Population at highest point in 150 years

IRELAND’S population has risen to its highest point in 150 years and is at least 100,000 people higher than predicted.

Figures revealed as part of the preliminary census results show the population now stands at 4,581,269 people.

The rate is more than 341,421 people higher than in 2006 when the four-million mark was broken for the first time since 1871.