Greystones
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Greystones (Na Clocha Liatha in Irish) is a coastal town in County Wicklow, Ireland, just south of Bray. Greystones has a stony beach and now has the southern terminal station of the DART line. The town is surrounded by the Irish sea to the East, Bray Head to the North and the Wicklow mountains to the West.
Greystones has experienced a huge increase in its population since the 1970s, with the construction of several large housing estates. As of the national census of 2002, Greystones had a population of 10,303 with a further 1,610 in its environs. This makes it the second largest town in County Wicklow. It is a dormitory town with many of its residents working in the nearby city of Dublin.
Politics
Greystones is part of the Ireland East EU constituency and the Wicklow Dáil constituency. In local government Greystones has four councillors on Wicklow County Council. It has a town council with nine councillors, headed by the Mayor, Chris Moloney. Though it is larger in population than Arklow and Wicklow towns, Greystones has been limited to Town Council status while its two smaller neighbours enjoy Urban District status, which gives them greater autonomy and control of their own finances. Expect this to generate growing passion as the exploding population soon makes it the most populous town in the county.
Residents
Greystones and its environs (including Delgany) are home to several Irish celebrities including:
- Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners
- Bryan McFadden (formerly of Westlife) and Kerry McFadden (formerly of Atomic Kitten). These two separated in 2004. (In any case, many rather more interesting people such as writers, artists and more musicians live in the area.)