The impact of immigration on Northern Ireland's demographic shift

When the results of the 2021 Census were released, they showed that there were more Catholics living here than Protestants.

It was significant as it was the first time this had happened since Northern Ireland was founded in 1921.

It was even more significant given that Northern Ireland was created to ensure a Protestant majority would last. After all, at the time of its' creation Protestants outnumbered Catholics roughly 2-to-1.

When the Census figures were released people tried to interpret what they meant. For many it meant reunification was inevitable.

For others it meant little in way of change to the status quo.

There was also numerous reasons given for the change in demographics, without a clear consensus on what was behind the shift.

In this episode of the podcast, Jordan Moore speaks to Albert Ward, a lecturer and researcher at Oxford University who believes European immigration into Northern Ireland is one of the key factors behind the growth of the Catholic population.

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