Ireland has one of the highest shares of people living in rural areas of almost any other EU country, figures from Eurostat show.
Some 42% of Irish people live in rural areas compared to the European average of 27%. Malta has the lowest share of people living in rural areas with 7%, followed by the UK with 12%.
Meanwhile, 35% of Ireland’s population live in cities compared to an EU average of 41%, the figures show. A further 23% live in towns and suburbs compared to an EU average of 32%.
The Eurostat figures also show that the employment rate of people living in towns and suburbs in Ireland (66.3%) is lower than that of city dwellers (69.3%) and rural dwellers (69.7%).
Furthermore, the statistics show that people living in towns and suburbs in Ireland are also at a greater risk of poverty or social exclusion (29.3%) than those living in cities (26.3%) and rural areas (27.6%) contrary to many other EU countries.
How Heather Humphreys’ plan for rural Ireland will affect you
Earlier this year, the new Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and Gaeltacht vowed to oversee the revitalisation of rural Ireland while ensuring all Government policies are rural-proofed.
It will retain all of the existing responsibilities of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as well as wide-ranging new responsibilities.
The Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, said that as someone who has lived all of her life in rural Ireland, she understands the issues, challenges and opportunities it faces.
The Government needs to take a fresh approach to rural Ireland, to ensure that our towns and villages are not left behind as the economy continues to grow.
We must rural-proof our policies, right across Government, to ensure they are having a positive impact on rural communities.
Humphreys has vowed to work with other Departments to provide greater political co-ordination on areas that impact rural Ireland.
This includes the Department of Jobs, which will be rolling out a new €500 million jobs investment fund to benefit many regional towns and villages.
The new Government is aiming to add 200,000 extra jobs by 2020, with 135,000 of these outside Dublin,” Humphreys said.