Ireland forecast to have bigger population than Scotland by 2019
Published:
3 January 2005 y., Monday
THE population of the Republic of Ireland will overtake Scotland in 14 years unless something is done to reverse demographic decline north of the Border, it was warned last night.
The SNP claimed a rising population had brought Ireland growing prosperity, and said Scotland should learn from its Celtic neighbour.
The opposition labelled the Scottish Executive’s policy to arrest the falling population as "believing in fairies".
The population of the Republic, which stood at only 2.8 million in the 1970s, will rise to five million by 2019, official figures forecast.
The Registrar General for Scotland, meanwhile, has predicted that the country’s population of 5.05 million could fall to 4.84 million by 2009.
The SNP’s enterprise and economy spokesman, Jim Mather, said: "It is increasingly clear the Scottish Executive is clinging to a powerless policy agenda which is the equivalent of believing in fairies."
The Executive aims to tackle population decline by attracting skilled migrants to Scotland, as well as retaining people already living and working north of the Border.
Šaltinis:
news.scotsman.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The twentieth anniversary of the Baltic Way was commemorated in Tokyo.
more »
After an emotional funeral service in Boston and a 90-minute flight from Massachusetts, the flag-draped casket holding Edward Kennedy arrived by motorcade in Washington, D.C. for a final visit to the U.S. Capitol Building, the political home for the senior Senator of Massachusetts for almost half a century.
more »
Mike Perham has become the youngest person to sail single handedly round the world. It's also the dream of another teenager in the Netherlands.
more »
Whenever its member countries are hit by natural disasters, the EU steps in to help coordinate assistance and fund the reconstruction of essential infrastructure.
more »
Inside this tiny house in central Cuba a woman rekindles old fashioned romance in a modern age. Liudmila Quincose writes love letters for a living.
more »
A traditional drum beat opens the 2009 World Karate Championships in Japan.
more »
Scientists are investigating the death of about 300 sea lions on the coast of Chile.
more »
Carmen Valverde and her dog Tomas were out for a walk in their Lima, Peru neighborhood when Tomas was snatched from her side.
more »
It was never going to be a quiet affair when Lance Armstrong put out an invitation on twitter for fans to join him on a bike ride around a Scottish town.
more »
About half of the British public feel there is a general negative bias in reporting on EU affairs on television, radio and in the written press, with written press reports seen as the most negative, according to a public opinion poll published by the European Commission today.
more »