Time capsule census plan offers a century of gossip

For fans of antidotes to high-speed communications, the proposal to include a time capsule in the next census will hold a certain romantic appeal.

It is among several changes being tested by the CSO for possible inclusion in Census 2021. It would allow householders to record a voluntary message with a legal guarantee under the Statistics Act 1993 that their words will not be released for 100 years.

“It might be interesting for kids to see what their great-grandparents were thinking at the time,” said Neil Nugent, a CSO higher executive officer.

“We would have to be careful about the kind of comments included,” he added, which may or may not leave room for venting about annoying neighbours or pointing the way to the hidden family fortune.

If the capsule proposal passes muster, census research enthusiasts will be able to link individual comments with the data of individual householders in 2121.

Mr Nugent said a small number of householders add comments at the end of the census form, but the CSO’s optical character recognition system does not pick them up. If the survey endorses the time capsule, this will be addressed.

The proposal for a time capsule segment for Census 2021.

The CSO is testing new questions among 15,000 householders in Dublin, Galway, Louth, Offaly, Tipperary, Wicklow, and Cork (Barrack St, Ballyvolane, Ballintemple, Greenmount/Ballyphehane, and Fairhill/Farranree). It includes questions on renewable energy, smoking, smoke alarms, volunteering, childcare, home working, and citizenship, while changes are being made to questions such as Irish language and religion.

It is the first census pilot survey since 2009 and runs until October 23.

The CSO will publish a report on the outcome in the first half of 2019.