Demographic and Socio-Economic Change in Ireland: a Spatial Perspective

Abstract

It is widely accepted that Ireland has undergone a very significant transformation since the early 1990s. Since 1991 the population of the Republic of Ireland has expanded by over 20%. Unprecedented and sustained levels of economic growth have served to reverse previous trends of emigration and unemployment, creating a new prosperity but also new challenges including increasing social polarisation and environmental responsibility. Not unlike the Scottish experience, the recent demographic turnaround in Ireland has to a significant extent been driven by net in-migration, including return migrants and economic migrants from the new accession states of central and eastern Europe. In direct contrast to the Scottish experience, however, natural increase has continued to represent a key component of demographic expansion in Ireland, leading to a significantly lower level of age dependency. The changes that commenced around 1987 have been influenced by many factors including new forms of governance, national policies for economic and social development, a favourable international economic context, high levels of international investment in manufacturing and internationally traded