Irish Rural Structure and Gaeltacht Areas

This is the report on a background study for the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) regarding the Irish Rural Structure. The main objective of the study was to "develop, using demographic, economic and geographical data, a typology of rural areas in Ireland and their main characteristics. The typology should be developed at a geographical scale that enables practical regional and subregional comparisons to be made". The study also examined: trends within these areas and the outlook for them; the relationship between urban and rural areas; and the role of infrastructure in rural area performance. This Summary presents selected principal findings only. More detailed results are contained in the Main Report. The overall study approach has been one of a high level of quantification, drawing mainly on the Census of Population 1996. This focus reflects a desire to contribute analytically to much discussed but seldom systematically assessed issues of rural development and rural performance in Ireland. “Rural” is defined as District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) with no population centre above 1,500 people, with a population density below 150 per sq. km, and which are not part of an urban district or borough, ie it broadly refers to open countryside and rural villages