The impact of the economic boom - and the wide divisions left in its wake - are clearly demonstrated by new details from the 2002 Census, published yesterday.
They confirm the huge increase in the number of people at work, which has risen by 25 per cent since the last census in 1996 to almost 1.65 million by April 28th last year, the day when all citizens were obliged to fill out the census form.
However, the survey highlights the gap between affluent parts of the State where the unemployment rate is 5 to 7 per cent and 88 electoral districts defined as economic " blackspots", where unemployment averaged 24 per cent. The lowest unemployment rate is 5.7 per cent in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown in south Dublin, while the highest is Knocknalower, adjacent to Belmullet, Co Mayo, with a rate of 40.1 per cent.
The census figures will spark a debate on the proper way to measure unemployment. Because the census allows people to define their own position it shows a jobless rate more than double the 4.2 per cent in the normally quoted quarterly household survey for the same time. To qualify as unemployed, the quarterly survey takes the normal international definition of unemployed people as being available for and seeking employment.
Not surprisingly Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown tops the "socio-economic" league, with 26.3 per cent in the so-called "A" social category of employers and managers, closely followed by Fingal at 22.4 per cent.
However, it is the counties around Dublin which have shown some of the highest rates of population growth as the commuter belt spreads. Not surprisingly this trend has pushed up the average journey to work to 9.8 miles, from 6.7 miles in the previous census six years earlier. Rural-based workers travelled over twice as far to work in 2002 than they did in 1981, while significant proportions in the commuter counties around Dublin - over 30 per cent in most cases - now must undertake a journey of 20 miles or more to work.
The figures show that the average journey time to work is still under half an hour, with urban workers travelling a shorter distance but taking a bit longer because of traffic congestions.
The car remains the main form of transport for commuters, with its share for work journeys now 55.1 per cent, up from 46.3 per cent in 1996, while just half of primary children are now driven to primary school, with just over a quarter now walking. For work and school journeys, the bus represents a falling percentage of journeys while rail is increasing its share.
