Burren Community Economy

The economy of the Burren has seen a steady shift in recent years from one based primarily on agriculture and associated industries, to one in which the services sector plays an increasingly large role. For instance in Ballyvaughan RD (covering most of the Burren uplands) the numbers of people employed in the services sector increased by 105% over the period 1971-1991, from 58 to 119 jobs. In contrast the number involved in Agriculture fell from 525 to 251 over the same period.

Currently in Ballyvaughan RD some 25% of jobs are directly related to Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (AFF). This is particularly relevant in the more rural, inland areas: over twice the average number of people are dependent on agriculture in the District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) of Carran, Castletown, Noughval and Oughtmama.

After agriculture, the next most important sector is services (20%), often associated with tourism, and particularly important in areas near to the towns of Lisdoonvarna and Ballyvaughan. Lisdoonvarna (DED) has 32% of its jobs in the services sector, while the DEDs adjacent to the tourist hub of Ballyvaughan all have an above average percentage of jobs in this sector. In contrast, rural upland DEDs such as Oughtmama (0%), Noughval (4%) and Carran (7%) all have very low numbers of jobs in the services sector, confirming the limited role that tourism plays in the economy of the more remote, agricultural areas of the Burren.

After Agriculture and Services the main sectors would be Professional (13%), Sales (10%), Building (6%), Manufacturing (5%), Clerical 5%), Administration (4%) and Transport (4%).

Many farmers now have part-time or full-time off-farm work, some locally but most in the towns of Ennis and Shannon and Galway. Increased mechanisation, consolidation of holdings, and the lure of a buoyant non-agricultural ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy are some of the reasons for this fall in numbers. According to economists in ‘peri-urban’ areas of the Burren (proximate to Ennis, Shannon and Galway) there exists a ‘pull’ of alternative employment, while in disadvantaged areas there exists a push due to limited farming resources and incomes.

These trends in agricultural employment are very significant in the context of the future evolution of the Burren landscape. This was recognised in a recent report (Consultative Committee on the Heritage of the Burren, 2001): ‘Given that the conservation of the Burren is dependent on the maintenance of relatively extensive farming, we may be reaching a critical situation – where the numbers available to carry on the necessary extensive management practices may be simply not available’.