Polarisation of identity still prevalent in NI says survey

A new study has revealed that polarisation on questions of identity and constitutional preference between the Catholic/nationalist and Protestant/unionist traditions in Northern Ireland has not significantly reduced since the Good Friday Agreement.

The findings, which are published in a new book entitled ‘Conflict and Consensus’, were unveiled on Wednesday during a seminar in Belfast entitled 'Religious Affiliation and Identity in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland'.

Other findings in the survey showed:

• Increased secularisation weakened the role of religion as a marker of identity in Northern Ireland;
• In the Republic of Ireland, in contrast, both Catholics and Protestants align themselves with an Irish identity, and Protestants now stand apart from the unionist tradition;
• In Northern Ireland, there are significant minorities on both sides of the Protestant-Catholic divide who have middle-ground identities such as ‘Northern Irish’ or ‘neither British nor Irish’. However, cross-over identities are rare.

ARK Research Director, Paula Devine, based at the Queen's Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research, said the new survey was of great importance.

"This study shows that religion is still a source of deep division in identity and constitutional preferences on the island of Ireland,” she said.

(MB/SP)