Ballyjamesduff and Clones named as towns with jobs most at risk of automation

Ballyjamesduff in Cavan; Clones in Monaghan and Edgeworthstown in Longford, have all been named in a report as the towns in Ireland where jobs are most at risk from automation.

The study - Automation in Irish Towns: Who’s Most at Risk? - examines the impact of automation across urban areas in Ireland, and identifies those towns, where jobs are at a high risk of automation, and the towns where jobs, are at a lower risk of automation.

Two out of every five jobs across Ireland are at ‘high risk’ of automation, the University College Cork (UCC) report found.

Town’s whose jobs are most at risk of automation, include Edgeworthstown in County Longford, Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan, and Cahir in County Tipperary. Towns whose jobs are least at risk of automation were identified as Bearna in County Galway, Skerries in County Dublin and Ballina in County Tipperary. The top 10 towns most at risk of automation and the top 10 towns least at risk of automation, span over fourteen towns and across all four provinces in Ireland.

Jobs identified as being most at risk to automation include office, secretarial and administrative support positions, process plant operators, jobs in agriculture and customer service. The jobs least at risk to being automated are in the areas of teaching and education, the arts, media and culture related positions, health and social care and research and development positions.

"Using 2016 Census data we deployed an internationally recognised automation risk methodology with a method of analysis to ascertain what towns in Ireland will be most impacted by the rise of automation," commented co-author of the report, Dr Frank Crowley, economist at the Spatial and Regional Economics Research Centre (SRERC) at Cork University Business School. "The impact of automation in Ireland is going to be felt far and wide, with two out of every five jobs at high risk of automation."

 

The report found wide differences between the average numbers of jobs at high risk of automation across towns, from a low of 26 per cent to a high of 58 per cent.  In addition the analysis found that many at high risk towns have at low risk nearby towns and many at low risk towns have at high risk neighbours.

"The dominance of the ‘city’ is a trend taking place right across the world. As cities become the dominant centre for economic activity, rural areas are being left behind, and these spatial difference have been credited with the rise of right wing political movements across the world," stated Dr Crowley.

Towns most at risk of automation
1. Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford
2. Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan
3. Carrick-On-Suir, Co. Tipperary
4. Portlaw, Co. Waterford
5. Clones, Co. Monaghan
6. Tullow, Co. Carlow
7. Cahir, Co. Tipperary
8. Lifford, Co. Donegal
9. Edenderry, Co. Offaly
10. Fethard, Co. Tipperary

The analysis also found that there are also some concentrations of at lower risk towns and separately, concentrations of at higher risk towns. For instance, in the Dublin city region, Malahide, Skerries and Donabate are all at lower risk of automation. Similarly, some at higher risk towns are adversely affected by being surrounded by clusters of towns also at higher risk of automation such as Fermoy and Bandon in County Cork and Shannon and Abbeyfeale in County Limerick.

Dr Frank Crowley & Dr Justin Doran are the co-authors of the report which will be presented today (Friday), February 22, at the ‘The Creative Rural Economy’ public event in UCC, which is hosted by The Spatial and Regional Economics Research Centre (SRERC) at Cork University Business School. The event brings leading academics, policymakers, business entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs together to discuss the challenge of maximising the growth potential of peripheral and rural Ireland.