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LAST UPDATE | 17 Jun 2020
A TOTAL OF 14 arrests have now been made following a major garda operation in the Limerick, Clare and Tipperary areas involving 67 searches and 170 gardaí.
A number of different garda units took part in the searches, which targeted drug trafficking, money laundering and gang-related activities in Limerick city and its surroundings.
As part of Operation Coronation, searches were carried out today by members attached to the Criminal Assets Bureau, Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Emergency Response Unit, the Armed Response Unit and Regional Dog Unit.
The premises searched were located in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary, and the operation was also supported by three teams of Irish Army Search Engineers, the Army EOD team and the army helicopter.
13 men and one woman, all aged between their 20s-60s, were arrested as part of the operation and several seizures were made. Gardai say the following was seized:
Gardaí said Operation Coronation was established to target organised criminality in Limerick.
The efforts today were aimed at “addressing the accumulation of wealth by those engaged in serious and ongoing criminality”.
A garda statement added that it is “part of the Limerick Divisional crime strategy and a central plank of the divisional policing plan targeting organised crime”.
Of those arrested, three were under money laundering offences, two were separate drugs offences involving crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis herb and three were due to bench warrants.
Six persons charged with offences under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
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And if they hadn’t fudged the question it would have been a lot more.
@William Clay: if they hadn’t deliberately fudged the question, they were made well aware of the issue and ignored the concerns.
I answered no religion, my RC down for my children,since that that they see themselves as.
@William Clay: what question should they have put an option was clearly stated for No Religion.
I think people hate the fact most will always identify a religion even if people on here don’t like it.
@Nellie Oneill: Can you imagine all the kids/young adults who wanted to tick “no religion” but weren’t allowed by their parents? Young kids don’t identify as being religious. They are brainwashed from a young age. I’m not denying that there is or is not a God but in our society we don’t give our kids much freedom of choice in this matter so saying that they choose to be religious is an interesting statement to say the least
I asked my 9&6 year old what I should put down, just as they have the option of communion/confirmation. Its not only religion people are brainwashed over.
@Paul: The option for No Religion was at the bottom, after “Other” which had a space to write in. It’s the worst possible layout when it comes to clarity. Most people simply tick Catholic because they’ve been told they’re Catholic and it doesn’t occur to them to consider the matter further.
@Soccer T’s: You’re doing alot of imagining there yourself – so you can go on the data which everyone filled out or filled out by the person who pays the bills or we can go on what you say. If you’re living at home over the age of 18 you need to get a life for yourself and move out – apart from that if you are under 18 what your parents say is what goes.
Kids lose interest in Catholicism after they get that sweet communion and confirmation payday. Once they realise they won’t be getting cash off their relatives every few years their enthusiasm for the religion tends to fade.
@Paul: how about ‘non practising catholic’ or ‘catholic, but not by choice and a non practitioner’.
The only reason Paul it’s at 76% is because a lot chose catholic out of habit. My partner checked catholic and she hasn’t been in a church in 20 years
When I was a child I went to mass with my parents, and would have passed as a practicing Catholic by anyone’s definition. I was coached in the “right” responses to give.
But I wasn’t even a practising citizen at that age. It was all memorised theory. I was under the legal age of choice.
@Nellie Oneill: interesting comments you have made, but the fact you obviously had the baptised diminishes your others are brainwashed too sentiment. No religion, but you had your children baptised catholic, why?
@William Clay: maybe the question is irrelevant and none of the state’s business
@Derek Walsh: so you are saying that Irish people cannot read?
You nerd to face facts on religion, just people are not devoted Catholics doesn’t mean they wont identify as one.
