The west ‘facing death by a thousand cuts’
Looking at men living in rural areas, who are particularly vulnerable, figures show there are more than 100,000 single males between 25 and 44 living in the countryside — that is almost half of the total male rural population and an increase of more than 70,000 in 10 years.
Coupled with this, there has been a massive decrease in the number of 25 to 29-year-olds living in rural areas. In 1996, there were almost 400,000 living in the countryside, but despite a rising population trend overall, this decreased to 101,703 in 2006.
Meanwhile, the number of over 65s is growing steadily. It stood at 203,971 in 2006, and population projections suggest in 50 years time a quarter of the country will be aged 65 or over.
According to Sinn Féin’s senator Pearse Doherty, the west of Ireland is facing “death by a thousand cuts”.
Travelling along the western seaboard, from west Cork to Donegal over the past year, Mr Doherty has compiled a comprehensive report entitled Awaking the West: Overcoming Social and Economic Inequalities.
According to the report, debated in the Seanad last week, 67.8% of the total population in the western region live outside population centres of 1,500 or more and depopulation is a major problem which is going untackled.
“The movement of people from rural communities within the West to urban centres between 1926 and 2002 saw a decline of 40% of the populations of Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Ros-common and Sligo,” he said.
“Along the western seaboard, from Donegal to west Cork, communities are fighting for their very survival. Government policy has proactively favoured the east coast of the country in infrastructure, job creation and political influence.”
The report also states that only 38% of the region’s graduates find their first place of employment in their home counties in comparison with 79.5% of Dublin’s graduates.
Recommendations include a call for a single government department to be given overall responsibility for regional development.
“I have met with communities who are fighting for their very survival, communities that have witnessed over previous decades the withdrawal of vital services and in these economic circumstances are seeing further cuts in services, further cuts in funding and further deepening of regional inequalities,” said Mr Doherty.
“The west has suffered the withdrawal and downgrading of vital services, such as public transport, post offices and Garda services. The destruction and collapse of traditional employment sectors, such as the textile and fishing industries, coupled with the exodus of small farmers has resulted in depopulation and led to unemployment and poverty.
“Given the rural and sparsely populated nature of the west of Ireland, and the isolation experienced by many, communities frequently feel helpless in their ability to halt the decline. Their voices are not being heard in the corridors of power. Their lobbies are too weak to exert the pressure that is needed to bring about change.”
Cllr Padraig Mac Lochlainn, Sinn Féin EU North West candidate and researcher on the report, said all too often reports were drawn up in Dublin from CSO statistics and with a few phone calls.
“We travelled the western seaboard and met with people to find out exactly what is going on in these communities,” he said.
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