Third level rates in Offaly among lowest in country

The proportion of Offaly residents with third level qualifications is among the lowest in the country, according to figures released this week.

The latest results from Census 2016 were published yesterday (Thursday). The data showed that Longford and Wexford had the joint-lowest rate of third level attainment in Ireland at 32.5%.

The percentage of Offaly people with third level qualifications was only fractionally higher than that, at 32.7%.

Nationally, 42% of people (aged 15 and above) had a third level qualification when the census was taken in April 2016.
Of those in Offaly who have graduated from third level, 60.9% were females, and 39.1% were males.

A total of 7,720 people in the county (16.3%) either completed their education at primary school level or had no formal education. This showed that people in the county are staying in education for longer, as the rate of early school leavers in 2011 was 18.8%. The census figures showed a decline in Irish language use in the county. 

Of those aged three years and over, 27,807 people (37.2%) said they could speak Irish, which was down on the 28,178 who said they spoke it in 2011.
Some 559 people in Offaly (0.8% of the county's population) said they spoke Irish on a daily basis, outside of the education system. 

Nationally, 39.8% of the population could speak Irish, which represented a slight decrease on the figure from the previous census back in 2011.