Get decentralisation back on track

THE latest Census of Population took place on April 10, this year.

The CSO published their preliminary findings on June 30. The time taken was 55 working days. Given the scale of the operation, that time lag was excellent. It shows how teamwork in the civil service works at its best. The results are a treasure trove of data.

The census shows that 28% of the population now live within the borders of Co Dublin. I reckon that approximately 50%, 75% and 100% of the population now lie within radii of 90km, 180km and 330km, respectively, from central Dublin.

This indicates that Dublin is like a gravitational black hole that forever sucks in the population from the rest of Ireland. That process is accelerating out of control.

The Spire in O’Connell Street reminds us of the colossal population of Dublin and its environs. The excess of population inflow towards Dublin continues to overspill into the surrounding dormitory counties and beyond. The tipping point will occur when the distances from outermost suburbia to the city centre exceed a critical limit beyond which commuting to work becomes either physically exhausting or economically unviable.

Dublin’s outer suburbs now extend over one-third of the way from central Dublin to Cork city. The infrastructure of the Greater Dublin area will collapse under its own weight, sooner than we realise. Already, they want to build a new hospital where it will be difficult to reach. Not even James Joyce would find words to describe it.

The Government should take back control. They should reintroduce plans to decentralise all civil service departments . The ghost estates would help to meet the consequent demand for re-housing. Many people working in Dublin already live well outside the capital anyway. Decentralisation was one of the few positive legacies from the recent era of economic debauchery. It was the right policy.

Michael Mernagh

Carrigaline

Co Cork