Suburbanisation: Population shifts from cities to their suburbs and wider commuter belts have accelerated since 2002, the preliminary census figures show.
The mid-east region, comprising counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, had the highest population growth in the State (15.1 per cent) over the past four years, while the midland counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath - part of the capital's outer commuter belt - also comfortably exceeded the national average rate of increase of 8.1 per cent.
Conversely, the population of the Dublin region grew by just 5.6 per cent, a large increase in Fingal being offset by small increases in Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown and Dublin South.
The same trend is found elsewhere: the population of the mid-west region increased by 6.2 per cent, with Limerick city exerting a downward influence on trends, while Cork city slowed the growth rate of the south-west region (6.9 per cent).
The trend towards greater suburbanisation suggests itself also in data showing that only six of the 34 administrative counties experienced net outward migration between 2002 and 2006.
These were the cities of Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dublin along with Dublin South and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown. This was due to a combination of factors, including adult children leaving the family home, urban renewal schemes and regeneration projects involving the demolition of older housing.
In addition, many new city developments consisted of apartment blocks in which individual units catered for only one or two persons.
Four counties - Fingal, Kildare, Meath and Galway city - saw both net inward migration and a natural increase of over 1 per cent a year between 2002 and 2006, reflecting rapid housing development in these areas and a relatively large number of births due to a high proportion of young families.
The data shows that the population of each province grew at a rate of between 6.5 per cent (Munster) and 8.9 per cent (Leinster) between 2002 and 2006.
Leinster's share of the total population has continued to increase, but the long-term decline in the population shares of Connacht and Ulster was halted between 2002 and 2006, with both provinces maintaining their 2002 shares of the overall population. Munster's share fell from 28.1 per cent in 2002 to 27.7 per cent in 2006.
In Leinster, all counties recorded an increase in population since the last census. Here, the fastest-growing administrative counties were Fingal (22.1 per cent), Meath (21.4 per cent) and Kildare (13.5 per cent). Populations in all counties in Leinster, apart from Dublin city (2 per cent), Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown (1 per cent) and Dublin South (3.4 per cent), grew by more than the national average of 8.1 per cent.
Munster data shows that the cities of Cork (minus 3.2 per cent) and Limerick (minus 2.7 per cent) were the only two of the 34 administrative counties to experience population decline between 2002 and 2006. Cork county (11.4 per cent) was the fastest growing in the province, followed by Waterford county (9.2 per cent) and Limerick county (8.3 per cent).
This can be explained in part by the development of major suburban areas adjacent to the cities of Cork, Waterford and Limerick.
In Connacht, Leitrim (11.8 per cent) had the highest population growth since 2002, a rapid acceleration compared to its modest growth rate of 3 per cent between 1996 and 2002 - itself a turnaround after a century and a half of continuous decline.
Galway county experienced an 11 per cent increase, although the rapid growth in Galway city's population noted by the last two censuses moderated to 9.3 per cent over the past four years.
Cavan had the highest growth rate in Ulster, the main stimulus coming from the south of the county, which is within commuting distance of Dublin. Donegal and Monaghan each grew by less than the national average rate since 2002.
