Fewer people ‘think relations between Protestants and Catholics have improved’

Fewer people in Northern Ireland think relations between Protestants and Catholics have improved in recent years, a new report has indicated.

Some 36% of adults and 27% of young people in 2021 thought relations between the two predominant denominations in the region were better than they were five years ago.

The findings, from the latest Good Relations Indicator report published by The Executive Office, represent a drop from a previous report.

In 2020, some 40% of adults and 44% of young people felt relations were better, and in 2019 it was 40% of adults and 44% of young people.

The report also finds that in 2021, some 61% of young people were involved in shared education.

Of those, 57% did projects with pupils from other schools, 49% had shared classes and 28% shared sports facilities or equipment.

In terms of the wider population, 87% of adults in 2021 thought their local leisure centres were “shared and open to both Catholics and Protestants”, while 87% thought the same about parks, 92% about libraries and 95% about shopping centres.

However, just 50% of surveyed adults said they saw town centres as safe and welcoming places for people from all walks of life, a significant decrease of four percentage points since 2020 (54%).

Also in 2021, 65% of adult respondents said they felt “very” or “quite” safe going to events held in a GAA club; and 52% to events held in an Orange Hall.

Meanwhile, 70% of adult respondents thought that the culture and traditions of Catholic communities add to the richness and diversity of Northern Ireland society, 64% thought this about Protestant communities and 66% thought this about minority ethnic communities.