Traditional families on the decline in main Irish cities

The number of traditional families in Ireland's main cities has declined in recent years, according to figures published today by the Central Statistics Office.

The CSO says the latest census shows there are around 475,000 traditional families - defined as a husband, wife and children - in the Irish State.

This is up 3.3% since 2002, but the number of such families in the main cities has fallen over the same period.

Dublin has the least number, while Meath has the most.

Elsewhere, the CSO says the number of one-person households has increased by almost 19% since 2002, while co-habiting couples now make up 12% of all family units.