KERRY’S LOST GENERATION

CENSUS FIGURES SHOW TRUE SCALE OF COUNTY’S EMIGRATION TRAGEDY

THE enormous number of young people who fled Kerry to escape the recession has been laid bare by the census.

Until now it has been difficult to get a grasp on just how many people are part of Kerry’s, so called, ‘Lost Generation’.

Shocking new figures from the 2016 census show that almost one in five young men and women, aged between 20 and 30, left the county since 2011.

Age Profile data shows that in just five years 3,507 20-to-30 years olds left Kerry. That’s more than the total population of either Kenmare or Castleisland town.

To put these astonishing figures into perspective, it should be noted that between 2011 and 2016 the total population of Kerry actually increased by a little over 2,200.

That means that while Kerry’s population increased by 1.5 per cent, the 20 to 30 aged population in the county plunged by 17 per cent.

Of those 20 to 30 year olds who left the county in the last six years, the vast majority – 2,877 people – were aged between 25 and 30 which strongly suggests that many were graduates who left the country seeking better opportunities.

Much of the exodus took place at the height of the unemployment crisis in Kerry, which reached its peak in 2011 and 2012.

THE enormous number of young people who fled Kerry to escape the recession has been laid bare by the census.

Until now it has been difficult to get a grasp on just how many people are part of Kerry’s, so called, ‘Lost Generation’ but age profile data from the 2016 census provides a shocking insight into how many young men and women were forced to abandon the county.

A look back at figures from the last three censuses shows the impact of the recession on people aged between 20 and 30.

Between 2006 and 2011 – as the property bubble collapsed and the recession began – the number of 20 to 30 year olds in Kerry increased by 1,644.

By contrast, between 2011 and 2016 the number of 20 to 30 years olds in the county plummeted by a massive 3,507.

That’s more than the total population of either Kenmare or Castleisland town.

To put these astonishing and worrying figures into perspective, it should be noted that between 2011 and 2016 the total population of Kerry increased by a little over 2,200.

So while Kerry’s population increased by 1.5 per cent, the 20 to 30 aged population in the county plunged by 16.7 per cent.

While emigration increased from 2008 to 2011 it is probably no coincidence that the surge in 20 to 30 year olds leaving Kerry took place at the height of the unemployment crisis in Kerry, which reached its peak in 2011 and 2012.

Of those 20 to 30 year olds who left the county in the last six years, the majority (2,877) were between 25 and 30 which suggests many were graduates who left the country seeking work or better opportunities.

While it is impossible to know (at least until all of the 2016 census results have been released and can be compared) how many of these were immigrants returning home, ‘nationality’ data from the 2011 census strongly suggests most were indeed young Irish men and women.