The oldest population in the country is in Kanturk, Co Cork, while the highest proportion of single people live in the university towns of Galway and Maynooth. In the State as a whole 41 per cent of the population aged 15 or over were single and 49 per cent married. The remaining 10 per cent were separated or widowed.
However, in Maynooth 53 per cent of the same age group were single, compared to 42 per cent married, and the figures for Galway, at 52 and 40 per cent respectively, were similar.
While the population as a whole is growing, people are clearly postponing marriage, as the number of single people grew faster than that of married people over the past 10 years. The number of single people increased by 15 per cent, while that of married people grew by only 4 per cent.
The number of children under 14 is down from 29 per cent in 1986 to 24 per cent in 1996.
People over the age of 65 account for 11 per cent of the total population, with a higher proportion living in rural areas (13 per cent). However, almost one in four (22 per cent) of the population of the town of Kanturk is a pensioner.