List of districts in Northern Ireland by national identity

This is a list of local government districts in Northern Ireland by national identity.

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as Irish. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as British. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of people describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of people describing themselves as British.

In 2011 the decennial UK Census asked respondents for the first time “How would you describe your national identity?” In Northern Ireland respondents were given a list of options (including British, Irish, and Northern Irish) from which they could choose as many as they wanted.

Irish national identity was numerically in a majority in two districts, Derry and Newry, where 55.03% and 52.09% respectively consider themselves as having an Irish national identity.^[1] Whilst 45.14% of the population of Northern Ireland said that they were either Catholic or that they had been raised Catholic, only 28.35% described their nationality as Irish. In the Larne Borough Council area the percentage of Catholics was 24.87% and the figure for Irish nationality was 10.1%, meaning that no more (and almost certainly less) than 32.40% of Catholics described themselves as having an Irish nationality.^[2]

British nationality was numerically in a majority in eleven districts. The fact that the overall number of people who described their nationality as British (48.41%) is very similar to the proportion who said that they were from a Protestant community background (48.36%) is not tantamount to proving that all Protestants see themselves primarily as British. In nine of Northern Ireland’s 26 council areas, British nationality was a higher proportion than the number of Protestants. For example, in the Down District Council the figure for British nationality (40.21%) is 123.38% of the figure for Protestants (32.08%), meaning that, even if every single Protestant were to have chosen a British nationality, a substantial amount of those choosing a British nationality were evidently not Protestant.

Northern Irish nationality was geographically evenly spread throughout the region. There was no strong correlation between Northern Irish nationality at local government level and religion or community background. For instance the two highest areas of Northern Irish national identity were Down (34.12%) and North Down (32.95%); the former being mostly Catholic (62.51%) and the latter being mostly Protestant (73.23%).

There was a British national identity majority or plurality over Irish nationality in 20 of the 26 council areas, and there was an Irish national identity majority or plurality over British national identity in 6 of the 26 council areas.

National Identity by District

 

Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland

 

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity amongst Catholics in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish. Blue indicates more Catholics describing themselves as British than as Irish. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as British.

District^[3]	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All Other
Antrim	55.2%	20.1%	30.4%	2.3%	3.9%
Ards	73.6%	7.5%	31.9%	1.9%	1.5%
Armagh	44.4%	32.4%	27.1%	1.1%	3.9%
Ballymena	69.0%	11.1%	27.9%	1.4%	3.8%
Ballymoney	60.6%	16.4%	30.9%	1.7%	1.7%
Banbridge	61.1%	16.2%	31.8%	1.5%	1.8%
Belfast	43.2%	34.8%	26.8%	1.5%	5.1%
Carrickfergus	76.5%	5.3%	30.3%	2.1%	1.8%
Castlereagh	66.2%	14.7%	31.3%	1.5%	2.6%
Coleraine	62.4%	14.5%	31.6%	2.0%	3.2%
Cookstown	37.3%	33.5%	32.1%	1.2%	3.7%
Craigavon	48.3%	25.6%	28.7%	1.4%	6.4%
Derry	23.7%	55.0%	24.6%	1.4%	2.0%
Down	40.2%	32.2%	34.1%	1.9%	2.0%
Dungannon and South Tyrone	30.9%	38.8%	27.1%	0.9%	9.6%
Fermanagh	37.2%	36.1%	29.5%	1.7%	3.1%
Larne	69.8%	10.1%	31.4%	2.1%	1.2%
Limavady	42.2%	32.0%	30.7%	1.5%	1.4%
Lisburn	55.6%	24.7%	28.7%	2.0%	2.4%
Magherafelt	31.4%	42.7%	29.8%	1.0%	2.8%
Moyle	38.6%	34.1%	32.1%	2.2%	1.4%
Newry and Mourne	20.2%	53.0%	27.6%	1.2%	4.3%
Newtownabbey	66.5%	13.4%	31.2%	1.3%	2.4%
North Down	71.1%	9.1%	33.0%	3.0%	2.4%
Omagh	28.6%	40.9%	32.7%	1.1%	3.4%
Strabane	33.0%	39.2%	31.8%	1.4%	1.3%

National identity by religion or religion brought up in for each district^[3]

