Joyce Fegan: Census 2022 offers chance to time travel to 2122

In the 1911 census all we can see are the names, ages, occupations, places of birth, and reading and writing abilities in the households of our ancestors. In the 2022 census, we've a chance to offer our future ancestors so much more

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with twins Mya and Zara Akinsowon, 8, as he launched Census 2022 at Government Buildings, Dublin, last month. Picture: Brian Lawless

I write letters to my daughter. They exist as a contract between me and my future self. They are a way to hold myself accountable — how I intend to parent in theory versus what that will actually feel like for her in the throes of reality.

For example, the one to be opened on her 16th birthday, I've told her I endeavour for there to be an intimacy between us that can survive adolescence, and if there isn't, the idea is to regroup and work earnestly on that in 2036.