Census 2016 launched

Census 2016 was officially launched by the Central Statistics Office today.

The census will take place on Sunday, April 24, co-inciding with the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

The census takes place in Ireland every five years and this year will mark the 27th census undertaken in Ireland. In the 2011, the census revealed there were 4,588,252 in Ireland, 76,687 of whom were in Offaly.

Census enumerators will be dropping off forms in the coming days and weeks. The forms contain 11 household and 30 individual questions. The confidentiality of census information is guaranteed by law. The first results from Census 2016 will be published 12 weeks after census night.

Speaking at the launch of Census 2016, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “The results of the census are an important resource which are available to all. Census 2016 will take place exactly 100 years to the day that the Easter Rising began, and the results of this Census will be of great interest to the historians of the future as they look back and reflect on life in Ireland in 2016.”

For those whose first language is not Irish or English a translation of the census form is available in 21 different foreign languages. Other resources which are available to assist people with filling out the census form include large print, Braille and audio versions of the census form and a video step-by-step guide to completing the census form. All of these resources and much more information about the census are available on the census website at www.census.ie.