It’s not so the much the growth in the Catholic population revealed in yesterday’s census figures that raised eyebrows. After all, it was tiny, just over one per cent, bringing it to 45 per cent. No, it was the sharp drop in the Protestant population down from 53 per cent to 48 per cent. Falling below that 50 per cent figure was a staggering psychological shock for unionists many of whom still have it fixed in their head that they amount to two thirds of the north’s population.