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摘要：
爱尔兰的利默里克市将于4月23日进行人口普查。由于当地大批橄榄球迷届时将外出观看球赛，该市有可能在普查人口中人口不足5万，而按欧盟规定，这将失去做为一个城市的资格，并因此失去来自欧盟的财政援助。
An exodus of rugby fans from Limerick in Ireland threatens its status as a city, and the European funding that goes with it, when a population census is taken Sunday.
爱尔兰的利默里克市将于4月23日进行人口普查。由于当地大批橄榄球迷届时将外出观看球赛，该市有可能在普查人口中人口不足5万，而按欧盟规定，这将失去做为一个城市的资格，并因此失去来自欧盟的财政援助。
An exodus of rugby fans from Limerick in Ireland threatens its status as a city, and the European funding that goes with it, when a population census is taken Sunday.
据路透社4月18日报道，利默里克市的市长迪亚尔穆伊德·斯卡利当日在接受路透社记者采访时表示，当地的茫斯特橄榄球队将于4月23日在爱尔兰首都都柏林市迎战莱恩斯特队，这是喜力杯橄榄球赛的一场半决赛。届时，前往现场观看比赛的利默里克市球迷预计可能将达2万人之多，而且那些球迷中有很多人可能会一直留在都柏林市庆祝球队的胜利或是品尝失败带来的痛苦。但按照欧盟的现行规定，只有人口总数不低于5万人的城镇才会被认为是一座城市。
Diarmuid Scully, mayor of Limerick in western Ireland, told Reuters as many as 20,000 fans could follow the regional team Munster to Dublin Sunday for the Heineken Cup semi-final against Leinster.
Many could stay on to celebrate -- or to drown their sorrows -- knocking Limerick‘s population of 54,000 below a crucial threshold of 50,000, he added.
斯卡利说：“很不凑巧，这次人口普查选在了4月23日，而对于利默里克市来说，那很可能是一个寂静的夜晚”，“不幸的是，我们中的许多人当晚将不会待在自己的家中。如果芒斯特队获胜，不少球迷会一直停留在都柏林享受胜利带来的喜悦”。
"At the time April 23 was picked, it probably seemed like a quiet night," he told Reuters.
"Unfortunately for Limerick people, quite a lot of us won‘t be at home that night. Quite a number would stay on to celebrate if it‘s a Munster victory."
斯卡利特地呼吁利默里克的橄榄球迷们在比赛结束后立刻返回家乡。他说，“如果到时利默里克的人口不足5万人的话，那么按照欧盟的现行标准，这里将不会继续被认为是一座城市，而我们也会因此失去来自欧盟的财政援助”。斯卡利还请求负责本次人口普查的官员放宽填表的截止期限。
Scully called on Limerick rugby fans to return home after the match.
"Should the population drop below 50,000, then Limerick wouldn‘t be considered a city anymore by European standards, and we‘d actually lose out in terms of European funding," he added.
Scully said census rules allowed forms to be completed on the following Monday morning, and he called on census officials to be lenient.
"I‘m asking for a flexible interpretation of the morning -- let morning stretch throughout the day," he said. "Let it stretch until midnight."
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