Irish Examiner view: Covid spawns a baby boom

Couples made the best of their time together in a world gone temporarily mad

The figures buck a trend of declining birth rate.

An economic boom was predicted to follow the pandemic, but the boom that has certainly arrived is of the baby variety. According to figures from the HSE, there has been an increase in the birth rate in this country during Covid. 

The HSE figures show that 59,874 babies were born across the country in 2021, up from 56,858 in 2020. The last time there was any increase in the rate was 2009 when the number of births was 75,554.