Lisnaskea Main Street
THERE are concerns a drop in population in areas of east Fermanagh is linked to a decline in services, and with these services continuing to be cut fears are growing the numbers could continue to plummet.
According to the latest population estimates, released earlier this month, the number of people living in Lisnaskea has stagnated over the past 15 years, dropping from 2,635 in 2002 to 2,624 in 2017. Just down the road in Roslea the population has fallen from 2,264 to 2,153 over the same period.
In fact, while the population of Fermanagh has risen overall during the past 15 years, growth in the county has been much slower than the averages across the North over the same period.
The Roslea area in particular has seen significant cuts to services in recent years, with the closure of St Eugene’s College and the village’s GP surgery. Lisnaskea has had to absorb the fallout from both closures, putting pressure on the services in the town. Services such as Maple Practice, for example, that was already long over-due an upgrade before taking on the influx of patients.
Lisnaskea man Padraig Murphy is chairman of Fermanagh Save Our Services (SOS). He said the situation was “undoubtedly” linked to a decline in services, and said it could get worse.
“When people look to see what facilities that are not available it doesn’t become a suitable area,” he said.
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