The following is a message from the IAJGS Records Access Alert mailing list:

Both the Republic of Ireland’s Central Statistics Office and the National Records of Scotland announced their respective 2021 censuses will be postponed until 2022 due the current COVID-19 pandemic.

To read the Irish Central Statistics Office press release go to:

https://www.cso.ie/en/csolatestnews/pressreleases/2020pressreleases/pressstatementpostponementofcensus2021/

To read the Scotland Census Office notice go to:

https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/node/753

This will be the first time that the decennial census in Scotland has been disrupted since the Second World War, with no census taken in 1941 (although a National Identity Register for Scotland involved a census process in 1939).

I have not heard whether the censuses planned for England, Wales and Northern Ireland will also be  postponed. In July, the IAJGS Records Access Alert posted about the legislation to hold the census for England and Wales on 21 March 2021, and therefore, it appears at this time those censuses will be postponed. If there is an announcement which changes the previous England and Wales time period for the census, it will be posted on the IAJGS Records Access Alert.

To see the previous postings on the Ireland, Scotland and UK censuses  go to the archives of the IAJGS Records Access Alert at:  http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts/ You must be registered to access the archives.  To register go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts and follow the instructions to enter your email address, full name and which genealogical  organization with whom you are affiliated   You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee