The latest figures show that there are in fact more sheep in Ireland than there are humans. Our population stands at just under 4.8m, while there are almost 5.2m sheep in the country.

Remarkably, there are more cows in the country than the number of people who speak Irish. With 1.4m dairy cows and 1.1m suckler cows, they have a much higher population than the 1.8m people who speak our native language.

Internet vs crops

Access to high-speed broadband has been an issue for rural dwellers for a number of years now. The figures show that there are in fact more dwellings without internet than the number of hectares under crops.

According to the 2016 census, there are just under 313,000 houses with no internet connection. Whereas in the Crops and Livestock Survey in 2016, the area under crops was 277,600ha.

Four times more same-sex couples than boars

This was the first census to record same-sex civil partnerships. Interestingly, there were four times more same-sex couples than there were boars in Ireland. The 2016 census recorded a total of 6,034 same-sex couples, while the 2016 pig survey recorded 1,400 boars in Ireland.