Anti-Brexit protesters in London in October 2021. Getty
The number of Irish people living in Britain has fallen by 20% over the last decade, according to newly-released statistics.
There were 324,670 Irish-born people living in England and Wales in 2021, a decline of more than 80,000 compared to the 407,357 Irish-born people who lived there in 2011.
Released by the UK's Office for National Statistics following the 2021 Census for England and Wales, the report notes that the 20% decline is the biggest drop for any nationality over the same time period.
The Office for National Statistics also noted that the decline is part of a long-term decline for the Irish population in Britain.
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At its peak in 1961, the number of Irish-born people living in Britain reached a staggering 683,000, more than twice the current number.
Irish immigrants were once the largest immigrant group in Britain but are now fifth behind people born in India, Poland, Pakistan, and Romania.
While the number of Irish-born people living in Britain has declined significantly over the past decade, the number of Romanian-born people living in Britain has exploded over the same period.
The Office for National Statistics report found that there was a 576% increase in Romanians living in Britain since the 2011 Census.
Huge increases in the number of Italian, Nigerian, and Bangladeshi people living in Britain over the past decade have seen the US fall outside the top ten, although the number of US-born people living in Britain actually increased over the past ten years, rising from 177,000 in 2011 to 203,000 in 2021.
The report also found that the number of Irish passport holders in Britain has declined over the past decade, despite reports of British people seeking Irish passports in the fallout from the Brexit referendum in 2016.
There were 372,389 Irish passport holders in Britain in 2011, compared to 364,726 in 2021, meaning that the Irish passport is now the fifth most common non-UK passport in Britain.