Leitrim remains Ireland’s most depopulated county, meeting hears

Leitrim is the only county in Ireland that has not yet returned to at least 40 percent of its population in 1841, a meeting of Leitrim County Council heard.

Cllr Justin Warnock told the meeting that while most counties have recovered their populations, the north west region, particularly Leitrim, remains in decline.

He called on elected members to urge the Minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, to introduce a financial support grant for businesses and to abolish commercial rates for indigenous businesses with an annual turnover of less than €200,000.

“The Northern and Western region on the periphery of Europe is classified as a Transition Region by the European Commission and also Leitrim being a border county, compounds the economic survival of many of our small indigenous businesses,” his motion stated.

Cllr Warnock stressed the urgency of the situation, saying, “If we don’t get people back into this county or the north west region we’ll have a serious problem. 

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“We’re losing young people every day abroad to go and work and some of them will never come back unless the opportunities are there.”

He told councillors that in 1841, Leitrim had a population of approximately 155,000, compared to just 35,000 today. Similarly, the north west region had 2,158,000 people in 1841, but now has only 900,000.

“We heard last week there’s 7.1 million people on the island of Ireland. I don’t know where the population is growing but it’s not in the north west region,” he added.

He argued for the removal of rates on small businesses under €200,000 turnover, and highlighted that the EU has acknowledged the region’s economic struggles.

“Money should be tapped into for the creation of jobs, there’s an awful lot that can be done.”

Cllr Warnock also emphasised the potential of green energy, marine resources, sustainable agriculture, and organic farming to boost local employment and underlined the urgent need for infrastructure, including rail connections.

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He proposed that Leitrim County Council organise a one-day brainstorming session involving councillors from the eight counties in the region to develop a comprehensive plan.

“We should take the lead on this as the county that suffers the most,” he said.

He also drew attention to the struggles of local education, “There's only 40 primary schools in Leitrim and about 10 of those are struggling with 50 students or less. We’re going to see massive decline in our rural populations and something needs to be done.”

Cllr Warnock’s motion received strong support, with Cllr Reynolds agreeing, “We’re getting more disadvantaged as time goes on.”