@Paul Fahey: I’m not sure that it’s relevant to children. They aren’t even confirmed members of a church until confirmation age. My friends had theirs baptised and went to church with them because the children thought they would like to be confirmed. They didn’t want their children going to a church on their own, they attended because their children wanted the choice. No one asked them why they were not letting the children go along on their own. It’s what parents do. If you take your children to self-defence classes, it doesn’t follow that you want to become a black belt yourself.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: well I think it is relevant when Nellie has stated she had put them down as catholic on the census, because she asked them at 9 and 5. Belie then went in to say not only catholics are brainwashed, but she chose to have them baptised, a choice they could not make for themselves whilst she declared herself as non religious. We cannot keep calling ourselves non religious if we baptise our children into Catholicism, perhaps to get them into school, and then comp,win that there are too many catholic schools, we are perpetuating our own vicious circle.
@Nellie Oneill: Quite right. Everyone has a right to not believe in religion, just as everyone has a right to believe. What’s the problem ?. Democracy, Human Rights is not defined by what another thinks. Live your life and let others live theirs. In other words live and let live.
@Paul Fahey: Parents have to decide for children till the age of maybe 16? Religion is only aspect of how they are raised. As a parent I am sure my gang will do things differently to me when they are adults but until that time I have to make some decisions for them
@lavbeer: I did not say they couldn’t, but it is contradictory to tell people you are non religious have your children baptised and then say they made their own minds up to be catholic at 9 and 6; of course they do you had them baptised and their first holy communion, they are hardly going to call themselves non religious after all that. Further, I am not sure a 9 and 6 year old can appreciate the full implications and meaning if such a question, it is a nonsense.
@Nellie Oneill: Good on you for putting your children down as what they consider themselves rather than what you yourself believe.
I said people are brainwashed by alot of things, not just religion. As to why I baptised my children. 1school,2 to used heaven as a easy way to explain death,3 I use Jesus as a example on how we should live are lifes and treat other.
Im a he paul. And i can do whatever I like. I have never complained about Catholic schools.
Absolutely laughable that people still claim to be Catholic out of habit. If there are so many Catholics then why are the churches empty every week?
Every Time you tick “Catholic” on a census form you give the Church more influence in our society. Tick “no religion” if you truly want a secular state.
@Soccer T’s: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/census-2016-will-get-religion-all-wrong-1.2613938?mode=amp
@Soccer T’s: ‘Non practicing catholic’ it’s not hard to understand the concept
@Breandán O Conchúir: I’m an “non practicing footballer” which means I’m NOT a footballer.
@Soccer T’s: i’m a non practising heterosexual
@Soccer T’s: But that doesn’t mean that you can’t play football on the odd evening now does it? And i play five a side twice a week but i still wouldn’t determine myself as a ‘footballer’ rather then a person who plays football from time to time. I’m sorry if all this is confusing for you.
@Old Gabby Johnson: does the church allow you to call yourself a non practicing catholic, I don’t know if the pope has ever said yes ignore ok the rules of the church and you can still be a member. How does that work? I don’t expect them to excommunicate you all, I mean they did not excommunicate Hitler, but how does the idea of non practicing Catholic even become a thing and if there really is such a thing does that not suggest Catholicism in Ireland is now far more a cultural than spiritual thing.
@Paul Fahey: Being catholic was always far more cultural than spiritual – as in most religions in the western world – e.g hte protestant work ethic being case in point. I mean even in the worst days of the church very few people adhered to the rules of the religion stringently in comparison to countries say influenced by islam.
@Breandán O Conchúir: One of the obligations of Christianity under Catholicism is weekly attendance at Mass (with a few exceptions). A “non-practicing Catholic” would ‘protest’ this obligation, making them a…
@Soccer T’s: nice of atheists to tell me what to think. Breathtaking arrogance. Oh so typical.
@Ken Hickey: Could say the same of Catholics. The church influenced our laws and most of our schools are catholic. I am not catholic same as my parents but because I needed a baptism cert to get into a school I had to be baptized even if it was another religion . There was no Educate Together schools only catholic and I had to go to school masses even though my family were not religious. Like most people in this country of non catholic and of no religion we have no choice where to send our children to be educated and once you set foot in a catholic school they try to brain wash you into their beliefs.
