Yesterday saw the mother of all data dumps, with the results of last year’s census released by the Central Statistics Office providing masses of information about the Ireland of today. The details are fascinating.
Ireland in 2023 is older, more diverse, less Catholic (though still pretty Catholic), paying more in rent and working more from home. It is also – the most arresting finding, perhaps – much more numerous: over five million of us, of whom over a million were not born here, an increase of 8 per cent since the last census in 2016.
There are many more types of Irish people than there used to be. Immigration more than birth rates – comparatively high, but declining – are driving the population increase, with Irish people returning as well as non-Irish people moving here. The great Irish baby boom is waning. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Ronan McGreevy sets out many of the main points and also identifies five things we learned about ourselves in Census 2022.
Five numbers that reveal how Ireland is changing
There was a great focus on religion yesterday. Fun facts: the Muslim population has increased by 19,898 since the last census to 81,930; the Church of Ireland and Presbyterian numbers are steady; there are 33,043 Hindus, 2,193 Jews, 2,183 Sikhs, 1,800 Jedi Knights, 804 Quakers, 188 Satanists, 132 Scientologists, and 113 Hare Krishnas.* Not sure what it says about a country when there are more Satanists than Hare Krishnas, but at least there are more Quakers than Scientologists.
There has been a lot of talk about the extent to which the number of Catholics has fallen, from 79 per cent to 69 per cent. Now, that’s still quite a lot, but in the wake of the collapse in the moral authority of the church after the abuse scandals, it has little influence on public and political life any more.
Where it has a presence, in education notably and in healthcare, it is waning in real terms, and its representatives are often wary of making that presence felt for fear of a backlash. And yet there appears no great enthusiasm among parents for the widespread divestment of church patronage for schools. Our relationship with our Catholicism is not straightforward.
Everyone had their own take. The secularists said it showed the need for a more secular state. Sinn Féin said it showed we need a united Ireland (the population of the island is now more than seven million). The Social Democrats said it showed we need more homes. Politicians, of course, have been digging around the census numbers since the topline figures last year showed the population of the State topping the five million mark. Whatever about more secularists, there’s certainly going to be more TDs – a subject which is very close of the hearts of politicians.
But the challenges in the census are much more than the size of the Dáil. It reveals a country that badly needs its infrastructure, public services and public capacity to catch up with its own growth, and will need to keep providing the framework for that growth in the years ahead. Analysis on what it means for whoever is in Government here.
Sitserv final report
The final report of the Commission of Investigation into the sale of Siteserv to businessman Denis O’Brien was published yesterday, and also makes our front page. The inquiry centred on the €45 million sale of the troubled building services company by the State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) and the massive loss taken by IBRC on the affair.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan found last year that the sale was based on “misleading and incomplete information” provided by Siteserv to IBRC, and was so tainted by impropriety that it was not commercially sound, he said. But no findings of wrongdoing were made.
We knew all that already though. And we probably know already what the judge said yesterday – that the entire system of inquiries is broken.
It is “now impossible”, he said, to carry out a commission of investigation in a timely manner while complying with procedures laid down by the courts and the requirements of the 2004 law under which he carried out his investigation.
He called for the creation of a permanent commission of investigation body, saying it should be chaired by a judge or retired judge of the superior courts and provided with legal expertise and IT and procurement services.
Best reads
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly writes in support of an initiative to ban smartphones from schools. If only he was in a position to do something about it . . .
Michael McDowell on the need to reform our asylum system.
Miriam Lord’s take on the day’s political events is here.
Janan Ganesh has a great analysis of Trump v DeSantis
Playbook
The good weather is due to continue. Morning business in the Dáil is a Social Democrats motion on home ownership, of which it’s likely everyone will be in favour. Leaders’ Questions are at noon and then the afternoon sees statements on the European proposals for nature restoration – about which there is a good deal of Coalition angst, especially on the rewetting elements of it.
A betting man might feel confident in putting money on there being quite a bit of shouting and roaring from the Independent benches. Government legislation in the afternoon and weekly votes in the evening.
Busy day in the Seanad where business includes a Private Members’ Bill which would make it a criminal offence to spike someone’s drink.
At the committees, barrister Marie O’Shea will discuss her report recommending easing the restrictions on abortion at the heath committee, while a representative of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund will offer perspectives on that country’s experience to the committee on budgetary oversight.
Details of all debates and hearings here.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is off to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova for the second meeting of the European Political Community – a sort of EU plus everyone else forum. Microphones will be present, questions will be shouted. Stay tuned.
* This article was amended on Wednesday, May 31st: An incorrect figure had initially been given for the scale of the increase in the Muslim population in the census figures.
