26th November 2001

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Mixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland are becoming more acceptable – and more popular, according to new research from the University of Ulster.

The findings of the survey, part of the Life and Times series, are to be presented at an international workshop in Belfast today organised by INCORE and the Institute for Conflict Research.

Key findings from the research include:

• The number of mixed marriages in Northern Ireland has risen slowly over the last ten years.
  
  
• People are much more likely than they were ten years ago to believe that such marriages are generally accepted in Northern Ireland society.
  
  
• Catholic respondents are still more optimistic than Protestants about how mixed marriages are generally accepted in society.
  
  
• Catholic respondents are still more likely than Protestants to say that they would not mind a mixed marriage within their own family – but the gap has narrowed over the decade.
  
  
• In 1989, 25% of Protestants said that they would "mind a lot" if one of their close relatives chose to marry someone of a different religion, but in 1998 this had fallen to 16%. 60% of Protestants now say that they would not mind such a marriage.
  
  
• This new spirit of tolerance towards mixed marriages is not matched by an increased public desire to live in mixed neighbourhoods or attend mixed work-places, but it is accompanied by a strong decrease in support for single-religion schooling.
  
  
• Catholics feel that mixed religion marriages are more accepted by Northern Ireland society than are inter-racial marriages.
  
  
• Protestants and Catholics have very similar attitudes about inter-racial marriages within their own families, but Catholics are less tolerant of such than they are of mixed-religion marriages.
  

Report author and workshop co organiser Gillian Robinson, from the School of Policy Studies at the University of Ulster, said: "New survey evidence suggests that people in Northern Ireland are much more likely than they were ten years ago to regard mixed marriages as acceptable. 16% of those we interviewed for the Life and Times Survey in 1998 thought that most people in Northern Ireland would 'mind a lot' if one of their close relatives were to marry someone of a different religion. Nine years previously, more than 33% of those interviewed thought that people in general would mind a lot.

"This is a significant decline in negative attitudes to mixed marriage. This is accompanied by an increase in the number of people who believe that most people 'would not mind' from 28% in 1989 to 44% in 1998."

"We also found that Catholic respondents are still more optimistic than Protestants about how mixed marriages are generally accepted in society. Another interesting change is that since 1989 the number of mixed marriages in Northern Ireland has, very slowly, inched upwards ."

Workshop co-organiser, Dr Marie Smyth added: "On the face of it, there has been a modest, but not particularly marked, shift over the decade. Catholic attitudes have changed little over the decade and it is still the case that Catholics are more likely than Protestants to say that they would not mind a mixed marriage in the family - but the gap in attitudes between Catholics and Protestants has narrowed over the decade.

"However, before we get too complacent, it is important to remember that this new spirit of tolerance towards mixed marriages is not matched by any increase in the desire to live in mixed neighbourhoods or attend mixed work-places. However, there has been a marked decrease in support for single-religion schooling."

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk