B. Person Form
5. What is your place of birth? Give the place where your mother lived at the time of your birth. If Ireland (including Northern Ireland), write in the county.
______
If elsewhere abroad, write in the country.
______
[Questions 5-9]
The purpose of Questions 5 to 9 is to study migration patterns, both short-term and long-term. The resulting information will give us a picture of where people are moving to and from and their characteristics in terms of age, sex, education, occupation, etc.
5 What is your place of birth? _____________________________
Give the place where your mother lived at the time of your birth.
If Ireland (including Northern Ireland), write in the county.
If elsewhere abroad, write in the country.
Comparing a person's place of birth (Question 5) and his or her current place of usual residence (Question 7) gives an indication of the extent of longer-term migration. Likewise, if a person lived outside the country for a continuous period of one year or more (Question 9) it is possible to determine the person's country of origin and the period he or she took up residence in Ireland.
Nationality (Question 6) was asked for the first time in the 2002 census and is important in the context of a more culturally diverse Ireland. [Note: give a table of usual residents by main nationality groupings.]
Location (Question 7) is a key characteristic that is used with other data to build an accurate picture of our population. It is the basis for the annual population estimates and for population projections. It is also key in determining changes to electoral boundaries.
By comparing a person's usual residence one year before the census (Question 8) and their residence at census time (Question 7) we get an indication of the extent to which people change residence. The responses to this question are particularly useful in monitoring internal migration within the State.