One person in 10 here is now a foreign national
Friday July 27 2007
NEW census figures show that foreign nationals account for more than 10pc of the population.
Figures show that Ireland is fast becoming a melting pot of ethnicity and culture - with more foreign nationals now living here than ever before.
Overall, Dublin has the largest percentage of foreign nationals: 58.5pc of the Asian community and nearly half of the black community live there.
Co Louth has the highest percentage of people with black ethnicity - 2.2pc, compared to the national average of 1.1pc.
The statistics, charting Ireland's Ethnic and Cultural Background, also reveal that more than a quarter of all black people living in Ireland were born here.
One-third or 35pc of the black or black-Irish community were under 10, compared to the national average of 14.1pc.
Christianity is the dominant religion. One-third of the black community and one-quarter of the Asian Irish and Muslim community said they are Catholic.
The census also reveals that the Asian population in Ireland has risen to 52,345 and that the highest percentage of non-Irish nationals came from the UK, at 112,548.
The Polish community made up the next highest percentage of non-Irish nationals, at 63,276.
The figures also show that Travellers account for 0.5pc of the population. However, Traveller mortality is still a huge problem.
The average age of Travellers is 18 - well below the national average of 33. Two in five Travellers were under 15 in 2006 compared to the national average of one in five.
Travellers aged over 65 accounted for just 2.6pc of the community, compared to an average of 11pc in the general population.
According to the figures, the majority of Travellers were living in permanent accommodation; 15,195 of the total of 22,002 were living in private households around the country.
Four out of 10 Travellers lived in temporary accommodation, while 1,318 did not indicate what type of accommodation they occupied.
Tuam has the highest proportion of Travellers at 7.7pc, followed by Longford (4.6pc), Birr (4pc) and Ballinasloe (3pc).
Traveller organisation Pavee Point last night expressed concern over the high mortality rate among the community.
"It is worrying that the Traveller population over the age of 65 have decreased from 3.3pc to 2.6pc between the two censuses.
"In practical terms this means that Travellers have a higher burden to support their dependants than the general population," said a spokesperson.
"The school drop-out rate before the age of 15 years also remains high. This shows that greater efforts need to be made to encourage Travellers to stay at school."
- Patricia McDonagh
