Sorry about the morbid end to the title (!) but the latest release of “Vital Statistics” for Ireland from the CSO are worth a mention:

• There were 74,278 births registered in 2009, a decrease of just over 1% in the number of births registered in 2008. The number of births registered remains high following last years recording of the highest number of births since 1896. The 2009 figure is the second highest number recorded in a year since 1897.
• Over two in five (42%) births in 2009 were to first time mothers and just over 33% of births in 2009 were outside marriage. Almost 56% of all births outside marriage were to cohabiting parents
• There were 21,541 marriages registered in 2009, 702 less than in 2008.
• The number of divorces granted by the Circuit Court and the High Court was 3,341.
• There were 28,898 deaths registered in 2009, an increase of 706 on the 2008 figure.  Over 3 in every 4 deaths were from either diseases of the circulatory system (34%), cancer (29%), or diseases of the respiratory system (13%).

The natural increase (births minus deaths) in 2009 was 45,380, a decrease of 3.2% on the 2008 figure.

So, population of Ireland grew by over 45,000 in 2009!