Baby boom replaces building boom as births rise by 10%

IRELAND’S birth rate rose by almost 10% for the first three months of this year, the largest baby boom for almost 28 years.

At the same time, the country’s death rate has been falling steadily since 1999.

The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for the first quarter of 2008 was 11,615, one of the largest quarterly natural increases since records began.