This report presents the results of an independent socioeconomic analysis of Dublin’s South West Inner City (SWIC) carried out by Dr. Barra Roantree: an economist at Trinity College Dublin. It provides the most detailed description of the social and economic conditions in the SWIC undertaken to date, with a particular focus on issues related to child physical activity and sporting participation, education and employment, crime and policing, incomes and  deprivation, and health and well- being. It draws on a wide range of data sources, including the results of the 2022 Census, administrative data from government departments and agencies, and a survey of students in the area. This independent report was commissioned by Sporting Liberties, a community-based organisation that aims to provide opportunities for young people in the area to participate in sports and other activities.

Key points of note:

• The crime rate in the SWIC is more than twice the national average. The SWIC largely overlaps with the Kevin Street An Garda Síochána (AGS) District which recorded 106.7 crimes per 1,000 of population in 2024. This was more than twice the national average of 40.4 per 1,000 and the fourth-highest of the 18 Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) Districts: behind only the central Store Street, Pearse Street and Bridewell Street districts.
• Crime has risen sharply since 2023 in the SWIC, with serious crimes up more than 20 per cent. The numbers of recorded crimes in the Kevin Street District increased by 11 per cent between 2023 and 2024, an increase of 590 crimes. This increase was largely a result of a rise in public order offences (up 51 per cent), damage to property and to the environment (up 21 per cent) and serious crimes like assaults and attempts/threats to murder (up 21 per cent).
• Less than 4-in-10 children living in the SWIC go to secondary school in the area. This is the lowest of any local electoral area in Dublin or of any urban local electoral area in the country. It contrasts with primary level where local enrolment rates look very similar to other parts of the city, county and country as a whole. 
• Third-level progression rates for students in these schools are less than half the national average. Just 36 per cent of students who sat the Leaving Certificate at schools in the SWIC went on to third-level in 2024. This progression rate is less than half of that in Dublin (81 per cent) or nationally (80 per cent).
• Just over half of families in the SWIC contain children, while a relatively high share of the 7,068 children in the area live in lone-parent households: 42.5 per cent in 2022, compared to just 30.6 per cent in Dublin City, 24.1 in Dublin County and 20.9 per cent nationally.
• Almost half of those living in a severely deprived part of Dublin’s inner city lives in the SWIC. Despite making up just a quarter of the inner city population, almost half of those living in a part of the city classified as Extremely or Very Disadvantaged live in the SWIC.
• Average incomes in the SWIC are substantially lower than Dublin as a whole. Average gross (pre-tax) household income for the SWIC was 60,036 in 2022: 16 per cent lower than the Dublin average. Average net (after tax) household income for the SWIC was 49,900 in 2022: 15 per cent lower than the Dublin average.
• The SWIC contains almost 60 per cent more drug addiction service providers per capita than Dublin City on average. Information obtained from the Health Research Board (HRB) shows there are 13 publicly funded drug addiction service providers in the SWIC, which corresponds to 0.290 providers per 1,000 of the population: almost 60 per cent more than the 0.182 per 1,000 across Dublin City on average.
• The number of drug poisoning deaths per capita in the SWIC is at least twice the national average. Recently published figures show that there were 22 drug poisoning deaths in the Dublin South City Local Health Office (LHO) area in 2021. This corresponds to a mortality rate of 0.145 per 1,000 of population: a third higher than the Dublin average and double the national average. However, the Dublin South City LHO area also includes parts of Terenure, Churchtown and Rathfarnham meaning that the figure for the SWIC itself is likely substantially higher.
• Just 22 per cent of primary schools and 8 per cent of secondary school students in the SWIC are meeting national physical activity guidelines. The share meeting these guidelines was far lower for girls than boys, at just 15 per cent for girls in primary schools and 5.3 per cent for girls in secondary schools compared to 28.4 per cent and 9.7 per cent for boys.
• There are currently no public pitches within the Grand Canal and North Circular Road, with just 2 of Dublin City Council’s 248 public pitches in the SWIC. Both of these pitches are located in East Timor Park at the south-west edge of the SWIC, inaccessible for the vast majority of those living in the SWIC. This corresponds to 22,427 people per playing pitch in the SWIC: almost 10 times higher than the average of 2,389 for Dublin City as a whole. While two new pitches are planned for the area, these will still leave the SWIC with just 1 pitch per 11,214 people.
• Half of primary students who rarely or never participate in organised sports outside of school say it is because there are not adequate facilities in their area. This is also the reason given by a fifth of the post-primary students who rarely or never participate in community sports, with almost a third saying the sports they like are not played in the area.