The Mid-West is a strategic planning area within the Southern Region in Ireland. It is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland (coded IE051). It consists of the counties of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

and Tipperary, and the city and county of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2 ...

Limerick City Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 201 ...

is the economic centre of the region. It spans 10,511 km², 14.95% of the total area of the state and as of the 2016 census, it had a 2016 population of 473,269.

Area

The constituent local authorities are the councils of the counties of

and Tipperary and the city and county of

, which each send representatives to the Southern Regional Assembly, forming the Mid-West Strategic Planning Area Committee. The area of the Mid-West was expanded in 2018 as part of an EU-wide revision to NUTS areas, by the inclusion of the whole of

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after ...

. This reflected the merger of

North Tipperary North Tipperary ( ga, Tiobraid Árann Thuaidh) was a county in Ireland. It was part of the Mid-West Region and was also located in the province of Munster. It was named after the town of Tipperary and consisted of 48% of the land area of ...

and

South Tipperary South Tipperary ( ga, Tiobraid Árann Theas) was a county in Ireland. It was part of the South-East Region and was also located in the province of Munster. It was named after the town of Tipperary and consisted of 52% of the land area of t ...

as local government areas in 2014. Prior to 2018, South Tipperary was located in the

South-East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

Former Regional Authority

Prior to 2014, the area was a region was administered by the Mid-West Regional Authority, which consisted of 26 elected representatives from the region's councils. These representatives met once a month. The councils were: * Clare County Council (7) *

Limerick City Council Limerick City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Luimnigh) was the authority responsible for local government in the city of Limerick in Ireland. The council had 17 elected members. The head of the council had the title of Mayor. Limerick City ...

(6) * Limerick County Council (7) * North Tipperary County Council (6) The Regional Authorities were dissolved in 2014 and were replaced by Regional Assemblies.

Shannon Development Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised ...

was a development body for the

Shannon Region Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised al ...

of the lower

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Sha ...

, which encompassed the entire Mid-West Region together with North Kerry (in the South-West Region) and South

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...

(in the Midland Region). It too was dissolved in 2014.

Demographics

The Mid-West has a population of 473,269 which constitutes about 9.94% of Ireland's total population. The population density of the region is 45.02 persons/km².

is the largest urban area in the region with a population of 94,192 people within the larger urban area including the city suburbs.

Economy

The economy of the region is based mainly around the greater

/ Shannon corridor. The Shannon Free Zone, Shannon Airport, Shannon Estuary Ports, National Technology Park Limerick and major educational institutions such as the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance w ...

and Limerick Institute of Technology are major drivers of the regional economy with growth prospects in Biotechnology and medical technology, ICT, aerospace, tourism agribusiness and logistics.Irish Region Office - Regions of Ireland: Mid-West Region
The Dublin/Limerick corridor and the western corridor linking Galway/Ennis/Limerick/Cork is of strategic importance to the region. According to CSO figures for 2014, the region has a GDP of €12.116 bn and a GDP per capita of €31,792. Eurostat figures for 2012, the region has GDP of €11.468 bn and a GDP per capita of €30,300 The 2016 unemployment rate is one of the lowest in Ireland at 6% (the same as that of Dublin). . The workforce in the region was 160,400 in 2003 which was an employment rate of 96.7% of which 61.8% were employed in services, 29.8% in Industry and 8.3% employed in agriculture. Agriculture remains a major part of the Mid-West economy. The Clare Marts in

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

is a major trading post of livestock nationally. The plains of East

are part of Ireland's

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is an area of rolling pastureland in the civil province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. Covering parts of three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, it is the best land in Ireland for dairy farming. Historically it ...

that stretch from

City into

According to the CSO, the mid-west in 2016 had the lowest value of land sold in Ireland of €16.5 million. Also, the Mid-West region had the lowest volume of land in Ireland of 2,898 acres which could in turn reduce income coming into this region.

Transport

Shannon Airport is the only airport in the region with a wide range of flights available to Britain, continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and transatlantic flights to the United States. The M7 is a high quality motorway connecting

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and

. The N18/ M18 including the Limerick Tunnel provides a complete bypass of

and improved access to Shannon,

and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. The N/M20 road/motorway provides access to Cork and Kerry.

Urban areas

A list of the largest urban areas and regionally important towns with a population of 1,000 or more in the Mid-West Region. County capitals are shown in bold.

References

{{coord missing, Ireland NUTS statistical regions of the Republic of Ireland