Group encouraging public to tick ‘no Religion’ box in upcoming census

People who do not have a religion, or who no longer practise, have been urged to mark ‘no religion’ on the upcoming census form .

This latest census, the first since 2016, was scheduled to take place on April 24th last year but was postponed due to the pandemic. It will now be held on April 3rd.

The Humanist Association of Ireland (HAI) has called on relevant people to mark 'no religion' on the census form this year to ensure "a fairer representation of the non-religious" when it comes to building " a more inclusive future for all Irish citizens".

Launching its campaign in Dublin, HAI chief executive Jillian Brennan said “our campaign message is simple: if you’re not religious, you should say so on the census form as this is the only way to ensure a fairer representation and a greater voice for the non-religious when key policy decisions such as the allocation of resources and funding are being made.”

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She pointed out that “national and local governments rely on the census findings to plan and make important policy decisions on our behalf regarding resources and spending for our future. A prime example being the allocation of funding for essential state services such as health, children’s education and social care”.

In the 2016 census, figures for the 'no religion' category almost doubled from the previous 2011 census to 468,421, an increase of 73.4 per cent, she said. This meant that the 'no religion' category was then "the second largest category behind Roman Catholics with one in 10 Irish citizens identifying as no-religious."

She believed the 468,421 ‘no religion’ number in 2016 would have been higher if not for what she described as “the biased nature of the census form question that assumed a religious affiliation by asking ‘what is your religion’?”

This “leading religion question” had, in the past, “encouraged many people with no religious beliefs to tick a religious box purely out of cultural affiliation, ” she said.

She pointed out that,following representations from the HAI and other organisations, the Census Advisory Group agreed to change the wording of the census religion question from "What is your religion, if any?" to the tick box "No Religion", which is now also the first option on the religion question checklist.

This rewording of the religion question in the 2022 census form should “more accurately reflect the number of non-religious people in Ireland,” she said.