Rapid growth of non Irish born people in Portlaoise and Portarlington

placeholder image — Census 2017 Migration & Diversity

More than ten per cent of people living in Laois were not born in Ireland with the highest number being Polish according to the latest results from Census 2016.

Central Statistics Office figures show a slight increase in non-Irish nationals living in Co Laois since 2011. Data also also reveal that the county is below the national average for its non-Irish born population.

In Census 2016, 8,515 people indicated that they were non-Irish nationals, an increase of 82 (1.0%) in 2011. They comprised 10.1% of the county’s population, compared with 10.5% five years previously.

Non-Irish nationals comprised 11.6% of the country’s population in April 2016.

Portlaoise and Portarlington far outstripped other parts of the country for the rise in the population of people not born in Ireland. Portlaoise, outside the town centre, is a classed as a red zone in line with parts of Dublin. The growth in Portlaoise has taken place mainly outside the old town centre.

Red areas in above graphic reflects growth of rapid growth of non-Irish born people

Just over half of all non-Irish nationals in County Laois were either Polish (2,728) or UK (1,539) nationals. Lithuanian, Romanian and Latvian nationals completed the top five non-Irish nationalities, and together accounted for 18.8% of all non-Irish nationals resident in the county.

Of the 82,346 people who moved to Ireland in the year prior to Census 2016, some 751 were living in Laois. This was an increase of 252 (50.5%) on the year before the 2011 census.

Of those 751 people, 443 (59.0%) were non-Irish nationals.

Above a summary of some of the headline results from Census 2016 for County Laois, together with comparisons for Leinster and the State as a whole are attached for information.

The Central Statistics Office Migration and Diversity report shows that, in April 2016, there were 535,475 non-Irish nationals

living in the country, a 1.6% decrease on the 2011 figure of 544,357. The numbers of people holding dual citizenship (Irish-other country) increased by 87.4% to 104,784 persons.

Commenting, Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, said: “This report gives a detailed insight into the many different nationalities living in Ireland, including their age profile, marital status, the languages they speak, and their educational and employment status. Non-Irish nationals and those with dual nationality are now well established in Irish society and communities throughout the country, and this report provides a wealth of information on their social and economic circumstances in April 2016.”

Laois highlights from Profile 7 Migration and Diversity