BMW-IRELAND’S PERIPHERAL REGION

 13 counties  Quarter of Irelands population-1,132,090  48% of the land area  Low population density(25/30 km)  High dependency on the primary sector  Underdeveloped transport infrastructure  Low employment in the services-tertiary sector

 Few urban centres-largest is Galway  Unemployment is above the national average  Industrial development is based on multinational companies  Area has good economic potential-little congestion,unspoilt environment,areas of natural beauty

Climate:  Cool temperate oceanic,(maritime)  Mild winters (6 degrees)  Warm summers(15 degrees)  Rainfall through the year(1,500mm)  Southwesterly prevailing winds-relief rain.  The influence of the sea-reducing summer temperatures,increasing winter- (onshore,offshore breezes.)

 North Atlantic Drift(warm ocean current)- keeping coasts ice free.  Frontal depressions-moving from west to east-frontal rain

 Relief along the coastline is mountainous- metmorphic rock-Bluestack,Nephin beg, Twelve pins,Mweelrea  Lowland areas around Roscommon,part of the drumlin belt(glaciation) boulder clay soils.  Laois, Offaly,Westmeath-poorly drained boglands,thin soils.  Main rivers-Shannon,Moy,Clare

 Mostly poor quality and infertile.  Peat, gley and podzols.  Heavy rain means leaching and hardpans.  Soils are shallow due to glacial erosion.  Midlands have some fertile brown earth soils

 Subsistence,unproductive,unprofitable  Lack of mechanisation  Farmers are old and conservative  Farms are small and fragmented  Wet climate,varied relief and poor soils are an obstacle to commercial farming.  Most farmers get EU grants,subsidies-68% of farming incomes  Part-time farmers-forestry,fishing,agri- tourism,industry

 Pastoral-main activity- mountains,2m sheep in Galway,Mayo  Poultry,mushrooms in the border counties  Cattle on boulder clay soils  Arable limited due to poor soils,climate.  Grass the most widely grown crop- feedlivestock

Key source of employment in the B.M.W-directly and indirectly. Advantages:  Rich fishing grounds-North Atlantic.  N.A.D-warm water,variety of fish.  Shallow sea,continental shelf-rich in plankton- micro organism fish feed on.  Indented coastline-sheltered harbours

 Killybegs(donegal)-chief fishing port in Ireland.  Fishing and related activities worth €50m to the local economy.  Seafood processing sector-1,403 employees  Centre of Irish open ocean fleet-200 miles off coast.  Factory ships-herring,mackeral-1,000 people employed

 Salmon,shellfish,mussels,oysters.  Clew Bay,killary harbour,worth €13m in2001.  2,000 employed in Galway,Mayo  60% of B.I.M(Bord iascaigh mhara) funding for training in aquaculture,processing and catching is spent in the B.M.W.

 Certain areas suffer from rural deprivation- unemployment,low education skills etc.  Low pop,. Density-less than 20 per km²  Scattered rural population  Braindrain-high outward migration of young people/rural depopulation  Low birth,marriage rates.  High age dependency ratio(pop aged under15 and over 65)

1. N.D.P-national development plan 2. N.S.S-national spatial strategy-gateways and hubs pg.306/ Transport 21-increase accessibility-atlantic corridor-Donegal to Waterford,Dublin- Galway inter urban motorway 4. Decentralisation

Core region in Ireland

 Counties Dublin,Kildare,Meath and Wicklow  Route focus /nodal point  Administrative,financial capital  Major service centre  Natural resources  High population density/in-migration  Attractive to industry

 Factors influencing industry: Transport-nodal point,route focus- air,rail,port,road,port tunnel,M50 Market/labour force-population of 1.3 million high pop density,young pop.,high inward migration from Ireland and abroad,educated skilled workforce,cheap labour(foreign migrants)rich affluent market-luxury goods.

 Variety of traditional and modern industries.  No single industry dominates  Widely dispersed  Due to transport industry has moved away from traditional locations in the inner city/docklands to business parks/industrial estates near the M50 and the airport eg.city west,santry near airport

 Knowledge based multinational companies- Microsoft,Ibm Intel,Rank Zerox-European capital for IT.  Food processing- Cadburys,Jacobs(closed),Guinness,Tayto  Printing and publishing-independent newspapers at citywest.

 Discuss the factors that have influenced the development of a secondary economic activity in an Irish region you have studied.

BUSINESS PARKS AND INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN DUBLIN

 84% of workforce involved.  Dublin city dominates tertiary activities- primate city.millionaire city,focal /nodal point-1.6m in region creating demand  Transport,tourism,service sector-finance etc.

 Dublin region attracts 27% of visitors to Ireland  Tourism earns 1billion for region  m tourists visited Dublin  Year round business  Dublin main point of entry-90% all visitors land at Dublin airport  2003 Europes third most popular city break destination

 GDA tourist attractions are many and varied- culture,shopping,night life,sporting,historical  8 of the states top ten attractions are in Dublin:Guinness storehouse,dublin zoo,book of kells,Dublin castle,National museum  Outside Dublin:Newgrange,Curragh,National stud,Glendalough Wicklow

 Dublin is a route focus/nodal point  Gateway to Europe  Dublin has the most efficient transport system in the country  Well developed public transport system

 Road:Dublin is a route focus the centre of Ireland’s road network-N4,N6,N7,M1,M50- port tunnel,removal of toll.  Rail:centre of Ireland’s rail network – Heuston,Connolly,Pearse station.Dart and Luas lines,proposed metro and extending luas(transport 21).  Water:Dublin is Ireland’s largest port- processes 50% of Irish trade  Air:Dublin airport is Ireland’s largest airport.terminal 2 in 2010

 1997 city speed was 14km an hour  Port tunnel between M1 and docklands  M50 upgraded in 2007  Extension of luas and metro lines  Underground luas line  Expanding QBC,cycle paths,and pedestrian facilities  Some on hold depending on funding

 Population in 2006 of G.D.A =1.6m  More females than males.  G.D.A will account for 41% of total population in  Melting pot,multicultural city-7.2% of Dublin’s pop=foreign nationals.  High in migration from west of Ireland,Europe and the third world.  Last census translated into 13 languages.  Variety of religions- Hindu,Muslim,Jews,Buddists

 THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY  Expanded rapidly since the 1950s  Zone of influence is now a large proportion of the Eastern half of the country  Dominant primate city  Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century  Low-lying land at the mouth of Dublin Bay  Bridging point  Centre of trade and administration  Focus of road and rail networks

THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY (continued)  City has expanded due to influx of foreign migrants and rural to urban migration  Wide variety of educational and healthcare services  Excellent communications systems  Modern telecommunication services  1970s uncontrolled expansion of the city  Planners designed and created new towns on Dublin’s rural-urban fringe, e.g. Blanchardstown

THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY (continued)  People continually leaving the city to live within commutable distance as house prices in the city are still up to €100,000 more expensive than in the rest of the country  2007 a new town to the west developed – Adamstown  People move to Kildare, Meath and Wicklow and commute to the city for work  Massive traffic congestion  Workers live as far away as Carlow (90 km) from the city centre

THE GROWTH OF DUBLIN CITY (continued)  Newly dispersed Dublin City: three new county councils – Dun Laoghaire, Fingal and South Dublin county councils – were created  Dublin Corporation is responsible for issues such as water, sewage and other public services  Irish government – National Spatial Strategy (NSS) to combat the growth of Dublin by establishing gateways, e.g. Galway and hubs, e.g. Kilkenny  Encourage development in the gateway and hub locations in the Dublin region

 Core region points  History  Urban problems  Future