Fermanagh and Omagh follow national trend with an increase in Irish identity

WITH the results of Census 2021 showing a Catholic majority in Northern Ireland for the first time since its creation, we take a look at the statistics relating to Fermanagh and Omagh to see what they tell us about the population locally.

The population of Fermanagh and Omagh at the time of the 2021 Census was 116,812 people, which makes it the smallest area in Northern Ireland – however, this is an increase of 3.2 per cent in the population since 2011.

Overall, the population in Northern Ireland has reached 1,903,175 people, up by 5 per cent since 2011.

Much of the Census 2021 commentary has focused on religion, ethnicity and nationality across Northern Ireland and the related changes seen, but locally there has been minimal change, if any.

In terms of religion, those identifying as ‘Catholic’ comprise 61 per cent of the population – just 1 per cent more than in 2011.

For other faiths, ‘Presbyterian’ stays the same, at 6 per cent, as does ‘Methodist’. ‘Church of Ireland’ sees a slight drop, from 17 per cent in 2011 to 16 per cent.

Other Christian religions show a slight increase, up from 3 per cent in 2011 to 4 per cent in 2021.

Other religions remain at below 1 per cent, while those identifying as ‘No religion/not stated’ stays at 10 per cent.

Looking at the religion that a person was brought up in, Catholic remains the largest, at 64 per cent (74,760 people), with no change from 2011.

Protestant and other Christian religions dropped to 31 per cent (36,212 people) in 2021, down from 33 per cent in 2011.

Other religions are at 1 per cent, while no religion increased from 2 to 4 per cent.

National identity in Fermanagh and Omagh saw an increase in ‘Irish identity only’, with a decrease in the number of people identifying as ‘British only’.

Some 41 per cent of people in the district identified as ‘Irish only’ (at 47,893 people), compared to 23 per cent who identified as ‘British only’ (26,867 people) – in 2011, these figures stood at 35 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

Those identifying as ‘Northern Irish only’ dropped from 26 per cent to 22 per cent.

There were increases in the number of people identifying as ‘British and Northern Irish’, up to 4 per cent, and of ‘Irish and Northern Irish’ to two per cent – both figures rose by 1 per cent.

People identifying as having other national identities also increased by 1 per cent, up to 6 per cent in 2021, at 7,009 people.

Increased significantly

‘Irish only’ passport holders increased significantly in the census, surging from 26 per cent in 2011 to 37 per cent in 2021, while ‘UK only’ passport holders dropped significantly, falling from 44 per cent to 34 per cent.

Those holding both an Irish and UK passport climbed to 5 per cent from 1 per cent, while there was also an increase in ‘other’ passports, rising from 3 to 5 per cent.

The statistics show that the majority of people living in the Fermanagh and Omagh area were born in Northern Ireland, with just 5 per cent (6,000 people) of the population being born in a country outside the UK and Republic of Ireland.

This is the same as the Republic of Ireland and more than England (4 per cent), Scotland and Wales (both less than 1 per cent).

While the focus may be on national identity and religion, what is also of interest locally is the increase in an ageing population, coinciding with the decrease in the proportion of younger people.

In Fermanagh and Omagh, those aged 65 years and over increased from 14 per cent in 2011 to 18 per cent in 2021.

The area’s 40 to 64-yearolds increased slightly, up from 32 per cent to 33 per cent, while those in the 15 to 39-year-olds category fell to 29 per cent, down from 33 per cent.

There was no change in the 0 to 14-year-olds category, at 20 per cent.

Male and females are split evenly at 50 per cent each, while there has been a 10.1 per cent increase in the number of households in Fermanagh and Omagh, at 45,715 households.

Looking at language statistics, English remained the main language, but ‘other’ languages increased slightly, up from 3 to 4 per cent.

Knowledge of Irish in the area increased to 18 per cent, up from 15 per cent, while knowledge of Ulster-scots also increased, up from 4 to 8 per cent.

Overall, the results from Census 2021 locally shows there has been an increase in diversity in the population of Fermanagh and Omagh, but it is minimal.

Matching the Northern Ireland-wide results, Irish identity is on the up, while British identity has seen a slump.

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The majority of people living in the Fermanagh and Omagh area were born in Northern Ireland

OPINION

Census 2021 results analysed. Read Denzil Mcdaniel’s column over on