THE POPULATION appears to have fallen dramatically in rural areas in south Kerry in a drift towards the towns of Cahersiveen, Killorglin, Killarney and Kenmare, according to a new draft plan to go before the public for comment.
A substantial number of people still living in the countryside travel for work in Kenmare, Killarney, Killorglin and elsewhere, according to the report covering the section of the Ring of Kerry from Cahersiveen to Sneem.
In the wider rural Waterville area the population has fallen by 8 per cent in the last five years but some of the surrounding townlands have lost more than 22 per cent.
Ironically, villages such as Caherdaniel, where there has been much holiday home development, have lost more than 10 per cent of their people.
Cahersiveen – birthplace of Daniel O’Connell – where the mail and newspapers from Dublin would arrive via America in the early 19th century because sea links were better than road links, still has “peripherality” as its greatest challenge, the report notes.
No longer served with a railway, Cahersiveen is 60 minutes from Killarney and 90 minutes by road to Kenmare and planners advocate better “linkages” to the rest of the county.
They highlight the local marina as a major amenity which could be developed further. But while the rural population has fallen, the population of Cahersiveen town now stands at 1,454, which represents growth of 182 since 2002.
During the Celtic Tiger years there was an oversupply of housing, with 35 houses now vacant or unfinished in Cahersiveen. The situation with vacant houses in picturesque Sneem is worse, however. Estates in various stages of completion ring the village, with about 60 houses vacant and 31 not yet started.
It is proposed to zone no further land in Sneem and to take steps to have the abandoned estates dealt with. Meanwhile, the coastal village of Castlecove near Staigue Fort is singled out as of particular “high quality” in terms of buildings and environment and which has survived relatively untouched by large-scale development.
It is, however, having to battle a number of invasive plant species including Japanese knotweed.