Birth rate begins to slow down

IRELAND’S faltering economy could be impacting on the country’s birth rate as the number of babies born in the first three months of 2009 has fallen by almost 2% over the same period last year.

The Irish birth rate – the highest in the EU – has begun to slow down from the record 19,154 babies born in the same period last year.

However, new figures from the Central Statistics Office don’t indicate any immediate end to the latest baby boom as there were 18,787 births recorded between January and March this year – the fourth highest quarterly figure this decade.