In this sense the term signifies a set of attitudes said to be in opposition to those held by "the plain people of Ireland" by Irish commentators such as Desmond Fennell.

The term has been used to describe the aspirational upper middle-class from south Dublin and also used by Fianna Fáil members who like to portray themselves as being on the side of "the plain people of Ireland".

[9] Maeve Binchy's book, Dublin 4, contains a series of short stories set in the area.

[11] In the early 1980s, a group of people in Dublin 4 developed a different accent, partly in rejection of older views of Irishness.

[12] Two examples of "Dublin 4" being used to refer to alleged wealth: The area desperately needs the retention of this kind of local community hospital.

[16] The postal district forms the first part of numerous seven digit Eircodes that are unique to every single address in the area.

For addressing purposes, it appears in both its original form as Dublin 4 and as the first part of a seven digit postal code as D04 a line below.