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NEW FIGURES FROM the ESRI show that Ireland has the highest birth rate of of any EU state — at 15.6 per 1,000 of the population.
The average birth rate across the 27 nations is 10.4 per 1,000.
The think-tank’s ‘Perinatal Statistics Report’ for 2012 shows a decline in birth numbers last year — with 71,986 births recorded. That’s a drop of 3.2 per cent since 2011, and represents a fall of 5.3 per cent since 2009.
There was also a further drop in the perinatal mortality rates — estimated at 5.9 per cent per 1,000 live births and stillbirths in 2012. In 2003, the corresponding figure was 8.6 per 1,000.
There were 1,217 sets of twins born in the country last year, and 33 sets of triplets.
Breastfeeding
47 per cent of all newborn babies were exclusively breastfed in 2012, a figure unchanged since 2011.
The average age of women giving birth was just under 32 — a slight rise on the figure for the previous year. The average age in 2003 was 30.6 years.
Just two per cent of women giving birth were aged under 20, while 30 per cent were aged 35 years or older.
The average age of first-time mothers was exactly thirty, while the average age of mothers giving birth for a second time or more was 33.2 years.
In addition, some 34 per cent of all births were to single mothers, while almost a quarter were to mothers born outside Ireland.
There were 176 home births last year in Ireland, compared with 236 in 2003 — a drop of 25 per cent over the decade.
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We’d want to keep as many of those Roma gangs, and I mean gangs out. They’re capable of driving those numbers up further still and keeping the recession alive with their social welfare claims. How they get in here now I’ll never know!!
Couldn’t agree with you more on that pal !!!!
Yeh its a problem that never gets reported.It’s time to shut up the borders now anyway.
Totally agree with you. We need to only allow people in that contribute
Roma don’t integrate (the vast majority haven’t for 1000 years)
Roma do not speak English
Roma do not work.
Roma steal, beg
Having large families that do this is not good.
Not to mention I’ve see Roma collect social welfare, be entitled to medical cards, free travel etc.
How is this possible?
Vast majority have never worked in any (legal) employment. So how in the name of sweet Jesus are they allowed to come here and claim social welfare?
That’s the EU for you. It’s only a matter if time before it implodes. The sooner it does the better so we can send the Roma leeches back to Eastern Europe.
i wouldn’t go pointing the finger at just Romas, all migrants are well capable of yanking that birth rate up and live off the state, increase class sizes, take up jobs, housing as short supply as it is. yea, all very well capable. This is going to continue as long as they continue to let them in. They don’t have a back up plan, they don’t care. Those making the decision have only about 20 years left in them, like many of us, we’ll be all gone, so i’m not going to worry about. Kind of reckless though and inconsiderate for younger peoples future here. Alan, Richard, you do realise you can’t take your pensions and money made off this with you? Whats it all for?
No wonder!
For Some people babies are money making machines and social welfare system is perfect employer.
Wait until the Roma community come here in droves from Romania and Bulgaria. They have huge families and start popping the kids out at a very early stage. It will for sure be a higher birth rate in the next few years.
I’m sure the Aussies are saying the same
Kenneth there is simply no comparison between our highly educated and highly skilled youth legally emigrating to Australia and the continued influx of cheap low skilled labour flowing into Ireland to take advantage of the welfare system.
Keep them coming and well have this future pension crisis we constantly hear about sorted
Stunning racism on this thread. Stunning. You’d swear Irish people never moved abroad.
Is it racism to make an observation that we have a lot of foreigners in ireland?
It’s not stunning racism. It’s our opinion. The Irish do not move to OZ,UK,USA etc to claim welfare. This is fact kid.
Irish people move abroad and WORK.I know alot of people coming here have the intention to work but at the same time alot of them don’t and are here as welfare tourists.
Ah, Kevin, we all know Ireland is the country of emigrants. The thing is Irish are the best and brightest, they are highly educated and skilled individuals who go and help good people of Australia, UK, USA build their economies. We, foreigners are completely different story. We are unskilled uneducated creatures, we do not integrate, we do not care about Ireland, we destroy Irish culture, we do not show any interest in Irish history, literature, etc. and generally speaking, we are here for two reasons – to steal jobs or to sponge welfare system….Somehow we were tolerated when the Celtic Tiger was roaring, but now we should be thrown out like some disposable objects after use…..A lot of Irish hate us now. It’s about them John Steinbeck, of Irish descent himself, said – “The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste and finally hatred towards migrant people”. Sad….
