Growth
Ashbourne was a small village with a population under 400 until 1970. Then, in response to the growing population of nearby Dublin, a new scheme of houses was built in Ashbourne, based on the American open plan scheme rather than with fenced-off gardens. This was new in Ireland. The population of the town was 8,528 as of the 2006 census, a 34% increase on the previous census in 2002, making it Meath's second largest town after Navan and the largest town in the new Meath East Dáil constituency, which elects 3 TDs to the Dáil.
This growth has largely been the result of the rapid construction of several new housing schemes - most notably several apartment blocks scattered throughout the town and a number of new housing estates. It's also led to Ashbourne becoming a cosmopolitan town, the 2006 census showed that over 12% of Ashbourne's population was born outside Ireland. The Lithuanian community is the second largest minority in Ashbourne after people from the United Kingdom. Almost one fifth of all non-Irish born in the town are from Lithuania. Lithuanian language services are held in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The Polish community in Ashbourne is the second-largest in Meath after Navan.
The growth in Ashbourne's population has spurred expansion of local enterprise and retail to cater for the growing populations needs. Many new retail units have been opened in recent years.
Read more about this topic: Ashbourne, County Meath
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