WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
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Wexford's people are its greatest strength and resource. When this Strategy speaks about making
Wexford better ... it means making it better for its people.

Wexford is home to more than 104,000 people, and is the largest county in the South East region.
Whilst the CDB believes that economic growth leads directly to social betterment, it also recognises
that the County has a number of social issues that require their own direct attention.

Social exclusion - essentially those processes; structures; and influences that work to exclude people from the "good things in life" - has a pervasive presence in Wexford. Among the issues here are:
  • a population that has many more over 65s than the national average
  • 10,000 people locally are estimated to have some form of disability
  • participation in elections is below the national average
  • the County has significant Traveller and Asylum seeker populations
  • in line with national trends, alcohol and drug abuse are on the increase, particularly among young people
  • rural people experience problems in terms of accessing mainstream services
  • a need for one-in-five new homes to be in the social housing category.

Education is an area of particular concern for Wexford. Educational attainment levels are well below the national average and are poorest amongst men and in rural areas. In the same way, early school leaving also requires attention.

The CDB deliberately sees the enhancement of the County's ICT capacity as a "people" rather than as
an "economic" issue. Whilst such enhancement will clearly have positive economic consequences, a
very real value can also be obtained for people in their personal and social lives. IT/ICT can be particularly effective in overcoming the "tyranny of distance", for long an excluding factor in a largely rural County such as Wexford.
WHAT WE PROPOSE TO DO IN RESPONSE

Five Themes, in turn underpinned by twenty-four Goals, are put forward as a means of "Putting People First" in Wexford:

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