) it subsequently gained the most, leaving it’s share roughly stable.

Overall, the regional story is best understood by examining long term trends rather than changes during the recession. Recovery is not complete, but the regions that lost the most jobs are the ones that subsequently gained the most.