A new report carried out by the Western Development Commission (WDC), shows that more people living in the Ennis catchment are working outside the town than in the town itself.
The town labour catchment is that area from which a town draws most of its’ workforce. Therefore it is a very useful measure of labour supply.
This is one of the findings of a new report carried out by the Western Development Commission (WDC), which has carried out in-depth research into the commuting patterns of those at work in the Western Region.
The report on the Ennis labour catchment area says this is unusual for a main urban centre with the data showing that 37.2% of workers resident in the Ennis labour catchment work within the town while a further 62.8% work outside the town.
A large proportion of people in the Ennis labour catchment area are travelling to work in rural county Clare (21.3%). Other destinations for workers are Limerick City (10.3%), and Shannon (8.4%). Both of these centres have increased in importance as workplace destinations for those living in the Ennis labour catchment.
Deirdre Frost, Policy Analyst at the WDC noted, “This is significant in the context of the revision of the National Planning Framework and understanding the importance of proximate urban centres and good transport links between them”.
The WDC commissioned People and Place to examine in detail the commuting patterns of those at work in the Western Region. Travel to Work and Labour Catchments in the Western Region: A Profile of Seven Town Labour Catchments analyses previously unreleased Census data to examine the travel to work patterns in each of the principal towns in the seven counties of the Western Region – including Ennis.
The Ennis town labour catchment covers a large proportion of central and West Clare and is completely contained within the county. It is the fourth largest labour catchment in the Western Region with a resident ‘at work’ population of over 22,300.
The numbers working in the catchment area is 1.8 times the number of workers within Ennis town highlighting the significantly larger labour supply available to the town.
The impact of improved transport links and greater numbers working from home may explain the increased popularity of more distant workplaces, for example the numbers living in the Ennis labour catchment and reporting Dublin as their work location has increased from 265 in 2016 to 459 in 2022. The numbers reporting Galway city as their place of work has increased from 370 to 468 in 2022.
Workers living in the Ennis town labour catchment have one of the highest level of third level education with 62.5%, a significant increase on the last Census 2016 when it was 54.5%.
The single largest employer in the Ennis labour catchment is the ‘Education, Human Health and Social Work’ (25%), followed by the ‘Wholesale, Retail and Commerce’ sector which accounts for a quarter (22.2%).
The ‘Manufacturing Industries’ (17.6%) and ‘ICT and Professional Services’ sector (15.3%) also important employment sectors with Manufacturing having a higher share than the State average. The ICT sector share is lower than the State average.
Commenting on the findings, the CEO of the WDC, Allan Mulrooney said, “This is very valuable information as it provides robust analysis of travel to work patterns across Clare and centres such as Ennis. It provides detailed data which will inform decisions on commuting and employment patterns and enterprise location”.
Comparing these data with the original WDC analysis in the intercensal periods, 2016 and 2006, provides insights into trends which will be of particular value to researchers and policy-makers in the context of the revision of the National Planning Framework.