Yes, Mark. You’re a cosmopolitan open-minded thinker. Hence the phrase “over-run with Eastern Europeans”. That’s not at all derogatory.
Robert- opinions can be racist. Yours, for example.
Irena- beautifully put.
Daniel- you should ask an unemployed American what he thinks of the “undocumented” (illegal) Irish immigrant taking his job if he sees a distinction between a Paddy on a building site in New York and a Pole on a building site in Dublin.
Difference being Kevin a polish person working on a building site in Ireland is entitled to be there and will be paying the same taxes ect as you or I. Whereas undocumented Irish in the States are not.
We don’t all feel that way, Irena. Ignore the racist trolls.
No I’m realistic about the fact that Ireland is flooded with unskilled welfare tourists. Open minded thinking is also known as naive thinking.
I’d love to see you do a days work on a building site Kevin…
Hang on Irene,I do intergrate.How dare you to say I am not,i am getting drunk as often as i can vommiting all over the place when i drunk with my pants down to my ankles showing my naked arse.And you try to tell me I am not showing any irishness.
Leonard- I wasn’t passing any comment at all on building site work. You might want to try and read before commenting yourself?
It is when these observations are prefixed by words such as ‘overrun’ and “polluted”. I hope the xenophobic comments on this thread are not representative of the Irish population as a whole or I would feel sad for these children growing up in such a small minded hateful culture.
I know you weren’t passing comments.
I would actually like to see you do a real days work. Be soon changing your arrogant smug way of thinking.
Leonard- it’s not the absence of having done a hard days work that makes me smug. It’s the sense of superiority that engulfs me when I read what you post here. It’s intoxicating. Reassures me that there’s real value in an education and being properly reared.
Properly reared? Don’t like the sound of growing up in your house…
@kevin
Not racist tho…. Maybe u could argue its xenophobic. Learn the difference between racist vs xenophobia. Not liking someone who’s not from your country doesn’t automatically make you a racist Kevin. Most Europeans are the same race of human!.
Giuseppe- Probably in terms of general parlance, Racism is associated with skin colour specifically. But since race is defined as: Race is a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, and/or social affiliation….I’m happy enough to categorise a lot of what is on here as racist given it targets specific cultures, ethnic groups and geographic groups!
Your making your on assumptions so… Good we all know what assumptions are…. Thanks.
Hang on a minute there Jack Green but this is our country and if you don’t like the fact the we Irish get drunk and piss everywhere then go back too your own country and watch your own people piss themselves… You’d be lucky too see my drunk naked ass in the air..
I do like to get drunk.I own two acres of your beautiful country .You see I have plenty of space to run around and vomit.I promise I will work more on intergration .I will start pissing in city corners.
Guiseppe- You’re. As in you are.
” ohh but mam we are in love”, bang 9 months later a baby, ahh a new baby sure have a house too and a life of social welfare dependencies. Bertie let anyone in this green isle and now it’s polluted with Africans, Roma, and all sorts. It’s disgusting how much Ireland has been forced to change. Romantic Ireland is dead and gone it’s with O Leary in his grave…
“Polluted by Africans?”
Horrid terminology.
Did I miss the memo where outright racism became acceptable? I am no bleeding heart liberal and understand people need a bogeyman for their problems but this is frightening stuff people.
How many of those twins and triplets are Nigerian. According to the Guinness book of records, Nigerians have the highest level of multiple births in the world.
Wasn’t it said birth rate in Nigeria was 5/1. Average 5 kids from each woman and by 2054 Nigerians population would be 350m. Scary stuff
@giuseppe
And what’s so scary about it?
Scary. Lack of food… Nigeria isn’t known for it’s farming industry. How will they be fed? No one wants to see a famine ?
Guissepe – they won’t get any help from Ethiopia after Nigeria blockaded Ethiopia in the 80s and causing the greatest famine in living memory. A great bunch the Nigerians.
