15 July 2016
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Des Cahill, welcomed the increase in the city’s population as a vote of confidence in Cork. The Census of Population 2016 Preliminary Report estimated that there is an extra 6,392 people living in the city since 2011, an increase of 5.4% to 125,622. The Lord Mayor stated that:
“This is the first time the population of the city has increased since 1979 and the city has now reached a population last seen in 1996. Of particular importance is that Cork City had the highest rate of people choosing it as a location to live in the state, at 7.2 persons per 1,000 people. This shows that Cork’s quality of life is attracting the people necessary to deliver economic growth and prosperity to all of its citizens.”
Lord Mayor 2016/2017 Des Cahill
The Lord Mayor also hoped that the Government’s forthcoming Housing Action Plan and Local Infrastructure Fund would enable Cork City to deliver the 5,400 residential units that do not require infrastructure and some of the further 12,500 units that will become available with investment. He stated the census figures demonstrated that people wanted to live in Cork city if the accommodation is available. Further evidence of this is the 26% reduction in vacant dwellings since 2011.
He concluded that these results firmly place Cork as the principal urban location outside of Dublin, a fact that should be central to the forthcoming National Planning Framework and the Government’s decisions on future investment.