Look it quite simple
78% said they were catholic and no gun was put to there head so it is a catholic country.
If it was 78 % no religion you be shouting it was a non religious country.
i am a catholic and my kids are catholic but we don’t listen to a lot of the rubbish that the catholic church go on about and we dont listen to the so called do-gooders who blame every thing on religion
@Leah Burgess: where are you living ???
My 3 kids go to school and we were never asked for a baptism cert or what religion we are
@Richard: incorrect
it says keep holy on the sabbath day nothing about going to mass weekly
it dose say to receive the sacraments at lease twice a year
@ryan3939: yawn yawn yawn, it is not a catholic country, it is a Republic, albeit not a real one. There is also the constitutional reasons why it is not a catholic country and thousands of parents are asked for a copy of their baptism certificate with their school application every year.
@ryan3939: If you don’t agree with the club rules then you should have the balls to face up to it and leave.
You a la carte Catholics are partly the reason the Catholic Church is still in business.
I left years ago and it was one of my better decisions.
@Paul Fahey: I produced a baptismal cert for each of my kids at the local school but there are two Muslim girls in my eldest sons class…….I don’t think they produced a baptismal cert. I’m agnostic but got the kids baptized as I figured they’d never get into the local school if I didn’t but I’ve since come to the conclusion that that’s a load of cobblers.
@Joe Johnson: I did not say every child had to produce a baptism certificate, but the mere fact they are allowed to request one in a state funded school is an outrage.
@Ken Hickey: N
@Ken Hickey: Not at all Ken. Genuinely just curious as to why people say they practice a religion when it’s pretty obvious that most don’t. Hopefully somebody will do a study on it because i think the responses would be fascinating. I think there is some sort of mystical fear factor. I was admitted to hospital years ago. I noticed “RC” on my wristband. I told them I am non religious and the nurses response was hilarious “Are you sure about that? You are going in for surgery….better safe than sorry” I personally think that this part of the reason why people claim to be religious. After all we were all brainwashed from a very young age. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. It’s a simple fact.
@Ken Hickey: you mean like over 90% of our schools are doing to the most impressionable members of society?
@Soccer T’s: If a nurse ever did i’d give her a piece of my mind!
I know a few people who couldn’t give a toss about religion but still went ahead and ticked the catholic box.The question was worded wrong.
@Padraig: “The question was worded wrong” is almost as bad an excuse as those saying they couldn’t understand the question when they were asked to get rid of or keep the sentence. If you’re an atheist tick the feckin Atheist box. Hardly a feckin Mensa test.
@Simon: Senate* Damn phone
@Padraig: How? They could just tick “no religion” rather than handing more power to the men in dresses, because they weren’t sure.
@Simon: There was no “atheist” box. The section was to allow people to select their religion from a list of choices. “No Religion” was one of the “religions” listed. And, despite being the second most popular choice it was listed at the very end of the list while all other options were listed based on their popularity in the previous census. The question should have been “Do you practice any religion? Yes / No” followed by an “If yes then select”.
@Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: Well Diarmaid if anyone is reading a census form and can’t find the “No Religion” box , or are in any way confused at all , it’s a wonder they manage to successfully dress themselves in the morning.
@Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa: What an idiotic excuse.
@Simon: People fill these things pretty casually while watchin the tv and feedin the baba.
@Simon: the problem, if I recall correctly was that the “No religion” box was after a section that allowed the person to write in for “Other” which kind of broke the list because of the space created by the lines for writing in, and often a “write in for other” option is the last option on a list of this kind so may have caused people to not see the “No religion” option underneath it. This was the concern, especially as for many people if they had not heard the campaign about ticking the no religion box even if they were previously Catholic (or any other religion) but are not a believer or practising anymore, would not be prompted to consider ticking the “No religion” box if they couldn’t see it.
Also Simon, you might remember that some people have difficulties with reading forms, or reading in general, eyesight issues, mild learning difficulties so you’re being a tad harsh there.
