Sir, – I refer to the letter by Atheist Ireland representatives Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly (June 1st) in which they comment on the Census 2022 figures.
The letter baldly states that “Ireland is no longer a Catholic country”. But this assertion is contradicted by the census figures.
Census 2022 figures state that 69 per cent of the Irish population is Catholic and 3.5 per cent are other Christian denominations.
On the other hand, 14 per cent of the Irish population declared they have no religion.
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If the English language is to retain its normal meaning what these figures show is that the Irish population is predominantly Christian, largely Catholic and only a small minority have no religion.
Mr Nugent and Ms Donnelly will have to wait until Irish census figures show that 14 per cent of the population is Catholic and 69 per cent have no religion before making such wild statements.
They may have to wait a long time. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM REVILLE,
Waterfall,
Co Cork.