Sir, - The recent Census report confirms two long standing demographic trends in the Irish state. Firstly, Dublin and its adjoining counties are expanding out of control. Secondly, certain rural stretches of Connacht and Ulster continue to lose population inexorably.
The expansion of Galway city is heartening news. This city has a dynamic artistic life and a university that has actively forged links with other third level institutions in the Connacht region. With carefully planned additional industrial infrastructure, Galway could indeed be a trail blazer for the general economic and social uplift of a province in Ireland that has been associated in the past with demoralisation and stagnation. Sadly, much haphazard ribbon development has given the approaches to Galway a straggly appearance, detracting from the city's sheen.
The exploding Dublin area is a planning disaster. There is no adequate green belt policy. The housing and traffic density threatens the physical and mental health of its inhabitants.
A state with more than one third of its citizens crammed into a capital city, spreading into an unlovable suburban sprawl, needs to consider the long term human implications. The national demographic imbalance between a burgeoning capital city area and the alarming depopulation of peripheral areas in the provinces is a point to ponder.
Some voluntary bodies are trying to arrest the decline of small town and rural life, with imaginative housing and community enterprise projects. It is not enough, but some people are trying to combat harmful demographic trends. Our politicians, civil servants and economic decision makers should listen to the voices of those who feel problems deeply and act quietly. Yours, etc.,
Dromahair,
Co Leitrim.