Professor Edgar Morgenroth:

Knowledge of this is not new. Adam Smith wrote about it in the 18th century, which is interesting. The more highly skilled the job, the more likely it is to be in an urban area. The policy lever is that highly skilled people are the most scarce resource in the production system. They are more scarce than any other kind of input and are highly sought after. Addressing the issue of their leaving is best done by examining why they go and where they would like to live. If those highly educated people wished to live in Cavan or Monaghan, we might find that certain industries will follow them.

This has been seen in some places. Westport is a great example. It is one of the most remote places on the island, yet economically it is doing very well, and it is not all tourism. It has thriving foreign direct investment, FDI, and there is no motorway to there. It is an area where people want to live. It is an environment with a high quality of life. We need to focus on having an environment with a high quality of life, both on the island of Ireland and in specific areas. If we can hold on to people because a particular area is where they want to live, whether that is because they come from there or because we have made the environment attractive for them to be there, industries will follow them. That is part of the national planning framework, and it is embedded in that policy that that is what we are trying to do. In general, urban areas attract higher value jobs, which in turn attracts highly educated people, so they leave other areas.