A chara, – Brian D Byrnes (Letters, March 19th) wonders how he should answer the census question on place of birth, as his birth took place in a nursing home in Dublin, rather than where his mother then lived, which was in Limerick.
If it were the place of actual birth, there would be a disproportionately high number from Dublin, with Holles Street, the Rotunda and the Coombe boosting those figures. The CSO has figures on birth registration by maternity hospital through other sources.
It is far more likely that the CSO is interested in where someone went home after they were born, or what county or country were they originally from.
This data gives an insight into population movements over the course of respondents’ lives.
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This explains the CSO’s clear explanation to a perhaps ambiguous question: “Where your mother was living at the time of your birth?”. – Is mise,
WILLIAM QUILL
Dublin 8.