Fingal or Dublin?

So, I have to admit that I'm not quite sure where we live. North Dublin is a strange place in terms of municipal services. Our postal address is County Dublin, but we are served by Fingal County Council. Some services come from Dublin Regional Authority, and some from Fingal County Council. Finding out which is which can be a nightmare.

When I first arrived back in August I had to get a PPS number, which is your work permit / tax number. The address on the government website said go to Balbriggan Social Services office, so off I went. Got there and they told me that it's been handled by Dublin County for the past 3 years. Great, thanks for updating the website. So off I went to the city, no great hassle.

Last week I had to visit the Motor Tax office to get my driving learner permit. I walk in to the main office in Dublin (near Smithfield, but that's another story) and there's a big sign saying you must apply for the license in your home county. Seeing as I really have no idea what my home county is, I took a number and sat down. Lo and behold I was in the right place, and now I have my very own Irish driving permit (provisional).

Anyway, here's what Wikipedia has to say about the local government structure...'At present, many organisations, state agencies and sporting teams continue to operate on a "County Dublin" basis. Subsequently, much confusion exists around the legitimacy of the new counties - though they do have administrative county status, the only protected recognition of a county within the Republic of Ireland. County Dublin is now defined in legislation solely as the "Dublin Region" under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993,^[1] and this is the terminology officially used by the four Dublin administrative councils in press releases concerning the former county area.

Yeah, I'm still confused.