Cavan's population growth to strain public services

Cavan is becoming an increasingly popular place to reside according to the recent census, the preliminary results of which have been revealed this week. There are now 72,874 persons resident in the Breffni county which recorded the second highest surge in population of any county (13.9%) in the State since the last census in 2006 when a population of 64,003 was recorded. It is a welcome turnaround from the low point reached in the 1970s when the county's population dropped to 50,000 and it brings the number of people living here to a similar level to the late '40s and early 1950s. While the census results are still preliminary they reveal that the larger towns and their immediate rural catchments experienced the strongest population growth. The population of Kingscourt has increased from 2,580 in 2006 to 3229 in 2011. The Cavan Town rural area has witnessed the largest increase in population from 4,865 in 2006 to 7,160 (60%) in the latest census. However, there has been a slight drop in the small Cavan urban area, the number of residents decreasing here from 3,934 to 3,607. This decline in population in the central town area masks the population surge that has taken place on the outskirts where large private housing estates sprang up in recent years. It also indicates the shift to stand-alone private housing that took place during the boom years. Bailieboro has seen its population again grow in a marked fashion. In the 2006 census the population of Bailieboro was 3,190 while today it is 3,846. The towns of Virginia and Ballyjamesduff have experienced obvious population growth in recent years becoming part of the Dublin commuter belt. Virginia's population now stands at 3,939, an increase of 742 on the previous census. Ballyjamesduff has a slightly smaller population, 3,067, up 827 on the 2006 census. The village of Mullagh has experienced a 39.6% increase in its population from 2006 to 2011 and has now just under 2,000 people resident there. The population growth of Virginia, Ballyjamesduff and Mullagh as well as of Kingscourt and Bailieboro indicate that over the past decade a transformation had taken place in the south and east of the county with previous small village-like settlements having expanded into substantial urban centres. The population of the State is now 4,581,269, up 341,421 or 8.1% on the 2006 figures.