@Padraig: they should keep the questions the same every time so we can get a fair reflection of what is happening in Ireland.
@Padraig: know a few people who couldn’t give a toss about religion but still went ahead and ticked the no religion box.The question was worded wrong.
@Simon: You’re ecpecting a lot from the general public. Anyway, it’s usually women filling out these forms. Women are statistically more inclined to be religious than men.
In their minds, anyone born RC gets marked down as such. The family is rarely consulted as is evident in the low figure for non-religious.
I don’t care what people believe in as long as they keep it to themselves, don’t expect special treatment and don’t expect the laws of our country to be influenced by said religion.
@Theunpopularpopulist: Bit late for that! Church still rules here!
@Theunpopularpopulist: If people keep saying they are Catholic, our society WILL be heavily influenced by the Church. Can somebody explain to me why somebody who doesn’t practice religion in any way, would say that they are Catholic? Is it just habit?
@Rui Firmino: ya you’re right but I think it’s becoming less and less. It’s a slow process.
We need to learn from the past and ensure that church and state are kept separate from now on.
It’s fair enough for people to have their beliefs. It just shouldn’t affect anyone else’s life.
@Theunpopularpopulist: While the church still runs the schools and people who haven’t seen the inside of a church in decades still tick the “catholic” box not much will change.
In the same way most people belief in speed limits,but don’t always keep to them. In the same way we believe in the rule of law but can still justified having a doggy box to watch sky sports.
@Theunpopularpopulist: but the whole education system must be changed to accommodate less than 10% of the population regardless of what almost 80% might want.
@Soccer T’s: in Ireland in particular people identify culturally as Cathoic to differentiate themselves from Centuries of English influence. People say “Catholic” to mean not Protestant as opposed to meaning believing in transubstantiation and a virgin having a baby.
28.9% increase in muslim! ‘Nuff said. Keep ‘em coming zappone.
@Yenreit: What the hell is the problem?
@Yenreit: Good God that is pathetic. A grand total of 14,000 increase in 5 years. OH MY GOD EVERYONE PANIC.
@Rui Firmino: sorry that was meant for yenreit
@Simon: Don’t panic, as long as you’ve got a towel, everything will be alright
@Simon: Yenreit is a neonazi wannabe. Sad!
@Rui Firmino: I pay your welfare Rui. Be greatful.
@Yenreit: What welfare you muppet??
@Yenreit:
Is this to do with this idea you morons have that liberals are poor or something?
You should have told me sooner. Now I’ll need to return my new Balenciaga sweater. Living out of my liberal means…
@Rui Firmino: the right wing way. When your lies don’t work attack your opponent.
@Dave Thomas: Exactly
Muslim population in 1991 was 3800, out of a total population of 3.5 million. The projected Muslim population for 2091 is roughly 500,000, out of a projected total population of 6.2 million. So over the course of a hundred years, the Muslim population of a traditional Christian European nation is expected to go from roughly 0.01% to roughly 8%. Muslims will account for about one fifth of the total population increase of 2.7 million. Who cares though, we’ll all be dead, it’ll be our grandkids and their grandkids and their grandkids, that’ll have to deal with the inevitable, though totally avoidable, strife and clash of cultures.
@TehJurolan: Assuming those numbers are correct, so effing what? Germany is already close to those numbers and doesn’t stop them from being one of the most developed and prosperous countries in the world!
@TehJurolan: wow, so you’re saying that the invading hoards will still have tiny numbers in 74 years? Good to know
@Yenreit: now now you can not give out about Muslims coming here you can only give out about people call themselves catholic in this catholic country
@ryan3939: If you’re gonna be against immigration then you need to get all the Irish living abroad back here. So everyone stay where they were born and never wander off anywhere. Wouldn’t that be great??
If those people were actually Catholics then can you explain to me why every church in the country is empty? Glad to see more people are leaving organised religions.
@Ben Coughlan: My parents are Catholic, but despise the Catholic church. As do most of their friends. Instead of going to mass every Sunday, they have a monthly get together and do their own prayer service. I’d imagine it’s a similar story all over the country.
