Whimpers from the Celtic Tiger

Kildare had ten less public health nurses employed last year than it had in 2001, acording to figures released by the HSE.

The number of nurses in 2005 was 85, compared to 95 four years previously.

The numbers reached their highest, 117, in 2003, the year following the last general election. But dropped to 83 in 2004.

The population of Kildare in 2002 was 163,944 persons and was forecast to be almost 180,000 by the end of last year.

Regional population projections suggest that Kildare will have passed the 200,000 mark by 2012 and will have reached 250,000 by 2021.

One study suggests that the age group 45-65+ could increase in percentage of population terms from 28.15 percent of the county's population to 30.74 percent by the end of this year, and by 2011 to 33.47 percent.

Brian Byrne.