County Wexford is one of 34 local government administrative areas in the Republic of Ireland. It is located in the southeast corner of the island and has a long coastline on the east and south. To the north and west, the Wicklow Mountains and the River Barrow border the County. The County is a popular destination for visitors to Ireland. The attractions for visitors include water based amenities heritage and wildlife amenities as well as cultural activities like the annual October opera festival.

Demography and Labour Force

The principal towns and major centres of population in the county are Wexford, Enniscorthy, New Ross and Gorey, though the population is predominantly rural. The last official Census was conducted in 1996 and measured the entire county population at 104 371, 32% of whom resided in urban areas however, since the four towns are evenly spread many more people live within areas adjacent to these 4 centres. The 1996 figure represented a population rise of 2.3% on 1991. It is expected that another population rise will be recorded at the next census 2001 since the north of the county now lies within the Dublin commuter belt. It is projected that by 2001 that 60,878 (a large proportion of the population) will be of working age. At present there are 5,997 unemployed persons in the county, which represents an unemployment rate of almost 6% higher than the national average of approximately which is currently 4%. There is a wide range of measures in operation to raise the skills profiles of the unemployed in the county. These measures take the form of job-training, training courses, adult education and ‘welfare to work’ schemes. Presently there is no third level institution based in Wexford however, there are other further education options. It is expected that government measures to ameliorate the educational profile of the entire population will benefit Wexford in the coming years. In specific Wexford is due to have a third level college that will be offer a wide variety of training types and curricula.  

Key Statistics relating Wexford to the rest of the state

Sources of Labour

Inward investors can make contact with the following state agencies
in order to explore the viability of sourcing local supplies of skilled,
semi-skilled, and unskilled labour.

Private recruitment and employment agencies should also be contacted.
Some will deal with specific skill groups.
A register of recruiters who are active in the area as well as nationally
can be obtained from the following agency:

Irish Federation of Personnel Services
41 Lower Baggot Street,
Dublin 2.
00353-1-6785070
www.ifps.ie or  www.careerlink.ie

There are a wide range of other services provided to businesses and enterprises starting up in the
county. More information can be obtained by contacting :