So only one in ten people in Ireland have common sense?
@Jlocoroco: are you an expert in people’s choices. Are we not entitled to express our religion freely without fear of retribution
@Paul Coughlan: Don’t go off the deep end there. What retribution do you think you fear?
@Michael O’Neill: It’s clear by the vitriol in this comments section that people are pissed that so many people still identify as Catholic. Unless you have no religion you have no common sense according to Jlocoroco.
People are blaming the question on religion again, reality is the majority identify as Catholic…..
The option was clearly stated for No Religion.
@Paul: People with No Religion should not celebrate Christmas and Easters and go to work instead !!
@cortisola: Well you should do the same because they’re actually pagan festivals that were usurped by the church
After they die 80% of these people will have a Catholic burial.
@Laurence Fogarty: Since they’ll be dead they won’t really get a say in it!
@Laurence Fogarty: Quicker that that 80% of them will ask for wedding celebration in church.
@cortisola: and will say “Thank God all went well”. O wait! I’m confused. Is having no religion same as being atheist?
@The Girl: I don’t think so. Some people are agnostic which isn’t the same as atheist. Sure the census only needs to know for future school planning, I’d assume. If schools weren’t funded to cater for religious education, what would it matter to the civil service what religion you were bringing a child up in?
Just let family know and they take you straight to cemetery or crematorium and no religious service required if you don’t want it but few will do it just in case there’s something on the other side. My Uncle did it and haven’t heard from him or my parents so presumes it’s all good either way. @Rui Firmino:
@cortisola: I got married in a church to keep the parents happy, my kids will be under no such pressure from me.
@Laurence Fogarty: That doesn’t mean a thing! Many rituals become a cultural norm, without having a religious attachment. Happens all the time. Why wouldn’t I want to get married in a church, they’re nice buildings. When something has been that beat into the culture they’ll stick around long after the religion has gone.
Do you put up a christmas tree?? Do you eat easter eggs?? What have fir trees and rabbits/eggs got to do with Christianity?? – NOTHING, that’s what. they were Pagan rituals adopted by the church because they were cultural norms at the time. So how gives a f**k what type of burial people have when they die. Doesn’t mean a thing. Or are all Christians really Pagans?
@Laurence Fogarty: I think its not compulsory for a person getting buried in a Catholic graveyard to have a Catholic service. Friends could put something together though the priest would have to approve.
I love how Catholics think they can choose which part of the religion they practice.
The Church is very clear: If you agree with divorce, contraception, sex before marriage, abortion, Eucharist is symbolic, avoiding confession, avoiding mass, and others then you are not lapsed Catholic you simply are NOT a Catholic.
Maybe visit your local high Anglican church and see if they can accommodate you
@Ían Ó Ceallaigh: exactly! It’ll also be interesting to see what happens to the Catholic Church in 10-20 years when there’s no priests left, this is a problem that the church are in absolute denial about. It’s good to see the numbers of non-believers rise, I would assume that this number has always been high but older generations would have feared identifying as non-believers for fear of what the church could/would do to you.
@Ían Ó Ceallaigh: it works the same way S how the Catholic Church chooses Which parts of Paganism it wants to claim as part of Christianity, you know, Christmas trees, Easter bunnies, etc… Same thing.
I haven’t gone to church in years, but I made a point of ticking the Catholic box, and this is my reason why. If Catholicism eventually becomes a minority religion in Ireland officially, then what’s the justification for keeping Christmas, Easter Sunday, or St Patrick Day special, especially if a religion like Islam was eventually to surpass it? How could we justify giving special attention to these “religious holidays” if there was a religion with more practicing members, that doesn’t get the same special treatment for its holidays? It might seem paranoid on my part, but I could see that becoming an issue in the future.
@Methodical Insanity: You mean those pagan festivals usurped by the church?