There is a reason why they are heartily disliked all over Africa. Ask any African.
Famines is horrific for the country it’s happening in for sure. Tho it’s bad for everyone in the world really because food prices go up…. Population control should be a bigger talking point.
Ireland’s population still hasn’t recovered in numbers terms form are great famine. I know there’s many different reasons for this tho…
How does Nigeria blockade ethiopia?
Quality not quantity , the more indolent people in Ireland seem to have more kids yet the people that are funding them are having kids later due to taxes and the high costs of living here.
From what I see in kildare I have to say that the place is overrun with Eastern Europeans
Good, it can only raise the standard of human being in places like Kildare.
ha really? you should live next door to my parents Polish neighbour, one noisy “i love banging doors” alco lout, never worked since arrival, up to no good too, long long story. They don’t care, they’re renting, no respect for the country sure its not their home, wreck it “we don’t own it”
How many are career single mothers just looking for the golden ticket
@Kenneth. Over a third. Enormously high number. Not good for the economy, society or for the children without fathers.
What your not told is according to the ceo 11% of the population is made up of forign nationals and they are producing 27% of all new borns. We will soon be displaced in our own country.
need more info to be honest, I know plenty of people here with a foreign spouse , the kids are as Irish as you are in reality…maybe just better looking (joke) and even if the couple are Polish or Russian what of it, they seem to raise their kids better the dross that makes up welfare class here, the only question is will they be productive adults?
With services being slashed across the board people are going to fall through the cracks, once that happens nobody is going to be able to stop those bored unemployed youth who will feel disenfranchised with society and turn to other outlets, perhaps even crime.
But there aren’t many older foreign-born people here – most are 20-45. If you look at the numbers from the last census, it looks like around 23% of the women of childbearing age producing 25% of the babies. It’s not out of proportion, and whether it’s scary depends on how you look at it.
The bigger story is how many of the *fathers* are non-Irish born. It’s over 40%. We’re breeding with foreigners rather than you, boys.
@ Eric: you’re not wrong. I know this will happen. Those who will have their car or house broken into can thank the masters, and it will happen to them too, nobodys safe.
Houses will be in great demand ,so the building should pick up ,lots of jobs on the way ,don’t knock them estates yet we may need them
Yes every young family wants to live in a housing estate in the middle of nowhere
Ill take one off ye, I know a QS, and few trade lads I could have the house liveable in a year.
houses for rent will be in great demand, not to buy. get with it for gods sake.
We currently export our abortion problem Kevin so the UK stats are skewed.
I think you’ll find given our relative population our capacity to skew UK figures is pretty limited- even if abortion levels in Ireland were at the same level as the UK, which they’re not and even if every single one of them travelled to the UK.
Probably helps that we don’t abort 1 in 5 pregnancies as per the UK.
We are currently exporting our abortion problem Kevin so the UK stats are skewed.
We’ve 7.3% of the UK population, Sinead. Our capacity to skew UK figures is pretty negligible. And red thumb all ye like. A birth rate 50% higher than the European average in a country that prohibits abortion is hardly coincidental. There’s obviously a lot of children in this country that wouldn’t be alive if we have abortion on demand. However you feel about the principle, the facts are pretty incontrovertible.
Kevin..”There is a lot of children that wouldnt be alive if we had abortion on demand”…. That comment is so true Kevin.. And long may it stay that way..
People aren’t going to agree and I’m probably going to get a load of comments saying that I’m a bleeding heart liberal (rather be a bleeding heart liberal than what some of ye seem to be) but the overarching tone of this discussion would not be out of place at a BNP or DUP meeting I hope ye are all proud Irishmen and women making a show of the country with your comments.
How many of them are Irish though?
That’s because its full of foreign nationals… I bet u if the counted just the Irish babies born too both Irish parents we wouldn’t be the top of the list….
Working Irish people pay for everyone else through extortionate taxes. They can hardly afford to keep themselves, nevermind have multiple children.
Why? Kids with one Irish parent are not good enough for you that they should be born to “TOO BOTH” Irish parents? Can bet some born to one, and not two (or “BOTH”), Irish parents could do better than that miserable attempt to produce a meaningful sentence. What you think?
