Fingal County Council

Fingal County Council is the third largest local authority in Ireland and covers half of the Dublin County area. Since its establishment in 1994 Fingal’s population has more than doubled from 150,000 to 330,000 and is home to urban, suburban, rural and coastal communities to whom the council provides 924 different services. Fingal is the European base for some the world’s leading companies and, with a young and well-educated workforce, is one of the leading drivers of Ireland’s growing economy.

Tourism in turn is one of Fingal’s most important economic drivers. The sector plays a key role in Fingal’s rural and urban local economies and accounts for a significant amount of employment characterised by large numbers of SMEs, with 800 businesses providing accommodation and catering services. Guest accommodation supports an estimated 3,000 full time job equivalents and the catering sector provides a further 2,000 jobs (Source: Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029). Through Dublin Airport, Fingal also provides the primary national link between Ireland and international tourists.

Fingal is hugely diverse in population and geography, and our tourism offering is no different. The Fingal motto ‘Flúirse Talaimh is Mara’ (rich in land and sea) is reflected in the rich variety of natural amenities including Special Amenity Areas such as Howth and the Liffey Valley, heritage, arts, culture, recreation and leisure within it’s borders. A stunning landscape includes 88km of coastline from Balbriggan to Howth, urban centres such as the County seats of Swords and Blanchardstown, and picturesque towns and villages in idyllic rural settings with the breathing room of the countryside, stretching all the way from the Naul across to the magnificent Liffey Valley and Phoenix Park. With long sandy beaches, rugged coastline, stunning heritage properties, ancient castles, majestic gardens, a wide range of arts and cultural venues offering a year long programme of events, indoor and outdoor sport and leisure activities, combined with a thriving hospitality sector encompassing diverse culinary traditions, and local producers, there is truly something for everyone in Fingal.

Our Tourism and Cultural Development team drive the development and promotion of Fingal as a tourist destination in collaboration with national agencies Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland and key strategic partners including ITIC and our colleagues in each of the Dublin Local Authorities. Our vision is to consolidate Fingal’s position as a tourism destination with a choice of local, cultural, culinary, coastal and outdoor experiences across the county that showcase the strengths, assets and opportunities of the area and lead to sustainable and inclusive tourism sector growth; while our mission is to provide a sustainable and collaborative road-map which supports all tourism stakeholders in working together to deliver a tourism proposition which will deliver maximum sustainable, economic and social benefit for Fingal (Fingal Tourism Strategy 2024-2029).