Census shows a country changed yet still rooted in tradition

SO MUCH has changed, yet so much is strikingly familiar.

The census results for 2011 reveal a country of contrasts. Dublin’s commuter belt has grown rapidly and our population is more diverse than ever, but Ireland remains a predominantly Catholic country rooted in tradition, where marriage is enduringly popular and the nuclear family is resilient.

Overall, the census shows the population reached 4.6 million in April 2011, the highest level in 150 years. Population growth has been surprisingly high despite emigration and the economic downturn, driven mainly by an extraordinarily high birth rate with more than 70,000 births per year.

In fact, the natural increase – the number of births minus deaths – is the highest on record for any previous census.

All of this is good long-term news for the future of the country. With fewer dependent older people, Ireland contrasts favourably with other European neighbours that face the prospect of decreasing populations and higher levels of dependants in the years ahead.

It will doubtless pose a headache for the State in providing sufficient health, education and social services. But the long-term benefits are likely to outweigh any short-term challenges.

Most of this new population growth is concentrated in the ever-widening commuter belt outside the capital. Laois had the fastest-growing population of any county (up 20 per cent), more than twice the growth rate for the country as a whole. Other areas of rapid growth included Cavan, Fingal (both 14 per cent), Longford and Meath (both 13 per cent). Leinster now accounts for some 55 per cent of the entire population.

In fact, the population shrank in Limerick city (down 5 per cent) and Cork city (down 0.4 per cent), while only modest growth was recorded in other cities.

The extent to which the country’s development is so heavily tilted towards the greater Dublin area highlights the chasm between rhetoric about balanced regional development and the reality.

The make-up of the Irish population today is starkly different to anything seen in previous reports, with more nationalities, languages and ethnicities than ever before. Ethnic diversity is now an established fact of Irish life rather than a passing trend that will be reversed by the chill winds of the recession.

The number of non-Irish nationals increased by almost a third since the last census in 2006 and now account for 12 per cent, or 544,360 of the population. For the first time, there are more Poles (122,600) than UK nationals (112,300). In fact, the Polish, Romanian and Indian communities doubled in size, while Lithuanian and Latvian ones increased by about 50 per cent.

At a time of such much social change, many expected to see similar changes to the traditional Irish family. With the Catholic Church under pressure as never before, many expected that a younger generation would begin to shun many of the defining characteristics of Irish families. But the marital family still accounts for the vast majority – 70 per cent – of all family units.

Some of the biggest increases in family units were among husbands and wives with children who made up almost half of all families last year.

Some 84 per cent of people declared themselves Roman Catholic, a increase of almost 5 per cent. This return to traditional values was driven mostly by Poles and other Europeans.

Change is knocking on the door, though not as loudly as we might have expected. The number of cohabiting couples increased to 143,000 – an increase of just under 18 per cent – but at a slower rate than in previous years. They account for just 10 per cent of families in Ireland. In many cases, co-habitation is a precursor to marriage, particularly once children come along.

We now know that many of the changes in Irish family life - cohabitation, getting married later in life – aren’t necessarily disrupting the ways of old. Instead, many are simply postponing the more traditional form of family until later in life.

It’s a time of flux which can throw out confusing and sometimes contradictory findings.

“People are waiting longer to marry, set up house and have children, and the sequencing of those transitions is no longer as ordered or closely scheduled as in the past,” according to Dr Jane Gray, head of sociology at NUI Maynooth.

Against this backdrop of tradition, there is also a new-found confidence among those who have barely featured in many previous population counts: same-sex couples.

The number of same-sex cohabitants almost doubled, up from just under 2,100 in 2006 to just over 4,000 in 2011. Back in 1996, the census recorded just 150 same sex couples.

This upbeat snapshot of the country couldn’t come at a better time. There have been many reasons over recent years to fear for the future of the country. The figures that reveal the details of our growing population are much more than simple statistics. They are a powerful sign of the health and vibrancy of a country, and offer a glimpse of rebirth and renewal around the corner.