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Press Statement

Census of Population 2022 Results - Profile 5 Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers & Religion Monaghan

CSO press statement,

Non-Irish citizens accounted for 11% of the Monaghan population

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 October 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 5 – Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers and Religion. Profile 5 looks at the diversity of the population in Ireland, including country of citizenship, ethnic group or background and languages spoken. Recent migration in the year leading up to the census, Irish Travellers and religion are also covered. This press release highlights some of the main results for Monaghan. A full list of county press releases is available. 

Statistician's Comment

Commenting on the results, Brendan Murphy, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 5 provides detailed information on the range of citizenships among the Irish population, including breakdowns by age and sex as well as by county and town. It shows the recent immigration to Ireland and migration within Ireland. The number of people that moved to Ireland in the year to Census night 03 April 2022 rose by 9% to more than 89,500 people compared with the same period in Census 2016. This wide-ranging profile also considers the various ethnic backgrounds of our population, including details on the age, sex, and citizenship of different groups. It looks at our Traveller population in 2022, including breakdowns by sex and household type. It also details the religious composition of the Irish population in April 2022.” 

Some highlights for Monaghan

Citizenship

In Monaghan non-Irish citizens accounted for 11% of the county’s population. Among the non-Irish residents, the largest group were Lithuanian citizens (2,011 people) followed by Latvian citizens (776), the UK (713) and Polish (709). Nationally there were more than 631,000 non-Irish citizens, which was 12% of the population. The number of dual-Irish citizens, which is when you are a citizen of two countries at the same time, in the county increased from 775 in 2016 to 1,427 in 2022. The largest dual-Irish citizenships included Irish-UK (343 people), Irish-US (313) and Irish-Australian (154). There were more than 170,500 dual-Irish residents in Ireland in Census 2022. 

Immigration

There were 1,430 people living in Monaghan in April 2022 who had moved to the county in the year before the census. This included 656 people who had moved from elsewhere within Ireland, and 774 people from outside the State. A further 1,495 people had moved within the county in the year before the census.

Ethnic group/background

More than 53,600 people living in Monaghan in April 2022 had a White Irish ethnic group or background. A further 6,326 people identified as Any other White. There were 275 people whose ethnic group/background was Asian or Asian Irish - Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and 497 people with a Black or Black Irish – African ethnic group/background.

Irish Travellers

There were 266 Travellers in Monaghan in Census 2022, compared with 276 in 2016 (-4%). This included 137 females and 129 males. There were 32,949 Travellers in Ireland, compared with 30,987 in 2016 (+6%). This included 16,777 females and 16,172 males.

Religion

In Census 2022 almost 51,000 people in the county were Catholic (78%). This was down from 84% in Census 2016. Nationally, 69% stated they were Catholic, compared to 78% in 2016. The other most common religions in Monaghan included Presbyterian (2,222), Church of Ireland (with 1,916 people), and Orthodox (1,209). There were more than 4,400 people who stated they did not have a religion, which was up from almost 2,300 in Census 2016, up 95%. They made up 7% of the county’s population, compared with 4% in 2016.

Editor's Note

  • The census took place on Sunday, 03 April 2022. Most of the statistics in this publication are reported on a usually resident and present basis and, unless stated otherwise, exclude visitors and people absent abroad on the night of the census.
  • Profile 5 is the fifth in a series of eight themed reports on Census 2022. 
  • You can view the full Census 2022 Publication Schedule at the following link: Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
  • The Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS), which are statistics produced for a range of geographical levels from State to small areas, were published on 21 September 2023. This is the most detailed set of data produced from the Census 2022 results and covers topics such as sex, age and marital status, families, housing, education, commuting and occupation as well as new topics such as volunteering and childcare. Using our interactive maps, you can zoom in to your local area and learn more about your community.
  • The question on nationality changed in Census 2022 to capture information on country of citizenship. This change may have impacted comparisons with previous census data.
  • In Census 2022, a revised question on Ethnic Group/Background was asked, introducing several new ethnic groups such as Roma, Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and Arab.
  • The question on religion used in Census 2022 differed from the Census 2016 version which may impact comparability. 
  • briefing on Profile 5 – Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers and Religion is available which includes a full presentation and a number of short audio files in English and Irish on the key results.
  • An infographic has been published for Census 2022 Profile 5 Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers and Religion. Contact pressoffice@cso.ie if you require the infographic in a particular format.
  • A Census 2022 FAQ is available.
  • Definitions – Please see Background Notes.

Contacts

Kathleen Goulding (+353) 1 895 1413
Tony Downes (+353) 1 895 1319
Email censuspublicity@cso.ie
Emailpressoffice@cso.ie

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