third of whom attended the Congress. It was noted in Time Magazine that the Congress' special theme would be "the Faith of the Irish". The massive crowds were repeated at Pope John Paul II's Mass in Phoenix Park in 1979. The idea of faith has affected the question of Irish identity even in relatively recent times, apparently more so for Catholics and Irish-Americans. Today the majority of Irish people in the Republic of Ireland identify as Catholic, although church attendance has significantly dropped in recent decades. In Northern Ireland, where almost 50% of the population is Protestant, there has also been a decline in attendances. This has been a matter of concern over the last century for the followers of nationalist ideologists such as DP Moran. Irish identity Thomas Davis, a prominent Protestant Irish nationalist and founder of the Irish nationalist Young Ireland movement, identified the Irish as a Celtic nation. He estimated that ethnically, 5/6ths of the nation were either of Gaelic Irish-origin, or descended from returned Scottish Gaels (including much of the Ulster Scots) and some Celtic Welsh (such as his own ancestors and those carrying surnames such as Walsh and Griffiths). As part of this he was a staunch supporter of the Irish language as the "national language". In regards to the Germanic minority in Ireland (of Norman and Anglo-Saxon origin) he believed that they could be assimilated into Irishness if they had a "willingness to be part of the Irish Nation". Europe The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Community in 1973, and Irish citizens became additionally Citizens of the European Union with the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992. This brought a further question for the future of Irish identity; whether Ireland was "closer to Boston than to Berlin:" Irish diaspora The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and nations of the Caribbean such as Jamaica and Barbados. These countries all have large minorities of Irish descent, who in addition form the core of the Catholic Church in those countries. Many famous and influential figures have claimed Irish ancestry such as Che Guevara, Walt Disney, Barack Obama, JFK, Muhammad Ali and Maréchal The 1st Duke of Magenta, the second President of the Third Republic. Many Irish people were also transported to the island of