TRUTZ HAASE

Social & Economic Consultant

Key Profile for County Clare

This County Profile draws out the significant trends from a vast amount of available data. It is kept deliberately short, such as to draw attention to only the most important of observations. In some instances, the profile refers to a wider set of data spanning the four census waves from 1991 to 2006. For space reasons, this data could not be fully included in the GAMMA baseline reports, but is included in digital format on the disk accompanying the report.

Administrative Arrangements

There is a single Partnership company operating within County Clare, covering the whole county. The County Childcare Committee area also covers the entire county.

  • A point on naming conventions for the purpose of this profile: In urban areas, we will largely refer to individual Electoral Divisions (EDs). If we are referring to a set of EDs surrounding a single urban entity, we will indicate this by a suffix ‘UD’ (Urban District). In rural areas, referring to individual EDs is not as useful, due to the large number of rural EDs and the relatively small number of people living in each. For this reason we utilise the aggregation to larger rural areas or ‘Rural Districts’ as these used to be called. If a reference is made to the rural area, we will denote the area name with the suffix ‘RD’.

There are 4 Family Resource Centres operating in County Clare:

  • West Clare FRC is located in the ED of Kilrush Urban (16005) and services a vast rural area in West Clare.
  • Shannon Family Resource Centre is situated in the ED of Clenagh (16027) and services the area of Clenagh and surroundings.
  • North West Clare FRC is located in the ED of Ennistimon (16054) and caters for a predominantly rural area in the North West Clare.
  • Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre is situated in the ED of Killaloe (16134) and services Killaloe and its immediate environs.

Absolute and Relative Deprivation

  • Overall, the Mid West Region is the fourth most affluent region of Ireland, and Clare is the second most affluent local authority area within the region and the ninth most affluent county in Ireland as a whole. The relative affluence of Clare has slightly declined over the past fifteen years from a score of 5.2 in 1991 to 4.2 in 2006.
  • As is the case in any county, there exist a degree of variation within County Clare, but overall the county is not characterised by particular extremes either with regard to affluence or deprivation. The most affluent areas are along the trajectory from the outskirts of Limerick to Ennis, including Shannon and Newmarket on Fergus along the way. The remainder of the county tends to be in the middle field of the overall affluence to deprivation spectrum, with the parts above the average lying generally to the East of the county and those below the average to the West.
  • At a local level, the most disadvantaged EDs are Derreen (-16.3) and Killanena (-15.1), followed by Ennis No 2 Urban (-14.6), the most disadvantaged urban ED. There are only eleven EDs which fall into the ‘disadvantaged’ category, and none into the ‘very disadvantaged’ or ‘extremely disadvantaged’ categories. All other EDs are, at the most, marginally below the national average.
  • The catchment area of the West Clare FRC has an overall index score of –3.8, which is slightly below the national average (2.1).
  • The catchment area of the Shannon Family Resource Centre has an index score of 3.8, which is marginally above the national index score.
  • The catchment area of North West Clare FRC has an index score of –1.1, which is marginally below the national score.
  • The catchment area of the Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre has an index score of 10.2, which classifies the area on the border of a marginally above average to affluent area.

Population

  • Ireland has experienced a population growth of 20.3% over the past fifteen years whilst the Mid West Region has grown at the slower rate of 16.2%. Clare, by contrast, had a rate of growth of 22.0%; i.e. slightly higher than the national rate and well above the regional one.
  • Ennis Urban UD grew by 47.8% and two EDs more than doubled their population, Cappavilla (123.9%) and Rossroe (106.2%).
  • The population of the West Clare FRC catchment area comprises about 5,500 households.
  • The Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area counts about 5,200 households.
  • North West Clare FRC caters for about 1,800 households.
  • The Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre catchment is comparatively small, and caters for about 1,400 households.

