| Immigrant intake is at new record high
By Niamh Hennessy
THE number of immigrants traveling to Ireland has reached record levels,
according to new figures released from the Central Statistics Office.
The CSO said that some 86,900 immigrants had arrived in Ireland over the
last year — the highest annual figure since records began in 1987.
Almost half of the new arrivals were from the 10 states that joined the
European Union in May 2004 — mainly Poland and Lithuania.
The increased immigration coupled with the excess of births over deaths
has pushed Ireland’s total population up to an estimated 4.2million.
The figures also show that Ireland’s booming economy is fueling
a 4.6 per cent annual growth in jobs, driving the number of people in
work above 2million for the first time.
The 4.6 percent rate — more than double the European Union average
of 1.7 per cent — reflects a particularly strong growth in construction
jobs.
A decade ago fewer than 1.4million people had jobs in Ireland and unemployment
exceeded 11 per cent.
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