11th May 2004

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ARK - a joint social and political initiative by the University of Ulster and Queen's University – has analysed data collated from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey and the Northern Ireland Social Attitudes Survey since 1989 on the attitudes of members of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church and the Catholic Church to key social issues.

The special reports highlight what members of the three denominations feel about their political and cultural identity; gay clergy; sex; mixed marriages; the peace process and regular attendance at Church services and reveal how those views have changed over the years.

Catholics

Identity

Catholics are now more ready to classify themselves as nationalists with around 66% claiming this identity in 2001 compared to only 40% in 1989. Correspondingly the proportion describing themselves as neither unionist nor nationalist has fallen from 59% in 1989 to 33% in 2001.

Identity was explored in several ways in the 2001 Life and Times Survey. Asked about national identity 23% of Catholics responded ‘Northern Irish’. Questioned on how they would describe themselves from 25 options including class, religion, marital status and national identity, the most popular response was ‘working class’ (23%) followed by gender and parenthood (both 17%). ‘Irish’ came fifth after wife/husband.

On the constitutional issue 59% wanted an united Ireland, but there was a considerable minority who were ambivalent about constitutional change – 15% preferring to remain part of the UK, 6% wanting independence and 20% who said they didn’t know. The proportion who felt that an united Ireland is either likely or very likely within 20 years fell from 66% in 1989 to 44% in 2001.

Fr Brian Lennon, a Jesuit priest working with Community Dialogue, said: “This raises a question about the call for an united Ireland: is it something that operates at the level of myth only or is it a concrete change which Catholics want?

“In what way will constitutional attitudes be affected by continuing experience of devolution, if and when devolved institutions are restored? If Sinn Fein join the Policing Board, as many expect, will this impact on Catholics’ wider perceptions of Northern Ireland and thereby reduce the stated desire for united Ireland”.

Devolution
Catholic attitudes to the Belfast Agreement have changed in recent years. Those who said the Agreement benefited unionists and nationalists equally fell from a high of 74% in 1999 to 47% in 2001. Most Catholics (69%) believed the Agreement will be in place in three years time. Some 78% said they voted for the Agreement in 1998 and 75% said they would do so again when questioned in 2001.

Asked about their feelings on the search for peace in Northern Ireland 59% said they had mixed feelings; 12% said they were disappointed and 10% said they were unhappy, angry or felt betrayed. However 66% said they were confident about the future prospects for peace.

Overall the Agreement is popular with Catholics but more are coming to accept the view that unionists and nationalists have not benefited equally. While there is a decline in the proportion who think it has helped education and health services, the vast majority believe that it has helped to keep violence in check.

Equality
Catholics are surprisingly positive on equality issues. Although 28% believed that their culture was always the underdog, nearly half (47%) disagreed. Almost three quarters (70%) felt confident about their culture and only 9% disagreed. Some 40% thought that Catholics are treated better now than five years ago and a further 53% thought there was no change.

Most Catholics were positive about state services other than policing with high proportions thinking that Catholics and Protestants were treated equally by the Health Service and the NI Housing Executive and the vast majority saying they had not been discriminated against in job applications in the past ten years or treated unfairly in job promotion or at work.

Policing
In 2001 just over half (55%) believed that Catholics and Protestants were treated equally by the police, a rise from the 33% figure of the previous two years. Thirty-two per cent said they would encourage a relative to join the police, up from 23% the previous year. However there was also an increase in those who would discourage a family member from joining the PSNI (29% compared to 24% in 2000). And 44% said that police reform has not gone far enough.

Community relations
Most people do not believe community relations between Catholics and Protestants have improved. In 1989 only 23% of Catholics though relations between the two communities were better than five years earlier. This rose to 60% in 1998 but by 2001 the figure had slumped back to 33%.

Speaking personally 89% of Catholics said they would not mind if a suitably qualified person of another religion was appointed their boss and 83% said they would not mind if their new boss was Chinese.

On mixed marriages 80% said they would not mind if a close relative married someone of a different religion, a response which has not changed much since 1989.

A large majority would prefer to live in a mixed area (72%), although that figure peaked at 85% in 1996. The proportion of Catholics preferring a mixed workforce was 82%.

Church attendance
In 1989, 86% said they went to Mass at least once a week, but this figure declined to 66% by 2001.

Fr Lennon says: “It would be interesting to know the impact of clerical child abuse scandals on Catholics’ belief and practice but the Life and Times study does not deal with this. A Royal College of Surgeons survey carried out in the Republic between January and May 2002 showed that 77% of respondents felt that the Catholic Church was ‘not dealing adequately with the problem’. In the same survey over one half of respondents would not trust the Church to safeguard children and one third reported that the scandals made a negative impact on their own faith. Would Northern responses have been greater or less than these?”

Morality
Going to Mass does not necessarily mean accepting the Church’s teachings. Pre-marital sex was not seen as wrong at all by 44%. One quarter of the 1998 Life and Times survey respondents though that same sex relationships between adults were wrong only sometimes or not at all.

Only one in ten thought it wrong not to report all taxes, although a further 26% said it was only a ‘bit wrong’. Only 5% though that giving false information to get benefits was wrong and a further 14% saw it as only ‘a bit wrong’.

Church of Ireland

Church attendance
Around 14%-18% of the population claim membership of the Church of Ireland but, in common with the other denominations, regular church attendance has dropped in recent years. While 35% of respondents said in 1989 that they attended church every week, this had fallen to 30% in 2002.

However the proportions who never attended church have remained strikingly over the period at around 18%.

