Ballybot ward in Newry has the highest income domain deprivation in the district. According to the census breakdown the ward came in with the rank of 27 in this category – with a rank of one indicating the highest deprivation and 582 being the least deprived ward. Ballybot’s overall – multiple – deprivation rank is 36 putting it among the top most deprived wards in the north. The only area in which the ward isn’t deprived according to the census figures is when it comes to proximity to services. Second to Ballybot in terms of deprivation is Daisy Hill which ranked 45 on both multiple deprivation and income domain deprivation. Conversely both these wards also came highest in terms of percentage population with no or low level qualifications. Ballybot recorded the highest figure in this category with more than half – 54.6 per cent of its people – stating they have little or no qualifications while in Daisy Hill 50.1 percent said the same. Drumalane has the most educated population with just 35.88 per cent of its residents having no or low or low qualifications. Windsor Hill came in as the least overall deprived ward in Newry ranking at 339 out of 582 in the multiple deprivation category. Meanwhile more than half of the people who died in the Newry ward of Drumgullion during the first three months of 2011 were claimed by cancer. According to the census breakdown 53.3 per cent of the deaths in the Drumgullion ward were caused by malignant neoplasms – tumors of one form or another. This is far above the Northern Ireland average of 28.6 per cent and much higher than the ward which recorded the least number of cancer deaths during the same timeframe , Derrymore with 16.7 per cent. Its biggest killer was circulatory disease which was the cause of 41.7 per cent of deaths in the ward putting it just behind the ward that recorded the highest death rate by this disease, Daisy Hill with 42.1 per cent. The highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers meanwhile was recorded in St Patrick’s with 76 cases having emerged in the five-year period between 2006-2010. But it was Ballybor ward where most people suffered a long-term health problem or disability with more than a quarter of its population – 29.65 per cent stating they had such problems.
Newry Democrat
5th February 2013
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