April 10, 2017: According to Census 2016 Summary Results by Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Government of Ireland reportedly published on April 6, Hinduism is one of the fastest growing religions in Ireland and it grew over 34 percent from 2011 to 2016. According to this report, there are 14,300 Hindus now in Ireland.

Orthodox was the only other religion which grew faster than Hinduism during this time period. Religious groups whose population declined during this period included Roman Catholics (the predominant religious group in the country), Church of Ireland, Christian, Presbyterian, and Apostolic or Pentecostal. The number of Irish Catholics fell by 105,800. "No religion" that is people with no religion grew by nearly 74 percent numbering 468,421, while "Not stated" also grew by about 72 percent.

President of Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commending the Irish Hindu community for their contributions to the society and nation in Ireland; urged them to continue with the traditional values of hard work, higher morals, stress on education, the sanctity of marriage, etc.

Rajan Zed also advised Hindus to focus on inner search, stay pure, explore the vast wisdom of scriptures, make spirituality more attractive to youth and children, stay away from the greed, and always keep God in the life.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents.

Prepared by Upama Bhattacharya. Twitter @Upama_myself