Mid-West Region, Ireland

The Mid-West is a strategic planning area within the Southern Region in Ireland. It is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland (coded IE051). It consists of the counties of Clare and Tipperary, and the city and county of Limerick. Limerick City is the economic centre of the region. It spans 10,511 km2, 14.95% of the total area of the state and as of the 2022 census, it had a population of 505,369.[1]

This article is about the strategic planning area and NUTS region. For the broader region including parts of Kerry and Offaly, see Shannon Region.

Mid-West
The Mid-West of Ireland with each constituent county council highlighted.
The Mid-West of Ireland with each constituent county council highlighted.
Country Republic of Ireland
RegionSouthern

Area

The constituent local authorities are the councils of the counties of Clare and Tipperary and the city and county of Limerick, which each send representatives to the Southern Regional Assembly, forming the Mid-West Strategic Planning Area Committee.[2]

The area of the Mid-West was expanded in 2018 as part of an EU-wide revision to NUTS areas, by the inclusion of the whole of County Tipperary.[3][4] This reflected the merger of North Tipperary and South Tipperary as local government areas in 2014. Prior to 2018, South Tipperary was located in the South-East.

Former Regional Authority

Prior to 2014, the area was a region was administered by the Mid-West Regional Authority, which consisted of 26 elected representatives from the region's councils.[5] These representatives met once a month. The councils were:

The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.[6]

Shannon Development was a development body for the Shannon Region of the lower River Shannon, which encompassed the entire Mid-West Region together with North Kerry (in the South-West Region) and South Offaly (in the Midland Region). It too was dissolved in 2014.

Demographics

The Mid-West has a population of 473,269 which constitutes about 9.94% of Ireland's total population.[7]

The population density of the region is 45.02 persons/km2. Limerick City is the largest urban area in the region with a population of 94,192 people within the larger urban area including the city suburbs.[8]

Economy

The economy of the region is based mainly around the greater Limerick/Shannon corridor. The Shannon Free Zone, Shannon Airport, Shannon Estuary Ports, National Technology Park Limerick and major educational institutions such as the University of Limerick and Limerick Institute of Technology are major drivers of the regional economy with growth prospects in Biotechnology and medical technology, ICT, aerospace, tourism agribusiness and logistics.[9] The Dublin/Limerick corridor and the western corridor linking Galway/Ennis/Limerick/Cork is of strategic importance to the region.[9]

According to CSO figures for 2014, the region has a GDP of €12.116 bn and a GDP per capita of €31,792.[10]

[11] Eurostat figures for 2012, the region has GDP of €11.468 bn and a GDP per capita of €30,300

The 2016 unemployment rate is one of the lowest in Ireland at 6% (the same as that of Dublin). .[12]

The workforce in the region was 160,400 in 2003 which was an employment rate of 96.7% of which 61.8% were employed in services, 29.8% in Industry and 8.3% employed in agriculture.[9]

Agriculture remains a major part of the Mid-West economy. The Clare Marts in Ennis is a major trading post of livestock nationally. The plains of East Limerick are part of Ireland's Golden Vale that stretch from Limerick City into County Tipperary

According to the CSO, the mid-west in 2016 had the lowest value of land sold in Ireland of €16.5 million. Also, the Mid-West region had the lowest volume of land in Ireland of 2,898 acres which could in turn reduce income coming into this region.[13]

Transport

Shannon Airport is the only airport in the region with a wide range of flights available to Britain, continental Europe and transatlantic flights to the United States. The M7 is a high quality motorway connecting Dublin and Limerick. The N18/M18 including the Limerick Tunnel provides a complete bypass of Limerick and improved access to Shannon, Ennis and Galway. The N/M20 road/motorway provides access to Cork and Kerry.

Urban areas

A list of the largest urban areas and regionally important towns with a population of 1,000 or more in the Mid-West Region. County capitals are shown in bold.

Rank Town County Population
(2016 census)
1 Limerick Limerick 94,192
2 Ennis Clare 25,276
3 Clonmel Tipperary 17,140
4 Shannon Clare 9,729
5 Nenagh Tipperary 8,968
6 Thurles Tipperary 7,940
7 Newcastle West Limerick 6,619
8 Carrick-on-Suir Tipperary 5,771
9 Roscrea Tipperary 5,446
10 Tipperary Tipperary 4,979
11 Cashel Tipperary 4,422
12 Cahir Tipperary 3,593
13 Annacotty Limerick 2,930
14 Kilrush Clare 2,719
15 Ballina Tipperary 2,632
16 Sixmilebridge Clare 2,625
17 Castleconnell Limerick 2,107
18 Abbeyfeale Limerick 2,023
19 Newport Tipperary 1,995
20 Templemore Tipperary 1,939
21 Newmarket-on-Fergus Clare 1,784
22 Kilmallock Limerick 1,668
23 Fethard Tipperary 1,545
24 Killaloe Clare 1,484
25 Caherconlish Limerick 1,476
26 Rathkeale Limerick 1,441
27 Ardnacrusha Clare 1,383
28 Murroe Limerick 1,377
29 Croom Limerick 1,159
30 Askeaton Limerick 1,137
31 Adare Limerick 1,129
32 Ennistymon Clare 1,045
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shannon Region.

References
  1. "Press Statement Census of Population 2022 - Preliminary Results - CSO - Central Statistics Office". CSO. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  2. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Assemblies) (Establishment) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 573 of 2014), "42. A regional assembly shall establish a strategic planning area committee in respect of each strategic planning area within the region, specified in column (2) of Schedule 3, consisting of the members of the regional assembly appointed by the constituent local authorities specified in column (3) of that Schedule opposite the mention in the said column (2) of the area, and of persons who are not members of the regional assembly, to perform functions, in respect of such area, in relation to the regional spatial and economic strategy in accordance with Chapter III of Part II of the Act of 2000 and any regulations or directions under that Act.". Signed on 16 December 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 March 2022.
  3. "Revision to the Irish NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions". Central Statistics Office.
  4. Regulation (EU) No 2016/2066 of 21 November 2016 amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)
  5. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order 1993 (S.I. No. 394 of 1993). Signed on 20 December 1993. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 March 2022.
  6. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 228 of 2014). Signed on 29 May 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 19 January 2022.
  7. "Census 2016". Central Statistics Office.
  8. "Census of Population 2016" (PDF). Profile 1 – Geographical distribution. Central Statistics Office. 6 April 2017. p. 15. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  9. Irish Region Office - Regions of Ireland: Mid-West Region Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "County Incomes and Regional GDP 2014 - CSO - Central Statistics Office". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.
  11. "Eurostat - Data Explorer". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  12. "Quarterly National Household Survey Quarter 4 2016 - CSO - Central Statistics Office". Archived from the original on 22 February 2017.
  13. "Agricultural Land Prices 2016 - CSO - Central Statistics Office". 27 October 2017.

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