Communal counting: The Northern Ireland census

Posted on by Ferre WOUTERS

Communal counting: The Northern Ireland census
by Ferre WOUTERS for FactCheckNI
6 March 2019

In Northern Ireland, much data are reduced to communal categories of “Protestant” and “Catholic”, for the purposes of monitoring the delivery of public services and compliance with discrimination legislation. These two religious denominations are also used as proxy for British unionist and Irish nationalist identities. For some, a Protestant-majority population provides assurance of continuation of the Union with Great Britain; for others, a Catholic-majority population means a call for a referendum for a united Ireland. Thus the decennial exercise of the Northern Ireland population census has an added sensitivity and importance. Continue reading Communal counting: The Northern Ireland census

Are a third of CoI ministry candidates women?

Posted on by FactCheckNI

CLAIM: A third of Church of Ireland ministry candidates are women.

CONCLUSION: Inaccurate. A quarter of CoI accepted and enrolled candidates are women. For the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, its figures of less than 4% female candidates are considerably lower than the phrase “don’t have nearly as many women as men” would suggest. For the Methodist Church in Ireland, a third of its candidates are women. Continue reading Are a third of CoI ministry candidates women?