There is an ongoing perception that Irish Green Party policies are perceived as impractical in rural communities. To what degree that is actually the case vs. a lazy media narrative, might be worth considering.
If more #IrishFarmers are switching to organic and #sustainable agricultural practice, does that represent a sea change as Minister Éamon Ryan suggests?
@SimonB Big as #Dublin is, it still represents only 1/3 of the overall ROI population. According to Macrotrends the #rural population is about the same size. As an overall share of the population it has been steadily declining for the past 50 years
How rural vs Dublin vs urban vs small town is chopped up is unknown to me. I imagine these various divides are in need of different Green policies
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/IRL/ireland/rural-population
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.
@SimonB On my travels on #Ireland, I’ve noticed how many towns are struggling for a raison d’être. The gravitational force of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick is sucking the life out of #SmallTown Ireland.
I’d hoped that one of the benefits of #COVID might have been a reimagination of these settlements although I’m not aware of that materializing, maybe someone else can opine?
It's not the jobs. Even people with jobs within a reasonable commute distance don't want to live in a village, they want to live in a bungalow on an acre or two with a nice bit of road frontage.
The population of every single county increased between 2016 and 2022, but the demise of the villages didn't slow down.
While rural county population may be increasing, the question I’d ask is where these new inhabitants are working? Are they engaged in long daily time sucking commutes? If so that decreases support for local small town business
Interesting to see that younger people increasingly are stepping away from the old generations car habit.
Those younger people who are stepping away from the car habit have no interest in spending their lives in a small village where there's very little by way of entertainment. They want to live in the city, where public transport or taxis can replace the need for a car. When it comes time to start a family, they're not finding village life all that attractive, either.
I'm speaking in generalizations, obviously - there will be exceptions that prove the rule.
I think the question that needs to be answered is what’s the minimal infrastructure needed to keep people happily settled in town?
That varies from person to person. For some young people that are devotees to the outdoor life, their needs might be minimal and would be happy with a grocery store and a pub. Other folks need the whole #Dublin shebang. There is no one size fits all, just gradations
Martin Nutty
Simon Boyne
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