[15] National Identity is listed separately in Northern Ireland, with those who identified themselves as White in the 2011 census choosing one or more options.

[7] Outside of national censuses, local governments, councils and NHS districts use the category of White Irish for statistical purposes.

For example, Devon County Council has published a diversity guide which defines White Irish people as a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) category.

[34] In England, about 81 per cent of those born in the Republic of Ireland, at the time of the 2011 census, identified as White Irish.

Contrastingly, of those born in Northern Ireland, and living in England, 14 per cent considered themselves White Irish.

Percentages and numbers In 2020 research, the White Irish ethnic group showed the largest Progress 8 benchmark performance gap between those eligible for free school meals and those not.

[45] In July 2019, the East Ham constituency Labour branch was criticised for its election of a white Irish woman as the women’s officer for its Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) forum.

Branch secretary, Syed Taqi Shah commented that "if somebody self-declares [as BAME], and the Labour Party allows them to do so, they should be respected.

"[46][47] In a 1995 study, sociologist Jock Young found that of 1000 randomly selected residents of Finsbury Park when were asked if they had been stopped by the police over the past year, the White Irish population was disproportionately large with 14.3%, in contrast to 12.8% of Black Caribbean and 5.8% of White British people.

The researchers found the Police tactic of 'lurking and larking', whereby constables would wait outside Irish pubs and clubs to make arrests to be to blame for the high statistics, which was labelled a form of 'institutional racism'.