The Census 2022 results released this week show that Irish society is changing and diversifying, according to the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Farrell, though he cautioned that changes to the religion question in the census may have helped drive the result.

Archbishop Farrell said that preliminary census figures showed that the Irish population was “becoming more diverse.”

“Part of this reality is the reported change in the religious affiliation of the population, with those identifying as Roman Catholic in the 2022 Census representing 69% of respondents, compared to 79% of respondents in 2016,” he commented to the Pillar.

“However, the CSO has rightly pointed out that the structure of the question has changed radically between the two census forms. As a result, direct comparisons are problematic.”

The 2016 census form asked “What is your religion?” and listed “Roman Catholic” as the first option and “No religion” as the last.

The 2022 form asked “What is your religion, if any?” and put “No religion” as the first option, followed by “Roman Catholic.”