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It is not clear whether the Irish-born are considered "Irish Australians" or if the term only refers to their Australian-born descendants. The 2001 Census recorded 50,320 Irish-born in Australia, although this is a minimal figure as it only includes those who wrote in "Ireland" or "Republic of Ireland" as their country of birth. Responses which mentioned "Northern Ireland" as birthplace were coded as "United Kingdom". This interpretation may omit as few as 21,500 Irish-born present in the country, as many as 29,500, or possibly even more. Nevertheless the number of persons born in Ireland, north and south, resident in Australia in 2001 may be confidently extrapolated at around 75,000. According to the Irish Department Of Foreign Affairs ''White Paper on Foreign Policy'', there were 213,000 Irish citizens in Australia in 1997, nearly three times the number of Irish-born. Most Irish Australians, however, do not have Irish Citizenship and define their status in terms of self-perception, affection for Ireland and an attachment to Irish Culture . During the wave of Irish immigration, unlike the United States and Canada Irish Australians did not face ethnic discrimination. (See Irish American , Irish Canadian and White Australia Policy ). Irish settlers - both voluntary and forced - were crucial to the Australian colonies from the earliest days of settlement. The Irish first came over in large numbers as Convicts (50,000 were transported between 1791 and 1867), to be used and abused as free labour; even larger numbers of Free Settlers came during the nineteenth century. Irish immigrants accounted for one-quarter of Australia's overseas-born population in 1871. Their children, the first Irish Australians in the sense we understand the term, played a definitive role in shaping Australian history and society. According to census data released by the Australian Bureau Of Statistics in 2004, Irish Australians are, by religion, 46.2% Roman Catholic , 15.3% Anglican , 13.5% other Christian denomination, 3.6% other religions, and 21.5% as "No Religion". LIST OF NOTABLE IRISH AUSTRALIANS
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