12% in small towns are non-Catholic

IN towns with populations of less than 10,000 citizens 12% of people are non-Catholic.

This is despite the number of people living in towns growing by a quarter of a million and the overall Catholic population rising by 6.3% in the same period.

This is according to a full breakdown on religion and beliefs gathered by the Central Statistics Office from the 2006 census.

It reveals how the concentration of different religions varies in towns and cities across the country with increasing amounts of religious diversity in every sector of society.

In fact, within 26 religious categories only “lapsed Catholics” and those who did not declare a faith suffered a decline from the previous census.

In geographical terms Muslims, Methodists and Orthodox Christians were the least likely to live in rural Ireland although their numbers were growing in provincial towns.

Of the larger regionals towns Cavan and Killarney had the highest portion of Muslims each at slightly more than 3% of the population.

The actual numbers in towns pale in comparison with the larger cities. However the percentages are narrowing particularly among Orthodox Christians — the majority of whom are from eastern Europe — and Muslims where one third are from Asia.

Besides geography differences in educational achievement, occupational status and whether you own your own house is also linked to religious beliefs.

Proportionally, Catholics (27%) are among the least likely to have completed third-level education in comparison with Muslims (44%), Methodists (36%) and Church of Ireland (34%).

However, in terms of professional achievement, Church of Ireland believers are most likely to be employers with Muslims and Orthodox Christians unlikely to be in the more affluent social brackets despite Muslims in particular getting drawn toward the health services.

And what god you kneel is also an indication of your marital status.

Muslims and Catholics are the least likely to be separated or divorced. Less than one in 20 Catholics fall into this category compared with 8% of those with no religion or from minority Christian religions.

However, the same religious categories where divorce and separation are most prevalent are the most likely to volunteer their time for the community.

While only 12% of Catholics give a portion of their week to work for no pay they are embarrassed by the voluntary ethos of Methodists and minority Christians.