February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Stephen McKinley
Ireland’s Central Statistics Office has released births, marriages and deaths figures for the population for the year 2000.
Overall, 31,300 deaths were recorded in 2000, and 53,200 births. There were 19,200 marriages registered in the same year. Of the total number of births, 32.3 percent were children born out of wedlock. The number of marriages registered is 12 percent lower than in 1980.
A total of 22,000 births (41 percent) were to first-time mothers in 2000. On the other hand, only 29 percent of mothers already had two or more live-born children, reflecting the trend toward smaller family sizes.
A total of 3,100 teenagers had babies last year, 66 of these were under 16.
A breakdown of the total number of deaths shows more people committed suicide than were killed in traffic accidents: there were 413 suicides, the biggest cause of death in the 15-24 age group. On the roads, 322 died in accidents.
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There were 322 infant deaths and the infant mortality rate of 5.9 per 1,000 live births was 0.4 above that in 1999. This is above the European average of 5.2.
Cancer, not heart disease, as is more common, was the leading cause of death, claiming 24 percent (7,600) of all those who died in 2000. Heart disease killed 6,600 people, or 21 percent.
There were 5,000 deaths (16 percent of all deaths) due to respiratory diseases. Half of these were due to pneumonia, 83 percent of which were aged 75 and over. There were 51 deaths due to influenza registered in 2000.
Deaths attributed to injuries and poisonings amounted to 1,300, or 4 percent, of all deaths, with males accounting for 70 percent.
There were 28 deaths due to homicide registered in 2000, 89 percent of which were males.
Because of April’s foot-and-mouth crisis, the government postponed the census of population scheduled for April 29, 2001. The census will now take place on April 28, 2002.