Dr. Brian Hughes:

Two or three weeks ago, when the CSO produced its data on towns, I first looked at the general trends before drilling down into specific towns, including Athy. It occurred to me that, in general terms, the towns in the east of Ireland are growing much faster than the towns in the west. However, Athy stood out. Why has Athy lost 200 people over the past five years? Why has it bucked the trend that has otherwise occurred in the east? I began to ask around and discussed with several people why this was the case. Athy is a very interesting urban laboratory to study. Specifically, it has had a long industrial base that was partly associated with agriculture, milling and so on. The tall buildings visible from miles around as one goes into Athy from any direction are evidence of that. I understand that Athy has had a number of social problems, which the Deputy has alluded to. Therefore, it is incumbent on any town to try to do its best to stamp out those problems as early as possible so that it - I am not saying this is the case with Athy - will not get a specific reputation. I think the Deputy knows what I mean. I can speak to him afterwards in greater detail about what happened and what I think is happening in Athy. However, I do not want to say any more at this point if the Deputy does not mind.