The Galway City labour catchment is the largest labour catchment in the Western Region with over 88,000 living there and ‘at work’. This accounts for 29.9% of all Western Region resident workers (294,878 ), up from 26.9% in 2016 (260,261 ). The town labour catchment is that area from which a town draws most of its’ workforce, making it a very useful measure of labour supply.
This is one of the findings of a new report carried out by the Western Development Commission (WDC ), which has carried out in-depth research into the commuting patterns of those at work in the Western Region.
The Galway City labour catchment includes most of county Galway and extends beyond the county boundary, to the north into Mayo and to the south into Clare. The total resident workers residing in the labour catchment has increased to 88,253 from 70,170 in 2016 (+25.8% or +18,083 ).
The number of workers living in the catchment is more than double the number of workers living in Galway city, highlighting the significantly larger labour supply available.
Deirdre Frost, Policy Analyst at the WDC noted, “This is significant in the context of the National Planning Framework and planning growth and development. Urban centres such as Galway will be expected to grow in importance. The forthcoming revision of the National Planning Framework will set out plans to support greater growth in urban centres and employment growth is central to this”.
Of those living in the Galway City labour catchment, 51.5% (45,436 ) are employed within Galway City and suburbs. This is an increase of over 6,600 since 2016. A further 42,800 residents of the labour catchment are employed outside the city in the rest of the catchment and beyond.
Key workplace destinations outside the city include Galway Rural (19.2% or 16,900 ), Oranmore (3.3% or 2,900 ) and Loughrea (2.1% or 1,875 ). Dublin city is the next most popular work destination with 2% (1,805 ) of the workers living in the Galway city labour catchment reporting Dublin city as their place of work.
The impact of greater numbers working from home may explain the increased popularity of more distant workplaces, for example the numbers citing Dublin as their work location have nearly doubled, from 971 in 2016 to 1,805 in 2022.
“There is a higher proportion of workers travelling into Galway city to work before 7.00am than in any of the other catchments. This is likely to be related to distance travelled and congestion on some routes and shift work”, according to Deirdre Frost, Policy Analyst, WDC.
The age profile of those living in the Galway city labour catchment is the youngest of the seven labour catchments profiled in the report.
Those at work and living in the Galway City labour catchment have a higher level of education with a rate of 67.6% up from 61.3% in Census 2016. Those at work and living in the Galway City labour catchment also have a higher rate of third level education than the State average – with rates of 67.6% and 63.1% respectively (3rd level ). Those within the catchment and employed in Galway City have an even higher rate of third level education at 71.1%.
The most important employment sector is the ‘Education, Human Health and Social Work’ sector and accounts for 27.3% of workers, higher than the State average of 23.8%.
The Wholesale, Retail and Commerce (21% ), Manufacturing (19.2% ) and ‘ICT and Professional Services’ (18% ) are the next most important employment sectors. Manufacturing has higher shares than the national average.
Since 2016, the Wholesale, Retail and Commerce sector declined in its share of importance (-2.3% ), while the ICT and Professional Services sector increased its share by 2.1%.
The Loughrea labour catchment is now part of the Galway city catchment, highlighting the increased importance of the city as a place of work for those living in Loughrea. The labour catchments of other towns within county Galway such as Tuam, Ballinasloe and Clifden also play an important part of labour catchments within Galway County. These towns are themselves the most important places for employment for those living in their immediate hinterlands, and therefore constitute separate, but small, labour catchments.
Commenting on the findings, the CEO of the WDC, Allan Mulrooney said this is very valuable information as it provides robust analysis of travel to work patterns in centres such as Galway city. It provides detailed data which will inform decisions on commuting and employment patterns and enterprise location”. Comparing these data with the original WDC analysis in the intercensal periods, 2016 and 2006, provides insights into trends. It will be of particular value to policy-makers in the context of the revision of the National Planning Framework and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and County Development
