Niamh Hourigan: Population growth opens a new chapter in the story of Irish society

Ireland's population topping 5m for the first time since the 1850s is a pivotal moment for a country often defined by emigration

Population figures — and the stories of people such as these emigrants getting their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in New York — have long been a shorthand for a much larger story about Irish history. Picture: Edwin Levick/Getty

The release of CSO figures this week shows that the population of the Republic of Ireland has crossed the symbolic 5m threshold. 

Since the mid 19th century, population figures have always represented a shorthand for telling a much larger story about Irish society — a story of famine, a story of emigration, and often a story of rural decline.