Population grows by almost a million in 30 years

IRELAND’S population has increased by close to a million in the past three decades while women are still outliving men by almost five years.

Of all births, 30% are to single mothers, compared with 6% in 1984, and the most popular babies’ names in 2003 were Seán and Emma.

These are among some of the more striking facts contained in the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2004, published yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.