@Les Behan: Yeah I’m well aware of the pagan origins, but like it or not, they’ve become inextricably associated with Christianity since.
@Methodical Insanity: So was locking up unmarried mothers having children out of wedlock. Things can change.
@Les Behan: You’ll get no argument from me there. Absolutely shameful time period in our recent history.
@Methodical Insanity: Christmas is here to stay, as long as a commercial holiday is profitable then it will continue.
@Les Behan: expert
@Paul Coughlan: I would never claim I’m an expert Paul but thanks!
@Methodical Insanity: People discard Catholicism for they think its a manmade religion and do not like the rules. Islam will never get a large scale pile of converts in Ireland for it is more absurd and dangerous than Catholicism. And many converts do fall away fast.
Plenty of choice with this question. Plenty of people ticked the rc box as they feel that’s what they are. You don’t have to go to mass every day/week and be banging the alter to be rc. Plenty of people have faith and belief, they just don’t want to visit a church for whatever their reasons. If the population wanted to identify as no religion they had the option. Peoples choice as to what they want.
@shaz: It is their choice as long as they think what they tick is the truth. But they have to be open to correcting their views.
78% of the country attend mass weekly? Don’t make me laugh.
@Eamonn Sheen: you don’t need to attend mass to judge your religion.
@Eamonn Sheen: I take it you count weekly the numbers going to every church.
@Paul: That is the trouble though. People make up what it means to be a Catholic without having a clue. The Catholic Church requires that you attend mass every Sunday.
Their religion, their rules. But people pick the rules they like and ignore the ones they don’t and call themselves Catholic.
Maybe there should be an option for A la carte Catholic.
@Paul: Ah you are one of those Catholic when it suits you types.
@Paul Coughlan: You aren’t seriously suggesting that 78% of the country go to mass every week are you? But if you believe the nonsense that they preach then you probably are.
Census question needs to change. 1st ask “Are you a member of a religion?” Yes or No. The No religion grouping will grow exponentially!
It is a leading question on current census.
@Virtual Donal: looking for excuses now.
@Virtual Donal: Did you not get the results you wanted Donal ? Maybe next time we’ll get the census people to explain the “no religion” box to us all a few times over.
A huge proportion of people who identify as Catholic dont believe in a lot of what being a Catholic entails. Catholicism for many is a cultural identifier as opposed to an ideological belief system they strictly adhere to. It delights me that with each new census more & more people are abandoning religion here.
@AR Devine: why. If your not into religion then it shouldn’t be an issue one way or another. Stay out of it.
@Paul Coughlan: Its an issue for people with no religion when the RC continally holds sway over schools and hospitals in this country – it is an issue when the RC has huge inflence over government social policy (rights for gays, repoductive rights for women) – 78% a catholic country? Nonsense, look at the empty churches every weekend -and the aging population of priests too! Now from sheeple ticking the RC box out of habit, we get to suffer the same level of interference from what is really a dying institution in Ireland.
@AR Devine: Cultural identifier can be dangerous too. It means people stick to a religious label for the sake of say hating protestants or creating and us not them kind of mentality.
78% identify as Catholic yet churches are empty..Lapsed Catholics perhaps…
Hang on, according to the Catholiban members Ireland is a Catholiban country with 96% of the population Catholiban. Where they telling lies? and don’t they know that lies make little baby Jebus cry?
Ireland is a predominantly Catholic country.
I rest my case.
@Tommy_Bannon: lol Tommy I’d say you’re nervous though
@Tommy_Bannon: Before the this result was published Tommy here was one of those that claimed “Ireland was 96% Catholiban.” Those numbers will continue to drop.
One thing can be cleared up though…
If someone looked for and ticked ‘no religion’ then they definitely have not got a religion.
If someone ticked ‘Catholic’ then it is either because they are genuine Catholic believers, or they were just acknowledging the fact that they were christened as such.
So there are at least 468k people with no religion, and up to a max of 3.7m Catholics.
Same approach can be applied to Irish… 40% say they can speak it, but when it comes to practicing it, less than 2% do so daily outside of education.
