Irish Examiner view: Ireland must deliver promise of a better, sustainable, and just future

Much to welcome in population growth figures released by Central Statistics Office

According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office, the Republic of Ireland's population has exceeded 5 million for the first time since 1851. The number of non-Irish people nationals living in Ireland now accounts for just under 13% of the total, and that is a vote of confidence in our stability and our response to them. Photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

There is much to welcome in the news that Ireland’s population is increasing, and that Irish people abroad ex-pats are voting with their feet by returning home and bringing their skills, expertise, commitment, and sense of humour with them.

It’s the first time since 2007, just as the world was entering that wretched financial meltdown which has blighted us for more than a decade, that the number of Irish people nationals returning to the country has increased.

And it is simple to understand why. Uncertainties in the US, the unfriendly environment created by Brexit, the liberalisation and increasing tolerance to be found here, the need to be among your own folk when times are threatening, enhanced educational opportunities, and beautiful surroundings (even in inclement weather) ... all these make the Republic a wonderful place to be.

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But digging into the figures released by the Central
Statistics Office yesterday raises significant questions for us all, and for our governance.

What is ever clearer each year is that the nation needs to
increase the numbers of employed people within its shores, for the simple reason that the tax take has to be much higher to meet spending plans which include improved health
provision, climate change taxes, housing, better childcare, a commitment to education and skills development, and help for the increasing number of older people. Our number of over 65s has risen by almost 20% since 2016, with one in seven now aged 65 or over. This is not an uncommon feature of
advanced Western societies and this pool of experience should be viewed as an asset to be deployed rather than a burden.

Nearly one third of Ireland’s population is clustered in or around Dublin and this has massive infrastructure and political ramifications. By way of comparison, the proportion of people living in the London metropolitan area is 13.4% of the UK, United Kingdom despite it being the third most populous city in Europe after Moscow and Istanbul. The heavy footprint of Dublin is insupportable for a country of our size and the governmental and commercial will has to be rallied to implement a substantial change and internal migration to the rest of the country.

The number of non-Irish people nationals living in Ireland now accounts for just under 13% of the total, and that is a vote of confidence in our stability and our response to them. We will need more in the future and, to achieve that, Ireland must deliver the promise of a better, sustainable, and just future.