Surge of emigrants return

Political Reporter

Overall, 366,800 Irish migrants returned to Ireland in that period more than half the total long-term migrants who came to live here at that time.

But a large number of foreign long-term migrants also came to live here in that time 277,600, according to the Census 2002 report on Usual Residence, Migration, Birthplaces and Nationalities, published yesterday.

The CSO report also gives an interesting snapshot of the number of people who moved into the State 12 months before the census was taken.

It shows 76,000 people moved here in that year and that two thirds of these were born outside the country.

Now one out of every six people who have made their homes in Ireland has lived abroad for one year or more, according to Census 2002.

The latest CSO report also reveals that between 1996 and 2002:

644,400 long-term migrants came to live here.

57% were returned Irish migrants.

43% were foreigners.

And more than half the long-term migrants who came to Ireland in that time were from Britain, according to the Census 2002 report. The majority of the returned Irish migrants who came here between 1996 and 2002 were from Western counties which were heavily affected by emigration in the last century.

The breakdown shows that of these returned Irish migrants 22% came from Mayo, 21% from Donegal, 21% from Leitrim and 20% from Galway.

But a survey of the 76,000 people who moved here in the year before the census was taken shows that two thirds of them were foreigners. And their age profile was quite young 44% of them between 20 and 29 and two out of three were single.

A new question on nationality in the latest census revealed 5.8% of people living here are non-nationals. The highest number of these are concentrated in the Dublin area (7.2%), the next highest number are in Kerry (6.8), followed by Offaly (3.6%) and Laois (3.8%).

Now 10% of those aged between the ages of 25 and 34 were non-Irish nationals.

But still the majority of people living here when the census was taken in 2002 were born in the country. The CSO report shows that 90% were Irish, 5% were born in England and Wales and 3% were outside the EU.

Interestingly, it reveals that most people stayed in their county of birth, while one in five chose to live outside their native county.

And more than half of the 337,000 people who changed address in the 12 months before the census was taken stayed within the same county.