The following audio files contain quotes from CSO Statistician Sheelagh Bonham about Census 2022 Spotlight Series: Volunteering in Ireland.
Media outlets have permission to use the clips as long as they credit the CSO.
Nationally, we can see that more than 700,000 people, or 14% of the population, volunteered in one or more activities. Census 2022 results also show that the most popular type of voluntary activity was with a sporting organisation, followed by volunteering in a social or charitable group.
Volunteering in a political organisation was the least popular type of voluntary activity recorded. We can also see that the average age of volunteers was 47, which was around 8 years older than the average age of the population.
The county with the highest level of volunteering in Census 2022 was Leitrim, where 18% of people were involved in at least one voluntary activity, compared with a national average of 14%. Interestingly, people in Leitrim were most likely to do voluntary work in the community while nationally, volunteering in a sporting organisation was the most popular activity.
At 4%, Cavan had the highest proportion of any county's population volunteering in a religious organisation while at 5%, volunteering for a social or charitable organisation was highest in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Only 11% of the population in both South Dublin and Dublin City were involved in voluntary activities in 2022.
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