Capital leads way as most popular tourist destination

Dublin is by a long distance the most popular destination for overseas tourists to Ireland, attracting an estimated 3.6m visitors in 2012.

Research by Fáilte Ireland shows that more that half of all foreign travellers to the Republic visit the capital during their stay.

Cork was the second most popular destination in 2012, with the county receiving more than 1.2m visitors, representing almost one in five of all overseas tourists to the Republic that year.