@Tommy_Bannon: However this does not translate into that the Republic of Ireland is a catholic state. Something which you think it does. Ireland is a republic which does not have a state religion so therefore we are not a catholic state.
Less than 10% classify themselves as atheist.
An embarrassingly low number for the amount of noise made.
@Tommy_Bannon: taking 78% of people who ticked catholic as an endorsement of the catholic agenda and mandate for its implementation is deranged.
@Tommy_Bannon: so you want to talk about embarassing, you think you have a telepathic relationship with a man in the sky! An all seeing, all powerful man in the sky who continues to ignore poverty, childrens cancers etc.
We have 2m liars.
@Ryan Comiskey: Look at the Irish question too. 1.7m can speak Irish. Me hole.
I don’t know where they are. I don’t know anybody that can say anything except “an bhuil cead agam go dti an leithreas” (don’t mind the spelling, that’s the extend of my Irish).
@Soccer T’s: absolutely laughable that so many people such as yourself get worked up about other people’s choices.
Census figures out today show that 17.3% of the free state population are now foreign born (and we know that’s a gross underestimate – at the last census the Polish embassy estimated that there were at least 28,000 more Poles here than the figures showed). We know that about 25% of new mothers are now foreign born. This is a planned Genocide of the Native Irish people.
@Denis Patrick Gill: Is it really? Are you being rounded off and sent to death camps?
@Denis Patrick Gill: Yaay!! Less bigots to put up with!
By the way, why did you post in a foreign language and not use native Irish?
@Denis Patrick Gill: The Free State ? it hasn’t been called that since ireland was in the commonwealth
@Denis Patrick Gill: Jumping to conclusions! A significant proportion of those foreign born were children of returning Irish from the UK especially the 1970′s generation. Look at the huge discrepancy(175,000) between British nationals and UK born(usually Irish nationals) living here, the latter are children of returning Irish parents. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/whatinformationisthereonbritishmigrantslivingineurope/jan2017
Another sign of demographic collapse is the average age of the population, which has gone up by around 20% since 2011. Given that the immigrants tend to be younger – and have more children, this means that the Irish are aging at a fantastic rate. It’s likely that the Eurostat estimate that the Irish will be a minority by 2060 will have to be brought forward.
@Denis Patrick Gill: Poor angry Denis and his cara Tristan lament that young Irish women are more interested in careers and independence when they should be trying to outbreed the invading brown people.
@DaisyChainsaw: If only they could get laid they could do something about it :’(
31000 travellers in the country and the hassle they cause the other 4.7 million…. but it’s their culture boss
Too many foreigners for a small country
@KevinMunster: here’s an idea, tell the millions of Irish living abroad to come back home. problem solved!
@Rui Firmino: i would agree to a swap
@ryan3939: Cool. Good luck with that!
@KevinMunster: That`s right, @Rui Firmino. So the foreigners can go home and the returning Irish can take over most of the jobs that were left behind…they can all get employed in low paid, physically demanding jobs, such as warehouse operatives, catering,hotel industry, construction,caretaking, nursing etc.
@Sisi R: And they better learn foreign languages too, because of the thousands of multilingual vacancies they’d have to fill in. Or Ireland can kiss all the IT companies goodbye!
That’s a massive amount of Polish and Romanians flooding this country. And we all pretend that’s its not an issue, instead we just rant on about the religion part
@Fight Milk: it’s not an issue.
@Mal: @Mal, you have your head in the sand
@Fight Milk: All of the Romanians I’ve seen here in Dublin are here for work, many in the IT field like myself.
And to put the numbers into perspective, our group grew from 0.3% of Ireland’s population to 0.6%.
It says 78% of the nation is Catholic. The real question should be how many of those go to Mass once a week.
@Simon: That’s bound to include several priests and nuns who do. It’s their job :-)
@Simon: why you interested.
