Enniscorthy to achieve ‘key town’ status as population set to increase by almost two-thirds

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The population of Enniscorthy is projected to increase by almost two-thirds by 2034 as the local council seeks to free up more land for housing in the town. Based on the 2022 Census the current population of Enniscorthy is 12,310 but, as it acts upon the ongoing housing crisis, Wexford County Council (WCC) has set itself an additional population target of 7,020 in the town over the next eight years.

This will see 2,580 new housing units built in the town by 2034 as WCC responds to directives issued by the Department of Housing to free up more land for developments. In order to do this, the council must first alter its County Development Plan (CDP) and, at a special meeting, it presented its proposals to the Enniscorthy’s elected representatives.

Explaining that Enniscorthy will eventually be reclassified as a ‘key town’ alongside places like Ennis, Killarney, and Dundalk, senior planner Diarmuid Houston said a number of developers had already expressed an interest in building new properties in the town.

“The idea is to increase zoning for housing,” he said. “We are working very closely with the landowners and the developers to make sure we see houses delivered and see a reasonable level of growth into the future.”

However, with more people comes a need for more schools, more amenities, more facilities, and Councillor Barbara Anne Murphy said many of the local schools were already at capacity.

“There’s no capacity in St Aidan’s and St Senan’s or in the Church of Ireland school as far as I know, there’s possibly is capacity in the Gael Scoil,” she said. “And there’s no educate together school or an ETB primary school in Enniscorthy, one or the other is definitely needed.”

In response, Mr Houston said that, as part of the changes to the CDP, the council had “zoned lands for educational needs” and “listened to what the people from Enniscorthy are saying”.

“We do realise there are many children going out to Marshalstown NS, and we know that children should be walking to primary school, that housing estates should be a ten-minute walk from a school,” he said. “We are working on those connections and we will be engaging with the Department of Education to advise it of the expected growth in the town.”

Any suggestion that parents apply for places in Marshalstown was quickly rebuffed by Cllr Pat Kehoe who revealed that it had received 33 applications for a possible 28 spaces for the upcoming academic year.

“I know there’s provision for a school to be built in Milehouse but I would like to see additional sporting facilities there because the population will be heavily weighted on that side of Enniscorthy in the future,” he added.

As part of its revised housing targets, WCC hopes to deliver approximately 18,000 new homes in the county by 2040. Increasing its previous annual target by 551, the council now intends to construct 1622 homes per year up to 2034 and 722 per year from 2035-40.

This will include 335 homes in Bunclody by 2034 with a projected population increase of 911.

Later this month the proposed variation to the CDP will be available for the public to view and make submissions on. Thereafter, once WCC has consulted landowners and all stakeholders, a report will be compiled by chief executive Eddie Taaffe and the completed proposal will be brought to the council chamber for further review.