CITYSIDE, WATERSIDE & SURROUNDING AREAS
DECEMBER EDITION 2012
www.thecityherald.info
Derry’s population rises as census figures released By RORY MOONEY
Derry’s population is on the rise again according to the latest 2011 census figures. The number of people living
in Derry has increased from 105,000 ten years in 2001 to 107,877 people. Derry now accounts for six per-
cent of the total population of Northern Ireland. The 2011 census figures have revealed that a staggering 45
percent of households in Derry have at least one person with a long-term health problem or disability.
Throughout the northwest Derry also has the highest proportion of households with dependent children at 11 percent, followed by Strabane with 8.7 percent and Limavady on 8.2 percent.
Identity
Pictured at the PCSP Public meeting in the Caw /Nelson Drive Cultural and Community Centre are from left, Councillor Thomas Conway, Chairperson, Linda Watson, Independent member and host, Caroline Hill, Crime Prevention Officer, Independent vice-chairperson, Catherine Pollock and Foyle Area Commander, Chief Inspector Jon Burrows.
The census figures show that Derry is still overwhelmingly a nationalist city with 52 percent claiming to be Irish, with just 20 percent of those living in Derry to be British. Figures have revealed that there is an almost equal split between Catholics and Protestants throughout Northern Ireland and that 75 percent are Catholic and 22 percent Protestant in Derry. The latest census figures have shown that 12 percent of those over the age of 65 are from the Derry area, with 1.1 percent of people over the age of 85. Derry has the second highest proportion of single people in Northern Ireland at 42 percent.
1,580 businesses awarded rates relief in two years Over one thousand businesses in Derry have been awarded rates relief, it has been releaved. The assembly was told that 1,580 businesses in the Derry City Council area had benefited from the ‘Small Business Rate Relief’ scheme since April 2010. The Finance Minister was responding to a question from Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey who asked the minister how many companies had applied and been granted rates relief in the Foyle constituency since the inception of the scheme. Finance minister Sammy Wilson revealed that, “There is no application procedure for Small Business Rate Relief. “Relief is applied automatically by Land & Property Services to all businesses that qualify. “Information on the number of companies that have been granted Small Business Rate Relief since the inception of the scheme is not available at constituency level as data is collated at district council level only. As at 25th November 2012, Small Business Rate Relief has been awarded for a total of 1,580 properties within the Derry City Council area since the scheme commenced in April 2010.”
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