Demographic Characteristics

  • There has been a continuous decline in the age dependency rate (the proportion of population under 15 years of age or over 64 as part of the total population) throughout Ireland over the past 15 years, from 38.1% in 1991 to 31.4% in 2006. An identical decline applies to County Clare (40.0% to 33.3%). But the 2006 age dependency rate for Clare remains about two percentage points above the national average, in line of it being a comparatively rural county.
  • Within Clare, there exist the typical urban-rural differential, with age dependency being lowest in Ennis RD (30.7%) and Ennis UD (31.7%), and about 5 percentage points higher in all of its rural areas. Age dependency rates exceed forty per cent in 17 EDs, the highest of which are St. Martin’s (49.1%), Querrin (45.9%), Ayle (45.0%) and Cloonanah (44.4%).
  • The proportion of lone parents (as a proportion of all households with dependent children) in Ireland has exactly doubled over the past 15 years, growing from 10.7% in 1991 to 21.3% nationally in 2006. There are marked differences between urban and rural areas, and lone parent rates in the major cities are again up to twice the national average (e.g. Limerick City 39.1%). County Clare had a rate of 16.9% in 2006; i.e. well below the national average and reflecting the more rural character of the county as a whole. Reflecting the urban-rural dichotomy within the county, Ennis No 2 Urban (40.9%), Ennis No 1 Urban (36.3%) and Ennis No 4 Urban (32.2%) and Kilrush Urban (31.3%) have all rates, which are very high by national comparison. In contrast, there are 58 EDs, all of which are rural, where the rate is under 10 per cent.
  • The West Clare FRC is situated in an area, which has grown by only 1.1% over the past decade, compared to 16.9% nationally. The age dependency ratio of 36.8% is slightly above the national average (31.4%), while the proportion of lone parents is at 15.8% slightly below the national average (21.3%).
  • The Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area has experienced a population growth of 12.9% over the past ten years, which is slightly below the national average growth. The age dependency ratio is 29.2%, which is just marginally below the national ratio. At 20.7% the share of lone parent households is also marginally below the national average in this catchment area.
  • North West Clare FRC is situated in an area, which has grown in population by 5.6% over the last decade. The age dependency ratio (36.3%) is slightly above the national ratio, while the proportion of lone parents (17.2%) is slightly below the national average, both indicative of its rural location.
  • Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre is situated in a very rapidly expanding area, which has grown by 65.0% over the past decade. This is about four-fold the national average and one of the highest growths experienced by any FRC catchment area. The age dependency ratio (35.5%) is marginally above the national ratio, while lone parent households account for 17.6%, compared to 21.3% nationally.

Education

  • There has been a continuous improvement in the level of education amongst adults over the past 15 years throughout Ireland. In 1991, 36.7% of the adult population had primary education only. This dropped to half that level (18.9%) in 2006, thus indicating a strong cohort effect. The rate for County Clare has fallen from 34.8% in 1991 to 17.6% in 2006. This is a reduction of 17.2 percentage points (compared to -17.8 percentage point nationally), and represents a similar level and rate of change as those applying for Ireland as a whole.
  • Despite the considerable improvement at county level, there remain several rural EDs where still considerable parts of the adult population have primary education only. These are Moveen (44.3%), Derreen (40.2%), Killanena (39.8%), Tullig (38.9%) and Knocknaboley (38.4%).
  • The reverse applies with regard to third level education, which has more than doubled over the past 15 years. In 1991, 13.0% of the national adult population had completed third level education. This grew to 30.5% in 2006. The proportion of Clare’s population with third level education has grown from 12.7% to 29.2%, a growth which is marginally below that which has occurred nationally (16.5% compared to 17.4%). Within the county, and mirroring the incidence of low education, the proportion of adults with higher education in some areas, Kilrush UD (19.1%) and Killadysert RD (19.1%) remain considerably lower than is the case for, for example, Ennis UD (34.9%), which has the highest levels of third level education amongst its adult population.
  • At ED level, and again mirroring the situation with regard to the higher incidences of low levels of education, there are particularly low shares of population with third level education in Knock (10.1%), Ballysteen (10.8%) and Moveen (13.1%), but none falling below the 10 per cent level.
  • The proportion of adults with primary education accounts for 25.9% in the West Clare FRC catchment area, slightly more than the national rate (18.9%). Third-level education accounts for 19.4%, which is significantly below the national average (30.5%).
  • In the Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area, the proportion with primary education is at 14.7% marginally below the national rate, so is the proportion of adults with third-level education at 27.0%.
  • The proportion of adults with primary education accounts for 21.9% in the North West Clare FRC catchment area, just marginally above the national rate. Third-level education accounts for 24.2%, which is slightly below the national average.
  • In the Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre area, the proportion of adults with primary education only is at 13.6% slightly below the national average, whilst third-level education accounts for 40.4%, which is significantly above the national average and most likely related to the recent growth in population.

Social Class Composition

  • The changes in social class composition experienced throughout Ireland over the past 15 years largely parallels those in educational achievement, with a gradual increase in the number of professionals and an even greater decline in the proportion of semi- and unskilled manual workers. At the national level, the proportion of professionals in all classes rose from 25.2% in 1991 to 32.9% in 2006, whilst the proportion of the semi- and unskilled classes declined from 28.2% to 18.6% over the same period.
  • In Clare, the proportion in the professional classes (33.6%) and the proportion in the lower skilled professions (17.1%) mark a class composition just marginally above the national average. Differences in the social class composition within the county reflect those of educational attainment, with Tulla RD having the highest composition (40.5% professionals, 16.6% semi- and unskilled manual classes), and Kilrush UD having the lowest (22.6%, 27.3%).
  • In terms of its social class composition, the West Clare FRC catchment area has a marginally lower than national average share of professionals (29.1% as against 32.9%). Low-skilled workers account for 19.4%, closely resembling the national average (18.6%).
  • The Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area has a slightly lower share of professionals (27.5%), and a slightly higher than average share of low-skilled workers at 23.1%.
  • In terms of its social class composition, the North West Clare FRC catchment accounts for a marginally lower share of professionals (31.0%). The share of low-skilled workers (18.0%) resembles the national average.
  • The Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre catchment area has a significantly higher than average share of professionals, which at 42.3% is amongst the highest shares of all FRC catchment areas. Complementary, low-skilled workers account for only 12.3%.

Unemployment

  • Whilst all of the other socio-economic indicators are less sensitive to the time that has passed since the 2006 Census, unemployment has more than doubled since, and the 2006 data has to be treated with considerable care. Nevertheless, when used on a strictly comparative basis with respect to the 1991 to 2006 period, the relativities remain of significance and are likely to have prevailed into present-day.
  • Unemployment rates throughout Ireland have broadly halved over the past 15 years. Female unemployment rates have tended to be slightly below male unemployment rates, but have not fallen at the same pace due to the increasing levels of female labour force participation (i.e. reflecting the trend of increased female participation in the labour force with more women registering their unemployed status). The male unemployment rate fell from 18.4% in 1991 to 8.8% in 2006, whilst the female unemployment rate fell from 14.1% to 8.1%.
  • Unemployment rates for County Clare have fallen at a rate below the nationally prevailing ones between 1991 and 2006 (-6.3% male / -4.6% female compared to -9.6% male / -6.0% female nationally), but also remained well below the national rates in 2006 at 7.5% male unemployment and 7.8% female unemployment.
  • Below the county level, unemployment rates are by far the highest in Kilrush UD (15.2%m/11.0%f).
  • Unemployment rates in individual EDs reach levels well above those prevailing county wide, and are highest in Ennis No 2 Urban (21.5%m/20.7%f), followed by Ennis No 1 Urban (17.5%m/11.9%f), Kilkee (15.4m/26.7f), and Kilrush Urban (15.2m/11.0f). Notably, all of these are urban areas, and there seems to exist a particular situation with regard to female unemployment in Kilkee, which experienced exceptionally high levels for each of the four census periods.
  • In 2006, the West Clare FRC catchment area had a male unemployment rate marginally lower than the national average and a female unemployment rate marginally higher than the nationally prevailing rate.
  • The Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area experienced unemployment rates marginally below the national unemployment rates.
  • The North West Clare FRC area had unemployment rates marginally above the national average.
  • The male and female unemployment rates for the Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre catchment area were slightly lower than the nationally prevailing rates.

