Tag Archives: Census 2022

POPULATION projections in the forthcoming County Development Plan have been described as “utterly redundant”, on foot of new Census data.  Addressing the July meeting of the local authority, Councillor Cillian Molloy pointed to figures showing a population increase in Clare of 7.2% since 2016. Meanwhile, the plan allows growth of 9.94% up to 2029. In light of that, Councillor Murphy had asked that clarity be sought from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). Referring to a response from the OPR, which said it had no comment to make, Councillor Murphy was sharply critical.  “We have already reached 75% of our future projected population growth out to 2029 even  before submissions to the draft have been taken into consideration and the unelected body, who will run a rule over what we are told repeatedly is our County Development Plan, will not offer us any clarity as to what we can do …

WORK is ongoing on a new county development plan, which will have strict limits on the amount of houses that can be built in Clare, despite the burgeoning population. In the past six years the county’s population has increased by 7.2%, with the amount of housing units going up by just 4.2%. For the upcoming county development plan, which is set to cover the period 2023-2029, Clare is set to be restricted to just having 4,500 new houses. These will largely be in urban parts of the county and it is something that many of the councillors feel is far too restrictive. Councillor Pat Burke said that the new census figures weren’t considered before the restrictions were produced. “Under the county development plan, up to now anyway, there was no mention of taking these figures into consideration.” He said that the growth in population is only seen in certain areas of Clare. “It’s definitely not in the rural areas. Private …

WITH the county’s population having grown by over 7% in the last six years and gone up 40% since 1991, it’s hardly surprising that the existing housing stock is under serious pressure. Clearly there continues to be great demand for housing in Clare, with house prices here now higher than during the Celtic Tiger years, and with renters in many cases paying over €1,000 a month for a house. Enda Galvin of Galvin Construction said that there is a high level of demand. “We are currently building in Crusheen, we’ve commenced 29 homes there and got planning for 42 more. “We’re also building in Tulla, we’re building 17 homes there and have planning in for a further 36. In the next month or two we’re hoping to open a site and build homes in Shannon. We’re finding it very busy and there is a big demand.” He said that at the moment there is a shortage of sites in the …

THE population of Clare has increased by 40% in a generation, preliminary figures from Census 2022 have revealed. Figures published from this year’s census found that Clare’s 2022 population is 127,419, up by 7.2% on 2016. It is slightly less than the 7.6% increase in population for the Republic as a whole, but represents a substantial increase from the census of 1991, one generation ago. That year, Clare’s population was just 90,918, which was a slight drop from the previous census, but every one held since has seen an increase. Clare now has an extra 36,517 living within its borders than it did then, an increase of 40%.  The increased population has been reflected in a number of capacity issues seen in the county in recent years, with health services, schools and housing struggling to keep up with the pressure from the rise in residents. Since the last census in the 2016 the population has gone up by 8,602. There …

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released the preliminary results from Census 2022, documenting a number of key changes in county Clare. In Clare the preliminary figures show that the population on April 3 was recorded at 127,419, an increase of 8,602 (+7.2%) since 2016. The population increase in Clare is largely in line with the national trend which showed a 7.6% increase in population from 4,761,865 to 5,123,536. The population in Clare included 64,733 females and 62,686 males. This was made up of a natural increase (ie births minus deaths) of 3,122 and an estimated net inward migration (ie population change minus natural increase) of 5,480. The total housing stock in Clare in April 2022 was 58,148, which represented an increase of 2,369 (4.2%) since 2016. The increase in housing stock in Clare is below the national average of 6%, which will not come as a surprise to those seeking to access a home. The increase in housing stock …

HUNDREDS of East Clare homes are still waiting to receive their forms, almost two weeks after Census night. The CSO has put the delay down to “a number of factors including enumerator vacancies in a small number of areas, a householder being unable to receive a form in person or an enumerator not having sufficient access to the premises to leave a census form in a secure location”. While a spokesperson described the number of homes without forms as “small”, local estimates put the figure at at least 500. It is understood the issue affects areas including Flagmount, Feakle, Scariff, Killaloe and Broadford. “If you were writing a book about this, people just wouldn’t believe it,” said Councillor Pat Hayes. “It’s very unsatisfactory and I’m totally annoyed. I understand there was a staffing issue for the CSO, but the solutions that were put in place to solve the problem clearly didn’t work. “You’d imagine that in the modern world this …

THE mother of a Clare child who died tragically in a car crash has paid tribute to her daughter in an emotional message in the new time capsule section of the Census. Amy Dutil-Wall’s daughter Estlin Luna died in a crash on her way to creche on March 15 2017 in Inagh, just days before the youngster was due to celebrate her fourth birthday. Estlin’s father Vincent also suffered a brain injury in the crash. There was controversy recently when it emerged the man who was convicted of careless driving causing Estlin’s death was seeking the early return of his driving licence (see Champion story here). For the first time, Census 2022 featured a time capsule section, a dedicated space at the end of the census form for people to leave a message for their descendents, future generations and historians which will be released in 100 years. Sharing her time capsule entry on social media, Amy said she felt “comfort” …

NUMEROUS people in parts of East Clare didn’t receive a national Census form, it emerged this week. Deputy Michael McNamara has confirmed people living in Scariff, Tuamgraney, Feakle, Killaloe and rural locations near Flagmount didn’t receive a Census form, which they were required to complete on Sunday night. The Independent Deputy said it seemed there was a blanket exclusion for some rural parts of East Clare as well as those living within the urban speed limits of Scariff. “The legal obligation for people is to fill in a Census form if you are given one. Everyone should have been given a Census form. “If the government didn’t have enough enumerators, they should have sent the Census forms by post,” the TD said. “Completing the Census is important for a variety of reasons. Funding is allocated based on population. “If Shannon was a town with a population of in excess of 10,000, there would be more funding streams open to it. …