Sir, – It is interesting to note that, despite the increase in the numbers of those declaring themselves to be of no religion, they are still less than 10 per cent of the population.
There is life in the old God yet. – Yours, etc,
BARRY BOURKE,
Ballinlough,
Cork.
Sir, – Maybe I read figures differently to everyone else but a State that has nearly 4.2 million of its people out of a population of nearly 4.7 million stating that they have a religious affiliation is still a State with a strong religious sense. After the many sad stories and horrendous breaches of trust, it shows that people can differentiate between church and religion. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT LACEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Some 78 per cent of 4.76 million citizens declared themselves as “Roman Catholic”. A statistic from the 2016 census.
A modern society still self-declares itself to be overwhelmingly Roman Catholic . This is not a response to a loaded question from a cold-calling poll of a few hundred random citizens.
It is a studied response to a question completed in privacy on a census form on a Sunday evening in April 2016. I also gave a studied response, which was of “no religion”.
To me, it displays the disconnect between the dozen or so regular voices in our media who speak of a wholly secular and post-faith society as if it were an established empirical fact. There is nothing more empirical than the measured response of 78 per cent of 4.75 million citizens. Could it be that perfectly normal citizens in all classes of relationships and circumstances are quite happy to respond thus? But fear not, the headlines will read: “22 per cent of population no longer Roman Catholic”. – Yours, etc,
LARRY DUNNE,
Rosslare Harbour,
Co Wexford.