Female graduates outnumber males in Mayo

Áine Ryan

ALMOST 40 percent of Mayo residents have a third-level qualification, with females accounting for 60 percent of all graduates and males 40 percent. The number of people who stated in Census 2016 that they could speak Irish decreased marginally to 43.9 percent (2011: 45.5 percent).
The number with a third-level degree (23.7 percent) was 5.4 percent less than the figure for Connacht as a whole and 6.8 percent for the entire State. Interestingly, the number of people with a PhD increased by 85 to 385.   
Census 2016’s latest profile results in the category of ‘Education, Skills and Irish Language’  reveal a significant disparity between those who say they ‘can speak Irish’ and those ‘who speak Irish daily outside of the education system’. While 43.9 percent of respondents said they could speak Irish, only 1.8 percent said they spoke it on a daily basis outside the educational system. This was 397 fewer than the in 2011.
Commenting on the overall results in this profile category, Ms Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, said: “This report shows continuing declines in the numbers of school leavers and increases in the numbers with third-level qualifications…. Profile Ten also looks at our use of the national language, including our ability to speak Irish, as well as where and how often the language is spoken.”
The final profile report from Census 2016 will be published on December 14 and will address the issues of ‘Employment, Occupations and Industry’.