Job Creation, Not Procreation New Companies First Step to Reversing Depopulation

Summary

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A book called The Vanishing Irish was published in 1954. It contains a cartoon in which a shrinking man is used to represent the population of the 26 counties. In 1840, with a population of 6.5 million, the Irishman is a cheerful, plump giant. A century later, with around three million, he has shrunk to a forlorn, emaciated leprechaun. The year 2040 is putatively depicted as a speck. Today we can confidently confirm that the Irish are not vanishing. The Central Statistics Office has revealed that Ireland's population has climbed to 4.05 million, its highest level since 1871. By contrast, Scotland, with the fastest-declining population in Europe, is expected to dip below five million by 2009.

Yesterday the Irish were touting their new figures like virility symbols. This is understandable in a country where population and economic health have tended to dip and rise together, like twin roller-coasters. The potato, a miracle of easy nourishment, fuelled a population explosion in Ireland and when the crop failed in the 1840s tragedy was inevitable. In 30 years, starvation and emigration claimed half the population.

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Extract

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Job Creation, Not Procreation New Companies First Step to Reversing Depopulation

In the twentieth century the figure continued to trickle downward as Ireland attempted to scratch a ...

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