A 5% anonymised, individual level sample of the data covering demographic and socio-economic variables has been made available from the 1996 Census. A Census of Population was taken on the night of Sunday, 28 April 1996, in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order, 1996 (S.I. No. 91 of 1996). The census data relate to the de facto population, i.e. the population recorded for each area represents the total of all persons present within its boundaries on the night of Sunday, 28 April 1996, together with all persons who arrived in that area on the morning of Monday, 29 April 1996, not having been enumerated elsewhere. Census data is collected every 5 years.

A 5% random sample of the recoded person records from each county was selected. The records within each county were sorted randomly before output to the sample file.

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper