No fears for Union says TUV ahead of Northern Ireland census publication, Alliance worried about focus on religion

A TUV spokesperson said support for remaining part of the UK “transcends religion”.

He commented: “Obviously one cannot say very much before the results of the census are published but anyone who believes that a rise in the Roman Catholic population automatically translates into a rise in support for nationalism would be well advised to look at election results over the past three decades. The rise in the number of people identifying as Catholics has been going on for decades and yet the nationalist vote in this year’s Assembly election is almost identical to that in the first Assembly election in 1998.

“The case for the Union is sound and support for remaining part of the UK transcends religion. When voters from all religions and none look at the alternative of an all-Ireland where we would lose our personal tax allowance, our free NHS and have no scheme similar to the energy cap announced at Westminster this week they will have the good sense to vote to maintain the Union.”

Meanwhile, unionist activist Jamie Bryson said: “It is worth noting ahead of the census one key point: religion does not equate to national/political identity. Some of the most ardent unionists I know are from the Catholic faith.

“Unionism consistently remains the largest political designation by some distance.”

Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong said the census was a useful resource, particularly when planning public services, but expected that religion would dominate today’s headlines.

She said: “Religion is still very important for people, having a faith is very important, but it’s this presumption that where you grew up must assign who you are in terms of religion and that’s not the case any more. There’s far more people brought up in a mixed marriage.

“I’d be quite keen for the second religion question to be removed in the next census.

“When you answer ‘none’ to religion, the second religion question asks ‘what sort of none are you – a Catholic none or a Protestant none?’

“You don’t have to answer but it’s not made clear that you don’t.”

Of the importance of the census Ms Armstrong said: “Coming from a politician that is looking at policy – how do you know where you’re going to put a school or a hospital or where there doesn’t need to be a school or a hospital? You need that statistical evidence as a baseline to confirm where public services should be, like for instance we’ve known that over the past number of years there has been an increase in the number of births in Northern Ireland, so the number of school places that are needed has to be planned. The census helps that way.

“To be honest some of the questions, like that second religion question, is more for the statistics than what is relevant today. It was very relevant 50 years ago because there was inequality.

“Historically the census is where people find out who their ancestors are, it is an important document, but I think it just needs to be slightly tweaked for the modern era.”