AREA PROFILE FOR TOWN ATHLONE LEGAL TOWN AND ITS ENVIRONS CO. WESTMEATH/

AGE/SEX In April 2011 Athlone had a population of 20,153, consisting of 9,961 males and 10,192 females.

The population of pre-school age (0-4) was 1,698, of primary school going age (5- 12) was 1,990 and of secondary school going age (13-18) was 1,341. There were 2,078 persons aged 65 years and over. The number of persons aged 18 years or over was 15,389. MARITAL STATUS Of the 16,039 persons aged 15 years and over, 7,684 were single, 6,459 were married, 627 were separated, 469 were divorced and 800 were widowed. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS There were 7,629 private households in Athlone in April 2011, of which 2,051 were single person households. Of the 4,905 families in the area, 1,564 were couples with no children. The average number of children per family was 1.2 compared with 1.4 nationally. HOUSEHOLDS BY COMPOSITION Athlone State No. of households % breakdown % breakdown One Person 2,051 26.9 23.7 Couple without children 1,396 18.3 18.9 Couple with children 2,062 27.0 34.9 Lone parent family 947 12.4 10.9 Other 1,173 15.4 11.6 Total 7,629 100.0 100.0

MIGRATION AND NATIONALITIES 87.4 per cent of the usually resident population aged over 1 lived at the same address one year before the census. A further 5.7 per cent lived elsewhere in the same county, 4.4 per cent lived elsewhere in the State while 2.5 per cent lived outside the State twelve months before the census on April 10, 2011.

Non-Irish nationals accounted for 21.4 per cent of the population of Athlone compared with a national average figure of 12.0 per cent. Polish (1,279 persons) were the largest group, followed by UK nationals (320 persons). LANGUAGES 6,590 persons could speak the and of these 2,062 spoke the language daily. 4,171 persons spoke a language other than Irish or English at home and of these 807 could not speak English well or at all. Polish was the most common foreign language spoken at home with 1,227 speakers. RELIGION There were 16,226 Roman Catholics in the area at census time. A further 2,495 were adherents of other stated religions (e.g. Church of , Islam, Presbyterian, Orthodox), while 1,045 persons indicated that they had no religion.

For more statistics about this area click here

All census publications are available online at www.cso.ie/census

For further information contact Census Enquiries - LoCall: 1890 236 787 Ph: 01 8951460 Email: [email protected]

THIS AREA: ATHLONE LEGAL TOWN AND ITS WORKERS BY INDUSTRY ENVIRONS Daytime Industry Working LABOUR FORCE Population There were 9,751 persons aged 15 years and over in the labour force and of these, Agriculture, forestry and 78.7 per cent (7,670 persons) were at work. The unemployment rate for this area 46 fishing was 21.3 per cent compared with a national average rate of 19.0 per cent. Building and construction 150 Of the 6,288 persons aged 15 years and over who were outside the labour force, 34.8 per cent were students, 21.6 per cent were looking after the home/family and Manufacturing 1,889 30.6 per cent were retired. Commerce and trade 2,824

Of the 7,670 workers enumerated in Athlone, 1,716 worked outside the area. The Transport and 1,218 daytime working population (resident and non-resident) of Athlone was 11,667 with communications commerce and trade being the largest industry. Public administration 1,720

EDUCATION Professional services 2,527 Of those aged 15 years and over whose full-time education had ceased, 15.6 per cent were educated to at most primary level only; a further 52.5 per cent attained Other 1,293 second level while 31.8 per cent were educated to third level. Total 11,667 SOCIAL CLASS COMPARISON

TRAVEL TO WORK The most popular means of travelling to work was by car (driver) with this mode accounting for 61.5 per cent of all journeys. 304 persons commuted using public transport (bus or rail). The average journey time was 19 minutes and 11.9 per cent of workers faced a commuting time in excess of 30 minutes. DISABILITY AND CARERS 2,782 persons had a disablity in April 2011, of whom 845, representing 30.4 per PERMANENT HOUSING STOCK cent of the total, were aged 65 years and over. This Dwelling Type State 784 persons (296 males and 488 females) provided regular unpaid personal help Area for a friend or family member with a long-term illness, health problem or disability. Occupied or 8,138 1,705,394 24.0 per cent of these provided care for more than 6 hours per day. Usually Occupied HOUSING, INTERNET AND CARS Of which 84.6 per cent of households lived in houses or bungalows while a further 15.1 per House or Bungalow 78.4% 84.7% cent lived in apartments, flats or bedsits. 4,152 dwellings (54.6 per cent) were Flat, Apartment, owner occupied while 3,336 dwellings (43.9 per cent) were rented. 30.9 per cent of 15.2% 11.0% Bedsit the dwellings in this area were built in the ten years before the census. The average number of persons per household was 2.5 compared with 2.7 nationally. Not Stated 6.4% 4.3% Vacant 1,402 289,451 61.4 per cent of households had broadband connectivity compared with 63.8 per cent nationally. 28.8 per cent of households had two or more cars. Of which GENERAL HEALTH Holiday Home 2.5% 20.5% In this area 17,608 persons stated they were in very good or good health, Other 97.5% 79.5% representing 87.4 per cent of total persons. This compares to 88.3 per cent of total persons nationally. 388 persons stated they were in bad or very bad health, representing 1.9 per cent of total persons in this area. Again this compares with 1.5 per cent of total persons nationally.