Population the highest since 1861

A MINI baby boom and an ongoing influx of immigrants has pushed the population to its highest in nearly 150 years, figures show.

Ireland now has the fastest growing population in Europe with 70,000 people immigrating in the last year alone, according to the Central Statistic Office (CSO). Some 16,600 emigrants left, the lowest since records began in 1987.

The natural increase in population births minus deaths was 33,500 for the 12 months to April 2005, more than double the level seen in 1994.