Census 2016 data, released last week, shows that the number of people in Ireland who say they don’t belong to any given religion has risen to just under 10pc of the population (the so-called ‘nones’), while the number saying they are Catholics has dropped back to 78pc. David Quinn of The Iona Institute, and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland debated the findings on Today with Sean O’Rourke.

The discussion broadened out into whether RTE should continue to play the Angelus twice a day, whether the Dail day should start with a prayer and about the future of faith-schools.

The item can be found here.

Meanwhile, David Quinn writes about census findings in The Irish Catholic this week. About the ‘nones’ he says: “The fact that so many ‘nones’ believe in God and even pray daily means they cannot simply be claimed by atheist organisations for themselves, and cannot be simplistically used as part of the campaign against Church-run schools.”

The Irish Catholic article is here.