Waterford Cencus 2022

Valhalla90

Most of the new housing developments currently under construction are all within the Outer Ring Rd so its mostly infill at the moment.

hardybuck

That wouldn't be my understanding of infill. I'd be talking about sites in the city centre like the gasworks site.

If they're determined to pump more houses into these locations there should also be some investment in things like schools and public transport.

BBM77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255176#Comment_119255176

What is the point of the census if it is going to be ignored? The discussion has been valid considering things like the reports on university status, 24/7 Cardiac care, boundary extension etc have all found in Waterford’s favour and were tossed in the bin by the government because they were too threating to the status quo. If you want to make somewhere better you have to look at the problems. Waterford does not have a population problem, it has been growing in all past census, the latest showing particularly strong growth. Waterford has a politics problem. Which is relevant to the census results.

hardybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255726#Comment_119255726

What about whataboutery? Come on pal, the preliminary results are only just released.

Just to pick up one of your points, the Irish population has grown exponentially since the 1960s - by around 80% in fact. However, in the 2016 census Waterford grew by just 2.1%, well below the national figure of 3.8%. This time Waterford is well ahead of the national average.

But the census will give much more relevant information to enable future planning like what mix of industries are here, ethnic diversity, household composition, geographic spread, religion, income levels, fertility rates etc.

Please let's avoid another classic 'everyone is out to keep Waterford down' threads, and maybe instead we can discuss the actual results of the census.

BBM77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255974#Comment_119255974

Well if you want to talk about past census how about Waterford cities population has always showed an increase. Cork and Limerick cities actually showed a fall in population in recent past census.

But yes, they are just preliminary results. However, still stand by what I wrote. If the census results now and in the past is not reflected in the actual government actions we see, I ask again. What is the point of the census if it is going to be ignored? The reality is government actions do not reflect the census results in Waterford. As I said, positive things like this are usually tossed in the bin by the government. It is not an “everyone is out to keep Waterford down” attitude if there is proof of it happening in reality, which I pointed out already. Sure, university status and 24/7 Cardiac care issues I mentioned are directly related to the population as counted in the census. Is the census just an academic exercise or is it actually for “future planning”? WMADTS I posted above show the census is just an academic exercise. For god sake, you would be quicker driving to Tramore and Dunmore East from parts of the city than you would driving from one side of the city to the other. Yet Tramore and Dunmore East are not included in Waterford’s metro area. But Shannon, which is further away from Limerick city and is a town with it’s own employment, is included in Limericks metro area. It is a farce.

Dexpat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255974#Comment_119255974

I share your frustration somewhat about 'everyone is out to keep Waterford down' threads. It has been done to death and they can be depressing but it doesn't mean the issues can/should be ignored. I agree with BBM77 that it's important to discuss the Census with reference to the public policy issues. Otherwise it's just statistical analysis.

Even with the relatively low growth of previous census results Waterford in the context of the SE region, had the population to justify educational and medical resources that were taken for granted in other regions. The catchment area for UHW for example was artificially constrained and ended half way into Co KK. This was deliberate policy to direct resources elsewhere. In this context, the large increase in Waterford's population will at least make this more difficult to do. We should still be able to highlight the issues though.

In terms of the results themselves, I agree that building up density is important. In previous Census some of the city centre areas had decreases in population. This census shows big increases; for example Ballybricken West up 34%, Bilberry 15%, Centre A 16%, Centre B 25%, Custom House A 27%, Custom House B 22%, The Glen 36%. Now these are for relatively small absolute numbers but the trend is good. If the north quays gets up and running? well we won't go there!

It's interesting also that the Kilbarry population has exploded by 239%. While not in the centre, it is positive for density in the city. Previously I suspect a lot of this growth would have gone to Tramore, Kilmeaden etc

Overall the results are very positive and instead of looking over our shoulders at the likes of Drogheda we can have a realistic aspiration of competing with Limerick and Galway. It as always requires that the politicians of the region acting in unison. There are some signs of that in relation to the Airport. I won't hold by breath though.

To a large extent though it doesn't come down to population, but being an attractive place to live with good employment prospects and access to services. We're much closer to that now that when I was growing up.

friendlyfun

We had glass but they took that away to Eastern Europe. Absolute disgrace

azimuth17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244381#Comment_119244381

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244381#Comment_119244381

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119244381#Comment_119244381

On reading the list of electoral divisions in the city I think you have left out Ballymaclode, the area around the River Cottage pub (Orpens) which contains 1301 people. When added to your figures this brings the population (incluidng co Kilkenny suburbs which CSO will include anyway) to over 60,000.

Oscar Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258753#Comment_119258753

You're a little late lamenting the closure of Waterford Crystal!

13 years ago now & yes, it was an absolute disgrace & the consequences of its closure.

I worked there & I still have issues that still affect me in my everyday life even after 13 years!

Finnbar01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119279965#Comment_119279965

What sort of issues?

Oscar Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119282183#Comment_119282183

The aftermath of it Finbarr. How to deal with where I was then & what was I to do next?

It wasn't easy & I wasn't on my own! There were so many others that felt deserted & lost!

It also wasn't the most opportune time to be trying to start a new career especially in your 40's!

I remember the recessions in the 70's & 80's but I had no responsibilities then & I couldn't

understand or appreciate what it was like for my Father or Mother at that time.

Our most recent recession in my opinion was a lot worse & harder to manage.

We're still coming out of the 2008/09 recession & according to forecasts they're predicting one for 2023.

How will people fare with more cost of living increases? I'm reading that electricity & gas prices are set to

increase again!