Catherine
We need the genetic diversity that other nationalities bring. We have the highest rates of some genitic disorders in the world because our gene pool is too small.
Thanks Catherine! My children refuse to learn my language on the excuse that they are not half but fully Irish since they were born here. Now I can tell them they were wrong because Catherine said so, and hopefully they will try to become bilingual.
Milena push the language thing, im half French and half Irish and didn’t want to learn French as a child and I really regret it now. Don’t feel French at all now but I reckon I would if I was fluent.
Also statistically foreign nationals are less likely to draw a form of social welfare than an Irish person this is proportional so don’t bother saying its because there is less foreign nationals.
That’s a load of rubbish. Statistically foreign nationals are mote likely to draw the dole. Their numbers on welfare are disproportionate to their numbers here.
you’re way off. parents neighbour, foreign, claiming, its rented. then on the left side, though theyve moved, foreign, one doesnt work, other just had “surprise surprise” another babby and is now getting rent supplement from maternity leave. i know cos they came looking for a cheque and asked my parent to ‘call them’ if it arrives at their address! ha! course they know it costs money to re-direct, probably left that house on bad terms with that landlord, made all sorts of excuses – “ah the new tenants there are never there”. my parents said “but can’t you call the landlord”, “can’t you call up in evening time” – “ah ah but they’re never there”. bit odd, just wanted my folks to ‘call them’. jeez i wouldn’t do that myself, id notify everyone of my new address and/or ‘throw a bit of money’ at An Post to have it re-directed.
they’d live in your ear.
Marc, you do not seem to be a very nice neighbor, r u? Too much hate towards new neighbors. Wonder why so?
Where are you getting these statistics Margaret I’m getting mine from the CSO and peer reviewed articles, but I’m sure your sources are so much better.
You (Ireland) wanted closer EU integration — Maastricht, Lisbon etc. You took the EU shilling without thinking of the consequences down the road… well we’re down the road now! Suck it up so like good little Europeans it’s what you wanted……… Then again maybe ye didn’t, maybe the less than conscientious Irish electorate voted blindly, believed blindly the words of our pro Europe politicians (they’re always truthful) for essentially short term advantages. This is where your parish pump mentality gets ye — and Europe aside you continually voted (in GEs) for that project. The quality of Irish emigrants (intelligent, educated) has been commented here but yet their mammies and daddies still vote like turkeys.. maybe they should emigrate instead! You’re a scream, d’ye know that Lol.
Your own shite is scattered all over the world starting with drunken Paddies, finishing with Irish nackers. Irish have polluted the world for decades….. Irish emigrants intelligent, educated…my arse. Nation of generator sellers.
Excuse you.. But I voted no for the god dam lisbon treaty.. I can’t stand foreigner’s especially ones who come here claim off the welfare and have balls of sprogs.. They should have never been left into our country to start with and we wouldn’t be here complaining to get rid of them… If an Irish person leaves to work in Oz they need the world of documents, they need guarda clearance and vaccinations, and 2 grand minimum ,the whole lot… Yet our government is leaving in rapists and murderers and gangs when they cant control the Irish gangs…they just leave all sorts into this country.. Now send the all sorts home….
…. I can’t stand foreigner’s …. I get great pleasure from Irish Catherines whining posts. Especially the bare ass Irish:) Live With The Thought- I can’t stand foreigners, live with it, darling. LOL
@Jack, apart from your apparent predilection for shite, drunkeness, vomiting and pissing what on Earth is a “generator seller”?
think it might be down to half the eu living on this island
Jimmy Heart ? It would do you well Journal to open up the comments section, or do you have a dog in the fight?
Isnt the EU 28 not 27 states?
It was 27 last year when the report was compiled Michael
Brian sorry
47% of women breastfed their babies..Wonder what the percentage of women that gave up ,because it was too draining for them !
Why don’t you go to an an Irish university or hospital, and look at the staff? I am sorry I can’t comment on the ethnic profile of sink estates, but universities, hospitals and IT companies are packed with foreign workers. And they pay tax. I am afraid the song about the well educated Irish emigtating and the illiterate hordes from the east arriving is b&$#hit.
Blame it on the cold weather here. :-)
Well according to the great mr.phyton Every sperm is sacred !!!
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