Earlier this year Irish in Britain invited tenders for a set of analytic reports on the 2011 Census covering England and the following English regions of particular importance to the organisation and its members, in terms of Irish settlement and the location of Irish organisations. These are London, Midlands (East and West), North West, North East, and Yorkshire & Humber.
The tendering brief and discussions with the successful contractor requested demographic and identity data on the Irish in Britain and comparative data on the Irish covering major areas of the Census. These latter include Education qualifications, Economic activity and inactivity, Socio–economic status by types of employment, Health by general health and Limiting Long–Term Illness, Unpaid care provision, Housing tenure, occupancy and amenities, and Communal establishments.
While these documents will not be as extensive geographically as the suite of documents we published on the 2001 Census, they cover similar Census data areas to those covered in the Census 2001 reports, the contents of which have been found useful for advocacy purposes since their publication in 2007. Improvements in technology have speeded the ONS’s processing of the 2011 Census data, and have allowed us to begin our project earlier also.
From among those who expressed interest and submitted tenders, the contract was awarded to a Project Team within the Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University, led by Professor Louise Ryan. This team have been working hard since the contract, specifying the delivery of the project within three months, was signed; and we are planning to present the findings of these reports at an Irish in Britain Policy Advisory Group Census–orientated event in late July.