Mid-West Region, Ireland


The Mid-West Region is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. The region comprises the counties of Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary. Limerick City is the economic centre of the region. It spans 10,511 km², 14.95% of the total area of the state and had a 2016 population of 473,269.
Prior to 2014, the region was governed by the Mid-West Regional Assembly. Statutory instrument No. 573/2014 abolished that assembly. Since that date, the association between Regional Assemblies and NUTS regions has ceased. The NUTS regions are used for statistical reporting to Eurostat, while the Regional Assemblies are responsible for planning at a local government level.

Regional Authority

Former Regional Authority

The Mid-West Region was administered by the Mid-West Regional Authority, which consisted of 26 elected representatives from the region's councils. These representatives met once a month. The councils were:
The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.
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 and South Offaly.

Current Regional Authority

A number of local authority changes were made by the Irish government in June 2014, however these were not reflected in the NUTS 3 statistical units until June 2018, when appropriate updates were made following the implementation of Commission Regulation 2016/2066. North Tipperary County Council and South Tipperary County Council were unified into a single local authority for the county in 2014, however Tipperary remained divided between two NUTS 3 regions for statistical purposes. North Tipperary was located within the Mid-West, and South Tipperary was located within the South-East until June 2018, when Tipperary was transferred in its entirety to the Mid-West Region.
Additionally, Limerick City Council was merged with Limerick County Council in 2014, however this too was not reflected at NUTS 3 level until 2018. Therefore, the number of local authorities in the Mid-West Region has been reduced from 4 to 3, despite the region growing significantly in both size and population since the boundary amendments.
Following unification, Tipperary is now the Mid-West's largest county by area and second largest by population. Clonmel, the county town of Tipperary, is now the region's third largest settlement. County Limerick, which until 2014 excluded the city, is now the region's largest county by population. The Mid-West, which was the second smallest of Ireland's 8 regions by population and the fifth largest by area, is now the fourth largest region by both population and area.
The local authorities in the Mid-West Region are as follows:
Since the 2014 reforms, NUTS Level III regions have had no administrative role. The elected representatives of these councils instead convene at the Southern Regional Assembly for planning and local government purposes.

Demographics

The Mid-West region has a population of 473,269 which constitutes about 9.94% of Ireland's total population.
The population density of the region is 45.02 persons/square km.
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.

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.
The Dublin/Limerick corridor and the western corridor linking Galway/Ennis/Limerick/Cork is of strategic importance to the region.
According to CSO figures for 2014, the region has a GDP of €12.116 bn and a GDP per capita of €31,792.
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 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.
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.

Transport

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.
RankTownCountyPopulation
1LimerickLimerick94,192
2EnnisClare25,276
3ClonmelTipperary17,140
4ShannonClare9,729
5NenaghTipperary8,968
6ThurlesTipperary7,940
7Newcastle WestLimerick6,619
8Carrick-on-SuirTipperary5,771
9RoscreaTipperary5,446
10TipperaryTipperary4,979
11CashelTipperary4,422
12CahirTipperary3,593
13AnnacottyLimerick2,930
14KilrushClare2,719
15BallinaTipperary2,632
16SixmilebridgeClare2,625
17CastleconnellLimerick2,107
18AbbeyfealeLimerick2,023
19NewportTipperary1,995
20TemplemoreTipperary1,939
21Newmarket-on-FergusClare1,784
22KilmallockLimerick1,668
23FethardTipperary1,545
24KillaloeClare1,484
25CaherconlishLimerick1,476
26RathkealeLimerick1,441
27ArdnacrushaClare1,383
28MurroeLimerick1,377
29CroomLimerick1,159
30AskeatonLimerick1,137
31AdareLimerick1,129
32EnnistymonClare1,045