Population rises in Mayo according to Census

Mayo population at highest since 1956


Census shows almost quarter of Mayo’s housing stock lies vacant

Anton McNulty

THE population of Mayo has risen to its highest level in 55 years according to preliminary results released from the 2011 Census which took place last April.
The figures show that the population of Mayo has risen to 130,552 which is up by 5.4 per cent on the 2006 Census figure of 123,839. The county’s population is at its highest since 1956, when 133,052 lived in Mayo.
However, Mayo’s increase is the smallest of all rural counties in the Western Region. Co Galway has increased by 10 per cent; Co Leitrim by 9.8 per cent; Co Roscommon by 8.7 per cent; Co Sligo by 7.2 and Co Mayo by 5.2 per cent. Galway City increased by 4.1 per cent. Overall, the population of Connacht stands at 542,039, up 7.5 per cent on the 2006 figure.
The biggest increase in population in Mayo is around the Castlebar region while there are deceases in the population in large parts of the west and north west of the county.
One of the most striking statistics released by the Central Statistic Office - who compiled the Census reports - and reflects the current economic climate in the county is the number of vacant dwellings that exist.
Mayo is placed a high fourth in the country on the list for the number of vacant dwellings that exist with 24.8 per cent of the total housing stock now vacant.
Leitrim tops the list with 30.4 per cent followed by Donegal on 28.5 per cent and Kerry on 26.5 per cent.
The number of dwellings built between 2006 and 2011 increased more rapidly than the total of the country’s population with an approximate 13 per cent increase in the number of dwellings built in Mayo.
Auctioneer Peter Tuohy of Tuohy O’Toole, which operate in Westport and Castlebar explained to The Mayo News that the majority of these vacant dwellings would have been built in the period between 2004 and 2006. He explained that a number of these houses would have been built on spec and the smaller towns in Mayo would be the most affected by vacant dwellings.
“The volume of vacant dwellings in Westport and Castlebar would not be at the same proportion as 24 per cent but places like Ballyhaunis, Charlestown and Ballinrobe would have a number of vacant dwellings.
A lot would have been built on spec and while the demand appeared to be there at the time, it has not turned out to be in the case,” he said.
Mr Tuohy claims that the price of dwellings in Mayo has fallen by between 40 and 60 percent since the market high in 2006. A recent report published by property website Daft.ie shows that the average asking price in Mayo in the final quarter of 2010 was €175,000, a fall of €92,000 from when prices were at their peak during the building boom of the mid-noughties.