Ireland’s population grew substantially throughout the 1990s and achieved annual increases of 2% during the period 2002 – 2006 (CSO, 2006). Spatial analysis of population change during the 1926 – 2006 period indicates two alternating trends driven by rural – urban migration during periods of economic decline or stagnation and urban rural migration during times of economic growth (Meredith, 2007 and Walsh et al., 2007). Whilst the recent period of rapid population growth has resulted in significant increases in the rural population (Meredith, 2006) they mask important demographic features, namely high rates of elderly dependency in remote and or inaccessible rural places. This report provides an assessment of demographic dependency in Ireland at the time of the 2002 Census of Population. The concept of dependency is described before the data and methods are outlined. Analysis is presented and the results discussed.
