Northern Ireland has more Catholics than Protestants for the first time in its 101 years of existence. This can be seen from the census, the results of which are Thursday it has been published. Irish media talk about a ‘historical shift’ that is expected to have political consequences.

Figures show that the percentage of Catholics remains fairly constant, but that the number of Protestants is decreasing proportionally. In the previous census, conducted in 2011, 48 percent of respondents identified themselves as Protestant and 45 percent as Catholic. In the 2021 census (results have now been published), the ratio was 43.5 percent Protestant and 45.7 percent Catholic.

Northern Ireland was founded in 1921 to separate about two-thirds of Protestant territory from Catholic Ireland. It became part of Great Britain, which was also largely Protestant. This change in the country’s denominational line-up is expected to provide impetus to the Northern Ireland movement which is struggling to break away from Britain and join Ireland.

“Today’s results are another clear indication that historic change is taking place on this island,” nationalist leader Michelle O’Neill said Thursday. His party Sinn Féin, this year’s largest in Northern Ireland’s parliament for the first time, saw additional reason in the census results for a referendum on a unified Ireland. Since Brexit, which 56% of Northern Ireland voters oppose, Sinn Féin has increasingly campaigned for independence from Britain.