@Simon: Total BS. I’d say the actual figure is nowhere near that. There are way more people who are agnostic or atheists, If only people could be honest with themselves.
@Simon: that is another valid question.
It is however interesting that 78% consider themselves members of the Catholic Church despite education, access to information, child abuse scandals, baby in septic tanks etc
I for one am grateful for this information
Also interesting 90% believe in Gods, Fairies, etc
Many of these people say they are catholic but the reality is they are not.
They were more then likely raised catholic because of their parents /grandparets and the influence of the catholic church in the schools system in Ireland. Now they no longer attend mass and have wised up and dont believe in an imaginary god.
You only have to look at the lack of young people attending church services compared to years ago. As the older generation of the nation dies in the not to distant future our wiser younger people will live life without the charade of religion. Its happening and its not going to stop , much to the annoyance of the catholic church.
The journal loving this haha.
Sounds low.
@Rui Firmino: have muslims neighbors nicer than most of my neighbours
@bmul: That’s good to know but it has nothing to do with what I said. I think the real number of non religious folk is far higher.
@bmul: relevance?
@Rui Firmino: sorry that was directed at yenreit
Its relevance in the main because right wing church based groups will use the figure as a reason for having prayers in thr dail, church run schools ect.
@Nellie Oneill: I am confused you have just said above you put your 9 and 6 year old down as catholic, because that is how they feel, but you are non religious. Now you are bemoaning the “right wing church groups” abusing the census figures to control education; well you are big helping the situation that is for sure.
What way was the question worded? I remember comments being made about it at the time but can’t remember the details.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: It should have been ‘Do you practice any religion, if yes, what denomination’.
Around 50% of people who put themselves down as Catholic would be going by their baptism and nothing else, and that’s a consevative estimate judging by the 15% and declining Mass attendance. Still, the figure is going in the right direction.
Great to see that Kenny lost voters in Mayo. Haha
No need for God in big cities.
CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin. ~ Ambrose Bierce.
I see mayo population has dropped , that’s because they are all in Galway . Ye can go home now lads we are finished with ye .
@Finnster: Way too many Mayo immigrants in Galway. #BuildThatWall
Tá mé sásta go bhfuil go leor daoine fós ag labhairt Gaeilge! Connigí suas é! Also great – the amount of people who consider themselves Catholic. With the increase in broadband usage it makes sense that church attendance would be low – you can watch mass online :)
It’s great to see the population growing even after such a bad recession. I think almost everyone benefits from a growing population.
Can someone explain how the Census cannot have anomalies or indeed errors. One of the questions on the census is “How many children have you given birth to?” As an adoptee I cannot see how this question could ever be answered correctly. My mother gave birth to 4 children and 3 of us were adopted. Do you think that she is going to stand at the doorstep and tell the truth? She’s a woman in her 70′s so no doubt her husband would complete the form and like many a husband may not even be aware of children she had prior to their marriage.
90% are irrational
10% are rational
78% support a child abusing Church et al
22% do not
Not much progress here
If 90% of people said they had no religion you would all be on here celebrating the demise of catholism.
Because 78% describe themselves as catholic you don’t like it and try to make excuses.
Sorry guys. Accept the reality.
I bet they got gnostic mixed up with agnostic again lol.
17.3% were not born here and the second language here is Polish, interesting, a curio for pub quizes?
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Tá mé sásta go bhfuil go leor daoine fós ag labhairt Gaeilge! Coinnigí suas é! Also great to see the amount of people who still consider themselves Catholic! The increase in broadband usage explains the somewhat limited attendance at mass at the weekends – they’re watching it online ;)
We are a nation of liars. You bunch of non Irish speaking, atheist hypocrites
Cén fáth nach bhfuil níos mo ar an nGaeilge?
A book by a man called Carson called the Intolerance of Tolerance says that Christianity intends to be about truth even if it is wrong thus if Christianity is untrue the word Christian means nothing and is just a word. Man has no power to make you a member of mans religion in reality. Only a God has the right to found and direct a religion.
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