Dexpat

Cheers azimuth17. I wasn't sure and suspected that it wasn't 100% correct. I'll add Ballymaclode when I get a chance.

Dexpat

I've updated the city census results by adding Ballymaclode. Percentage changes have also been included and I'm confident the figures for each electoral division are correct. There is still a slight discrepancy between the final 2016 CSO reported city and suburbs figure of 53,504 and the electoral division figures added together which give 54,038.

Regardless of this, the difference of only 534, means the final 2022 city figure looks certain to be over 60,000.

The difference could be due to the CSO using a different methodology for city and suburbs than electoral divisions. Only including urban area for example would exclude some isolated housing in electoral divisions. It might also be due to some of the Co Kilkenny division of Kilculliheen being excluded. It could also be due to incorrect divisions being included/excluded. Fell free to point out changes to be made.

Dexpat

Apologies, a final edit as I've seen from an older Census when the city was an independent entity that Killotern should be excluded. It had small numbers so doesn't make much difference. It does reduce the error between quoted figures in the 2016 final report and the 2016 figures that CSO included in the 2022 preliminary report, to 40, which is statistically insignificant. It may have been due to small revisions made by the CSO between each census

I'm confident now that it's pretty much spot on and once I started it's important to get it right. The end.

Pablo Escobar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119256205#Comment_119256205

I can’t speak for Limerick on this point but the reason the Cork census showed declines previously was because the boundary was so small. It fell well within the urban area so as the urban area grew, the traditional ‘city’ became less dense. And despite the “ease” or extending the boundary suggested in another post, it was far from that. It basically only extends east as far as just beyond the tunnel due to the conflict between the city and country councils. That whole eastern corridor is fairly build up, will have large residential developments added to it over the next few years, yet it is still in the county figures.

Valhalla90

Still confusing for the cities of Limerick and Waterford as there is technically no city/county boundary anymore with the amalgamation of the city and county councils, this surely needs to be clarified since Cork & Galway have clear boundaries. Another mess by Big Phil.

Dexpat

Some census analysis from John Fitzgerald from the ESRI. Positive highlighting of the Waterford figures which is primarily as a result of inward migration. Not a premium article. Can be accessed as part of free weekly articles.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/2022/07/08/john-fitzgerald-census-reveals-much-more-than-population-numbers/

fuzzy dunlop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119291888#Comment_119291888

I used to spend a lot of time crunching numbers like this but resposnibilities deny me the time. Good work dude! Or dudess if that is the case......

The CW

Waterford City and Suburbs population 60,079. New methodology called Built-up Urban Area(BUA) used to define the boundaries using landcover. Results in a slightly lower population than the 2016 census definition which uses population only. That figure for Waterford City and Suburbs is 60,200. You can view the new BUAs using the Tailte Éireann website which has replaced the OSI as of March. The link to the map is here: CSO Urban Areas - National Statistical Boundaries - 2022 - Ungeneralised | CSO Urban Areas - National Statistical Boundaries - 2022 - Ungeneralised | Open Data Portal (arcgis.com). Census populations for other Cities and Towns can be viewed here: https://data.cso.ie/table/F1013.

Dexpat

Census 2022 Cities and towns.xlsx

Thanks to The CW for the above. As was said, the methodology for showing town and city population has changed which means that a direct comparison is not made in the census between the 'settlements' populations which was used in the 2016 census, and the Built Up Areas (BUA) which is now being used. (They are quite close in most cases though). However, an appendix given does show what the 'like for like' population of each town city would have been using the 2016 methodology. I've included those figures in the above table.

When showing increases I've used the 2022 BUA compared to the 2016 Settlements which is not directly comparable but does give a good indication of growth. Waterford's growth has been very strong and has matched Carlow and Navan which in affect are now overspill areas from Dublin. It is well above the other cities in the country and the largest town Drogheda.

Interestingly Carlow has now overtaken Kilkenny in population.

All the information in the tables above are in the latest census release but had to be put together. Later in the year the small area statistics will be published which will show the information in a similar format to above. However as I said the CSO probably won't show percentage changes due to the change in methodology. For some reason today's release concentrates on towns and largely ignores the cities.This will also be addressed in later publications. Feel free to point out any errors in the information provided and I can correct it.

azimuth17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783764#Comment_120783764

Very interesting thank you. The Carlow growth ahead of Kilkenny is interesting.

Dexpat

I've added the previous table into this post rather than as an attachment. I know some people will be wary of opening attachments.

The CW

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783764#Comment_120783764

Not a bother 😉

Dunmoreroader

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120784445#Comment_120784445

Any data available on the Metro populations for each city based on the 2022 Census?

Also OP, please amend spelling for thread title.

Dexpat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867046#Comment_120867046

I don't think the census directly shows metropolitan areas (I'm open to correction on that). They have developed objective criteria to show urban areas but maybe metro areas are more subjective. Commuting patterns are usually applied, and Euro Stat do that for the EU, but I'm not sure that it has been applied here by the CSO in the census.

The last of the population releases will be at the end of September which will show small area population statistics (SAPS). This will include all the detailed population figures and spreadsheets. The methodology by which these small areas are applied to towns and cities is not clear to me though. It seems other government departments/agencies are able to do that.

I suppose that's the problem people have here with metro areas and how it apples to Waterford. There is something on Wikipedia (below) which shows metro areas. It gives a rough approximation. Tramore certainly is included in Waterford's metro area. It probably incorporates the latest census urban areas figures but can't have included the changes to the outlying 'small areas'. It also doesn't seem to reflect the figures used by various government agencies.

I'd be interested if anyone can show the methodology used in calculating metro areas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_Ireland