 It most affected urban areas and the traditional skilled working classes and educated working classes, while participation stayed higher in the Catholic Church than the Protestant denominations.In the 2011 census roughly 54 per cent of the population identified with a form of Christianity and 36.7 per cent stated they had no religion; 5.5 per cent did not state a religion.In 2001, there were a significantly lower 27.5 per cent who stated that they had no religion (which compares with 15.5 per cent in the UK overall).