District	Catholic				Protestant and other Christian				Other Religion or None
	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other
Antrim	23.1%	43.7%	34.2%	7.1%	80.6%	3.1%	27.8%	3.3%	60.4%	6.5%	26.8%	19.0%
Ards	34.1%	31.7%	38.2%	6.4%	80.9%	3.7%	30.4%	2.2%	67.7%	6.0%	35.1%	9.1%
Armagh	7.1%	62.5%	28.7%	6.2%	81.6%	3.6%	25.7%	2.3%	49.3%	10.5%	25.1%	25.3%
Ballymena	24.6%	38.9%	34.7%	11.0%	83.6%	2.7%	25.7%	2.5%	62.3%	6.5%	28.4%	14.4%
Ballymoney	19.0%	44.5%	38.8%	4.1%	81.1%	2.9%	27.2%	2.2%	65.1%	8.4%	28.0%	13.3%
Banbridge	22.6%	41.7%	39.4%	4.5%	81.2%	3.8%	27.7%	2.0%	59.1%	8.3%	33.8%	11.5%
Belfast	11.7%	64.3%	25.0%	5.6%	78.3%	5.5%	28.7%	3.6%	47.7%	13.3%	27.5%	26.3%
Carrickfergus	41.1%	24.6%	35.6%	10.7%	82.0%	3.0%	29.2%	2.4%	68.3%	5.3%	33.7%	8.5%
Castlereagh	22.1%	50.0%	34.5%	6.3%	81.3%	3.9%	29.9%	2.3%	61.9%	8.9%	33.7%	11.8%
Coleraine	25.0%	39.2%	36.5%	8.4%	79.1%	4.3%	29.3%	2.6%	56.5%	10.3%	33.4%	16.8%
Cookstown	8.1%	53.8%	37.7%	5.2%	82.5%	3.6%	24.0%	2.1%	44.2%	9.1%	24.4%	31.5%
Craigavon	12.2%	51.2%	31.5%	10.6%	82.5%	3.2%	26.3%	2.7%	49.9%	9.1%	26.7%	26.4%
Derry	7.3%	70.5%	24.3%	2.5%	76.7%	7.2%	25.9%	3.5%	39.4%	24.7%	21.9%	26.2%
Down	20.1%	47.4%	37.1%	2.9%	77.4%	5.6%	28.7%	3.6%	52.1%	14.4%	32.1%	16.7%
Dungannon and South Tyrone	5.7%	57.6%	28.6%	13.0%	79.6%	4.5%	24.5%	3.0%	33.3%	12.0%	22.8%	42.1%
Fermanagh	11.4%	56.2%	32.4%	4.8%	77.1%	6.2%	25.5%	3.0%	43.4%	16.8%	24.0%	28.1%
Larne	38.8%	30.6%	37.7%	3.0%	81.7%	3.0%	28.6%	2.5%	64.1%	6.5%	35.4%	12.1%
Limavady	18.1%	50.5%	34.4%	2.5%	79.8%	4.1%	24.9%	2.5%	51.4%	10.9%	28.8%	18.7%
Lisburn	16.5%	58.6%	27.8%	4.3%	80.2%	4.7%	29.0%	3.2%	62.2%	8.8%	30.3%	13.9%
Magherafelt	6.5%	62.1%	33.0%	3.8%	82.4%	4.2%	23.1%	2.3%	46.9%	13.4%	30.2%	22.1%
Moyle	14.6%	53.1%	35.3%	2.8%	76.3%	5.0%	27.8%	3.3%	49.4%	17.8%	23.8%	19.8%
Newry and Mourne	7.1%	64.7%	28.0%	5.0%	76.3%	5.8%	26.8%	3.8%	34.6%	22.8%	22.1%	28.9%
Newtownabbey	24.7%	46.1%	34.1%	5.7%	80.9%	3.4%	30.1%	1.7%	63.1%	7.3%	32.1%	12.3%
North Down	37.1%	31.5%	36.1%	9.7%	78.8%	5.2%	31.9%	3.4%	63.7%	7.9%	35.7%	11.6%
Omagh	8.7%	55.7%	36.0%	4.4%	78.5%	4.9%	25.0%	2.5%	40.6%	15.9%	23.7%	28.9%
Strabane	8.9%	57.4%	35.4%	2.6%	79.2%	4.7%	25.2%	1.9%	40.9%	21.1%	25.5%	26.4%

New districts, 2015

 

Map of new districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity at the time of the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as Irish. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as British.

Following the reform of local government in Northern Ireland the twenty-six districts created in 1973 were replaced with eleven "super districts". The first election using these districts took place on 22 May 2014, electing councillors who sat in shadow form until 1 April 2015. The breakdown of national identity within these new boundaries at the time of the 2011 census was as follows.^[4][a]

District	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All Other
Antrim and Newtownabbey	62.2%	16.0%	30.9%	1.7%	2.9%
Ards and North Down	72.4%	8.3%	32.4%	2.4%	1.9%
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon	50.5%	25.2%	28.9%	1.3%	4.6%
Belfast	43.3%	35.1%	26.9%	1.5%	4.6%
Causeway Coast and Glens	54.3%	21.4%	31.3%	1.9%	2.2%
Derry and Strabane	26.2%	50.8%	26.5%	1.4%	1.8%
Fermanagh and Omagh	33.3%	38.3%	31.0%	1.4%	3.2%
Lisburn and Castlereagh	65.4%	14.8%	30.5%	2.1%	2.7%
Mid and East Antrim	71.4%	9.2%	29.4%	1.7%	2.6%
Mid Ulster	32.5%	38.8%	29.3%	1.0%	5.9%
Newry, Mourne and Down	28.5%	44.3%	30.4%	1.5%	3.3%

1. Figures are correct as per source, but totals are over 100% as the 'All usual residents' figure used as the base figure for each district is less than the total of respondents to the question.^[4]

See also

• Demographics of Northern Ireland
• Local Councils in Northern Ireland
• List of districts in Northern Ireland by population
• List of districts in Northern Ireland by area
• List of districts in Northern Ireland by religion or religion brought up in
• Census in the United Kingdom
• British people
• Irish people
• Northern Irish people
• Ulster Scots people

References

1. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2011 UK Census, National Identity (Classification 2) http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/pivotgrid.aspx?dataSetVars=ds-2427-lh-38-yn-2011-sk-136-sn-Census+2011-yearfilter--
2. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2011 UK Census, Religion or Religion Brought Up In http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/pivotgrid.aspx?dataSetVars=ds-2426-lh-38-yn-2011-sk-136-sn-Census+2011-yearfilter--
3. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service". Retrieved 22 July 2014.
4. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service". Retrieved 25 July 2014.

External links

• Northern Ireland Census
• ni2011census