Communities > Front Runners
Ballyhoura Region, Munster, Ireland
Geography & Identity
Ballyhoura is an inland, predominantly rural area in the mid-west of Ireland, straddling east Limerick and north Cork, and is named after the local mountain range that provides a unifying geographical anchor for the population.
Demography
Ballyhoura has a population of 95,419 dispersed over 54 local communities. The area exhibits complex socio-demographic characteristics that reflect broader rural Irish trends, including a growing, ageing, and increasingly diverse population. The area experienced out-migration and emigration throughout much of the 20th Century. In recent years, a rural demographic recovery is noticeable across rural Ireland, reflecting a positive national economic outlook and increasing immigration. The 2022 Census identified a population increase of 8.5% in Ballyhoura (in line with national trends); however, population dynamics are uneven and more remote rural places and rural towns and villages continue to experience a negative cycle of depopulation and economic decline. Overall, 14% of the population were born outside Ireland (increasing to 21% in rural towns).
Challenges
Despite a growing population, Ballyhoura faces deep-seated disadvantages associated with an ageing population, low levels of educational attainment, under-provision of opportunities for self-actualisation, poor access to state services, above average levels of persistent poverty, and high vacancy levels in rural towns. Climate change is anticipated to impact on farming activities, while climate action goals will have significant
land-use impacts.
Innovative Actions
Ballyhoura Development has a track record of delivering a wide range of actions related to community, economic and environmental development, including social inclusion programmes, youth participation, sustainable energy, regenerative tourism, agri-food and food justice, as well as biodiversity and conservation.
Planned Activities
Ballyhoura Development will focus on digitization and smart village principles for rural revitalisation with a focus on how digitization supports and advances rural town regeneration, heritage-led tourism, service delivery and community participation. Smart village innovation is developed through participation of communities in community-led participative socio economic and environmental planning that will focus on identifying community projects and projects that involve intra-community projects focused on wider area-based challenges.
Region
Ballyhoura
Country
Ireland
Region
Ballyhoura Development
