TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

Box 2 - The Gateways Population Story to Date
If the Dublin region is excluded, there are 10 out of 26 counties which contain a gateway city.
(Two gateway cities are straddling two counties: Limerick/Shannon and
Mullingar/Athlone/Tullamore.). In the case of only four counties (Galway, Louth, Offaly and
Westmeath) the population growth since 2002 has been above the national average in
percentage terms. The other six counties show population growth that is below, and often
significantly below, the national average. In contrast, of the counties that do not contain
gateway cities and where one might expect population growth to have been below the national
average, the opposite appears to be the case. Out of 16 counties, again only four counties show
a population growth below the national average: Kerry, Mayo, South Tipperary and Monaghan.
For the remaining 12 counties however, the population growth has been at or above the national
average. Just as for some counties with gateway cities the population growth has been well
below the national average, for some counties without gateway cities, the population growth
has been well above (in one case double) the national average. Ironically, one might conclude
that perhaps counties should have sought to be excluded from a gateway designation instead of
included. The counties without a gateway designated town have generally done better in terms
of attracting population growth.
8.4 Implications for the Gateways
The future vision described here may be seen by many as ‘not pretty’ and constituting a
‘sucking out’ of population from large parts of Ireland into a relatively confined area along the
Eastern seaboard. In particular, the suggestion that Ireland (including Northern Ireland) has
really only space for one city, will be a change from current perceptions. However, the statistics
are compelling. The National Spatial Strategy designated nine gateway cities of which eight
were outside Dublin. However, there is a significant problem of scale if one relates all of the
gateway cities outside Dublin with the Greater Dublin Area or if one relates the smaller gateway
cities with a city like Cork. All of the eight gateway cities combined make up 523,728
population, exactly half of the population of Dublin. The four smaller gateway cities combined
(Sligo, Letterkenny, Midlands Gateway and Dundalk) make up a population size that is less than
that of Cork.
Also, while the development of one dominant (perhaps congested) city seems a horror vision to
many, it may turn out to be more ‘environmentally benign’ than any of the other scenarios that
have been considered. After all, a large city allows for large scale investment in infrastructure
that is good for the environment and is not feasible elsewhere (e.g. high quality public transport
systems).
Gateways outside the East Corridor can function in ‘niche markets’ serving the demands from an
increasingly urban and demanding population in terms of leisure activity, quality of environment
and cultural identity. Perhaps one word: ‘distinctiveness’ could summarise it. Although this is
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