Housing

  • There has been a 2.3 percentage point decline in the proportion of local authority housing in Ireland over the past 15 years, from 9.8% in 1991 to 7.5% in 2006. The proportion in the Mid West Region has declined by 2.0 percentage points, from 8.5% to 6.4%. Clare has seen a lesser decline of 0.9 percentage points, albeit from a lower base (5.9% to 4.9%). Within County Clare, local authority housing in Kilrush UD (15.0%) is considerably higher than any other area, but still not exceptional by comparison to other urban areas throughout the country.
  • At ED level, the highest concentrations of local authority housing are found in Ennis No 2 Urban (23.9%) and Kilrush Urban (15.0%), but only the first can be considered high when compared to other towns and cities.
  • The West Clare FRC catchment area is an area with a strong own house base (84.8%), with local authority rented housing accounting for 5.7% only.
  • Similarly, the Shannon Family Resource Centre catchment area is an area with a strong own house base (80.1%), while local authority rented housing accounts for 6.8%.
  • In the North West Clare FRC catchment area, 6.4% of houses are local authority rented housing. 81.9% are own houses.
  • The Killaloe/Ballina Family Resource Centre catchment area is an area with 76.6% own houses and 6.6% local authority rented housing.
  • Hence, in all 4 FRC catchment areas of County Clare the proportion of local authority rented housing is marginally below the national average of 7.5%.

New Measures of Deprivation in the Republic of Ireland

An Inter-temporal and Spatial Analysis of data from the
Census of Population, 1991, 1996, 2002 and 2006
Trutz Haase & Jonathan Pratschke, February 2008

This section provides a brief summary of the new Measures of Deprivation for the Republic of Ireland, drawing on recent data from the 2006 Census of Population. Building on the innovative and powerful approach to the construction of deprivation indices developed in our previous research (Haase & Pratschke, 2005), the new Measures of Deprivation provide an up-to-date analysis of the changes in deprivation that have occurred in each local area over the past fifteen years[1].

How is the new deprivation index constructed?

Most deprivation indices are based on a factor analytical approach which reduces a larger number of indicator variables to a smaller number of underlying dimensions or factors. This approach is taken a step further in the Measures of Deprivation developed by Haase & Pratschke: rather than allowing the definition of the underlying dimensions of deprivation to be determined by data-driven techniques, the authors develop a priorconceptualisation of these dimensions. Based on earlier deprivation indices for Ireland, as well as analyses from other countries, three dimensions of affluence/disadvantage are identified: Demographic Profile,Social Class Composition and Labour Market Situation.

Demographic Profile is first and foremost a measure of rural affluence/deprivation. Whilst long-term adverse labour market conditions tend to manifest themselves in urban areas in the form of unemployment blackspots, in rural areas, by contrast, the result is typically agricultural underemployment and/or emigration. Emigration from deprived rural areas is also, and increasingly, the result of a mismatch between education and skill levels, on the one hand, and available job opportunities, on the other. Emigration is socially selective, being concentrated amongst core working-age cohorts and those with further education, leaving the communities concerned with a disproportionate concentration of economically-dependent individuals as well as those with lower levels of education. Sustained emigration leads to an erosion of the local labour force, a decreased attractiveness for commercial and industrial investment and, ultimately, a decline in the availability of services.