Government plan for 2040 wants growth of Derry
Fears that Sligo and other medium to large towns will miss out on future Government funding appears to be well founded after leafing through the Ireland 2040 Our Plan - draft national planning framework.
Sligo gets a mere mention as its focus is on the major urban centres.
The report states: “The development of the North-West City region focused on Derry City is essential to achieving the potential of the North West and maximising its contribution to regional and all-island economic growth.”
It also states: “There are few large towns in the Northern and Western Region as a whole, with the strongest urban influence north of Galway City being the crossborder North-West City Region focused on Derry City in Northern Ireland.”
The report points out that the agreed EU/OECD definition of a ‘city’ is a settlement around a core centre with a population of more than 50,000 people. The five cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and their immediate suburbs together comprise approximately 1.6 million people, or just over one-third (34%) of Ireland’s national population.
“Nearly three-quarters of Ireland’s city dwellers are the 1.2 million people, or one-quarter (25%) of the population, who live in Dublin.
“Outside of the five cities, there were 41 ‘ large’ towns, each with more than 10,000 people and home to a further 16% of the national population, in2016.
“For the first time in Ireland’s history, just over half of the population, or nearly 2.4 million people, now live in cities or large towns of at least 10,000 people.
“However, the overall urban structure remains relatively weak and focused on Dublin and parts of the south and east of Ireland. Dublin’s population equates to that of the next 40 cities and towns combined. Only seven of Ireland’s 41 large towns had a population of more than 25,000 people in 2016 and more than half of the 41 large towns are located within the Dublin or Cork city regions.”