Debate contribution: Ireland and Northern Ireland — A Joint Census Publication 2021-2022

Debate contribution by Mr Pádraig Delargy on 24 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Pádraig Delargy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

24 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ireland and Northern Ireland — A Joint Census Publication 2021-2022

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5254555

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the motion and the joint census publication, because that work offers a clear and honest picture of Ireland as it is today. People, services and opportunities flow across our island every single day. The census shows the scale of that reality because, every day, 18,000 people move between the North and the South for work, to study and as part of their daily lives. Nowhere is that more evident than in my constituency in Derry and, indeed, right across the north-west, where people quite often move for employment and for study. Those people form the backbone of our healthcare service. I know that many healthcare workers come from Donegal to the North to work every day, particularly in Altnagelvin, and vice versa. Similarly, that is the case for teachers and other professions that are the backbone of our economy. Indeed, we rely on staff from Donegal communities such as Inishowen and Letterkenny, and those communities also depend on workers who travel from Derry and Tyrone. We are one labour market and one region, and we are one interconnected community. However, that cooperation goes far beyond employment. In further and higher education across the north-west, there are huge opportunities that are already being acted on by Ulster University, North West Regional College, Atlantic Technical University (ATU) and Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) to address a lot of the skills deficits that we see, particularly in the census data, and to increase employability opportunities across our island. Together, they are building pathways that our region needs, not looking at the lines that are drawn on a map. I am working with my Sinn Féin colleagues in the South to try to promote that, because, as has been mentioned by most Members who have spoken, when we work better together, we can do so much more across our island.

The joint census tells us another story. It is a story that my generation and, indeed, the generations before know only too well: emigration. It is a story in which our young people are still packing their bags for Australia, Doha and Canada and taking with them their skills and the opportunities that they could create in our society. I have had many conversations with people in my constituency and beyond who will have an empty seat at the dinner table this Christmas. Our economy will be missing their skills. There are opportunities across the piece for them to be here to contribute to our society, our economy and, most important, our communities.

The Member will be keen to hear the next paragraph or two of my speech, because they are about just that. So many young people go away for a short time to seek skills, to travel and to do other things. What I am most concerned about, however, is young people going away because they feel that there are no opportunities for them here, so I concur absolutely with what the Member said. My generation refused to consign themselves to the fate of previous generations, in which the census told the story that Ireland's biggest export was our people. My generation has not accepted that and will not accept it, so we need the skills and talents that those young people bring and the opportunities for them here in Ireland. Sinn Féin has a clear and concise plan for building that future and for building an economy with good jobs, fair pay and affordable housing and a society of equal rights and equal opportunities for people across Ireland. The joint census publication gives us the information that we need to plan for that future. It strengthens the work of cross-border bodies and supports smarter decisions in skills, healthcare, transport and economic development. It must be the beginning of regular coordinated data collection across Ireland. When we understand the reality of people's lives, we can better shape policies that meet that reality North and South, especially in the communities that bridge both. I commend the teams in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and NISRA for their work. I fully support the motion, because it represents the cooperation that delivers for people today while helping build a better future.

699 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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