Cllrs query Government’s population growth forecast

PAUL MURPHY

Meath county councillors today took serious issue with Government figures which projected a growth in population for the county of 20,400 by the year 2027.

Challenges to the official figures came during Meath County Council’s deliberations on a new development plan for the county. The 40 members of the council will be meeting for 16 days in November and December to consider recommendations and endorse the plan by the 18th of next month. Their meetings are being constricted to one hour and 55 minutes because of Government guidelines issued because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The county’s population stands at 208,000 at the moment and it was suggested that this would grow to 228,300 in the next seven years. However, these figures were challenged by independent Cllr Brian Fitzgerald who, along with independent Councillor Nick Killian and Fine Gael Cllr Noel French pointed out that the figures were compiled at a time in 2016 when the country was in recession and they felt that the number of people in the county now stood much higher than 208,000, A new national census is due to take place in 2022.

Fianna Fail Councillor Ashling Dempsey said that while only anecdotal evidence was available at this stage, she felt that the county was experiencing a “baby boom at the moment”.

She said that a projected increase of 800 accommodation units for the county between 2026 and 2027 was inadequate. It was also the case that these were allocated for Navan but she felt that there should be a wider spread throughout the county.