Ireland's population growth five times EU average

Population growth in Ireland was more than five times the EU average in 2017, new figures have revealed.

The total number of residents in the Republic rose by 53,900 last year to almost 4.84m — an annual increase of 1.1% compared to the EU average of 0.2%.

It was the fourth highest rate of population growth within the EU during 2017, although Ireland still had the highest birth rate of any EU member state with 12.9 births per 1,000 population.