The report reveals that there has been some decrease in the proportion of members who pray frequently but no increase in those who never pray. When it comes to involvement in activities or organisations connected with the Church however there has been a significant drop – from 17% to 7% - in those who took part nearly every week or more frequently. Those who never take part in church activities have risen by 3% to 43%.

Identity
When it comes to political allegiance Church of Ireland members have remained staunchly Unionist at 69%-71% in the period 1989-2002. However their feelings of national identity have been less constant. In 1989 65% considered themselves British but this had risen to 76% by 2002. This rise concealed several significant fluctuations. In 1996, two years after the paramilitary ceasefires the proportion identifying themselves as British dropped to 58%. Three years later the figure had soared to 76%.

Community Relations
There has been a considerable liberalisation in Church of Ireland members’ views on mixed marriages over the years from 1989 to 2002. Figure 4 reveals that in 1989 47% of Church of Ireland members said they would not mind a close relative marrying someone of a different religion. By 2002 this figure had increased to 66%. Correspondingly the proportion who would mind a lot on this issue fell from 21% in 1989 to 13% in 2002. The figures reveal that Church of Ireland members are more generally tolerant of mixed marriages than Presbyterians or the general Protestant population.

James Mehaffey, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe from 1980 until his retirement in 2002, says the figures reflect the reconciling work of the Church. "The Church of Ireland is widely held to be a reconciling church and has worked over the years to promote better inter-church relations and increased ecumenical activity."

Morality
Attitudes to pre-marital sex have become much more liberal during the 1990s. In 1989 46% of respondents felt sex before marriage was always or mostly always wrong. By 1998 this figure had fallen to 27%. However the vast majority do not condone extra-marital sex. In 1998 84% said it was always or almost always wrong, just a slight fall from the figure of 90% in 1989.

Church members have also become more liberal in their attitudes towards homosexuality. In 1989 82% thought that sex between people of the same gender was always or almost always wrong. Indeed 79% thought it was always wrong. By 1998 those thinking it was always or almost always wrong had fallen to 67%.

Homosexuality is a topic of much debate within the Anglican Church, especially in relation to the ordination of openly gay clergy. Bishop Mehaffey says that in spite of the softening in attitudes towards homosexuality it is clear that such debates will continue. And he added: “It must be noted that a more liberal attitude toward homosexuality in general does not necessarily imply an increased acceptance of the appointment of openly gay clergy”.

Presbyterian Church

Church attendance
Although Presbyterians have probably identified more fully with Northern Ireland and its institutions than any other denomination and have always had their headquarters in Belfast, the numbers of people claiming membership of the Church has fallen in recent years. In 1989 22% of respondents identified themselves as Presbyterians, rising to 26% in 1993, but falling back to 18% by 2001.

But Presbyterians still have a strong attachment to their Church. The proportion claiming to attend church services at least once a month has fallen by 11% since 1989, but this still means that 55% are regular church-goers. The number who never attend church services rose by only 4% to 18% in the period 1989-2001.

Worryingly, the number of Presbyterians aged 18-39 years who attend church at least once a month has fallen from 62% to 44% in the period under review. Some 25% of this age group say they never attend church – a 10% rise in 12 years.

By contrast Presbyterians aged 60 years and over have remained faithful church-goers, with only 13% saying they never attend but 63% going at least once a month.

Identity
Presbyterians are staunchly Unionist and British, according to the data collated since 1989. Around three quarters of respondents identify themselves as Unionist, although up to a quarter consider themselves to be neither unionist nor nationalist.

While their political allegiance is hardly surprising, their national identity is of more political significance. In recent years, especially since the signing of the Belfast Agreement, Presbyterians, the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, have moved more towards adopting a British identity. In 1996 some 63% claimed to be British. By 2001 this had risen to 77%.

Duncan Morrow, director of the Community Relations Council for Northern Ireland, says: “This suggests that the climate since the Agreement has led Presbyterians to emphasise their connection to their fellow citizens in England, Scotland and Wales at the expense of any fellow feeling with their Northern Ireland neighbours.

“This may give pause to thought to those who believe that Northern Ireland should move quickly towards severing its connection with Britain. Even if a political majority for such a change should emerge, the results shown here suggest that the Britishness of many of the citizens of an all-Ireland state will remain a significant factor with major social consequences”.

Equality
In general Presbyterians feel there is little discrimination in Northern Ireland. Some 21% concede that disabled people and the elderly are treated unfairly and 13% believe that travellers are discriminated against. But few accepted discrimination on grounders of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

More interestingly 20% felt Protestants were discriminated against whereas only 2% perceived any unfairness to Catholics.

But, Dr Morrow points out, that while Presbyterians show little support for an equality agenda that is not the same as arguing for the dismantling of all equality legislation. Less than 20% accepted that there was no need for equality laws in Northern Ireland. However 35% perceived that equality laws protected Catholics at the expense of Protestants.

Culture
Presbyterians are generally sceptical about the future. While 28% believed that their cultural tradition was protected today, 44% believed the opposite. Similarly 36% believed their cultural tradition to be the underdog in modern Northern Ireland as opposed to only 28% who did not believe this to be the case.

Asked about their expectations for the future and the continuing search for peace, 27% were confident or optimistic about the future, 20% highlighted concerns and 50% remained to be convinced either way.

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The full ARK reports (in PDF format) can be downloaded from the links below:
Catholic Church
Church of Ireland
Presbyterian Church

Futher information on the work of ARK can be found at www.ark.ac.uk

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