Fresh calls for a referendum on Irish unity have been made as Catholics now outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for the first time in its history.
According to the census, people from a Catholic background now make up 45.7 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland while 43.5 per cent are Protestant.
John Finucane, north Belfast MP for Sinn Féin, said the new figures were “another clear indication that historic change is happening across this island and of the diversity of society which enriches us all”.
“There is no doubt change is under way and irreversible. How that change is shaped moving forward requires maturity to take the challenges which face our society,” he added.
Mr Finucane repeated his party’s call for the government to form a citizen’s assembly to prepare for a potential poll about the border in Northern Ireland.
He said: “We can all be part of shaping a better future – new constitutional future and a new Ireland. But we must prepare for it.”
“A period of planning is critical. That planning and dialogue and engagement needs to happen now, and it must include people from all backgrounds and communities.
“The partition of Ireland has been a failure. We can build a better future together, for every person who lives on this island,” he added.
When asked about national identity in the census, the percentage of people who said they were British fell from around 40 per cent to 32 per cent, while those who said they were Irish increased from 25 per cent to 29 per cent.
About 20 per cent said they were Northern Irish only.
Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood said this was a “seminal moment in the history of modern Ireland”.
“The significance of this transformation should not be downplayed or diminished out of fear or insincere politicking,” he said.
“I acknowledge that today’s figures may generate feelings of insecurity for some. But it is my honest hope that we we can all now take a moment of serious and sincere reflection about the scale of change we have experienced and commit to a conversation about the powerful potential for change in the future.”
