Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society in several major respects, most notably in its educational system.
In 2002-2003, 94 per cent of Protestant children attended what are in effect Protestant schools, whether they were state-controlled or voluntary, while the equivalent figure for Catholic children was 92 per cent. It has long been assumed that educational segregation affects wider political and social attitudes, which have life-long consequences. Many believe the quality of life could be modified and improved by more integrated schooling.
Recent detailed research findings have confirmed this assumption. A major survey of how education is distributed between Catholic, Protestant, non-religious and other children shows what difference this makes to a range of attitudes towards political identity and constitutional futures. There are (as is usually the case) some surprises along the way in the report, based on a combined set of survey data. Educational background emerges from these findings as a major determinant of attitudes, but not necessarily the key to contested issues about how Northern Ireland should be governed.
Lagan College, the first integrated school there, was not founded until 1981 and did not receive government funding until 1984. Both its foundation and public funding were highly controversial and opposed by many church leaders, who had effectively controlled both Protestant and Catholic education, irrespective of whether it was in the state-controlled, maintained or voluntary sectors. On average since then, two or three new integrated schools have opened each year, so that by 2004 there were 57 such schools with a total enrolment of 17,149 pupils. They represent about 5 per cent of pupils overall - although that is not the full picture, since some 12 per cent of Protestant and 8 per cent of Catholic schools are "fairly mixed" without being formally integrated.
It is too early to say whether integrated schooling, in which there will be more contact between people from different religious and cultural traditions, can break down the atmosphere of mutual distrust and suspicion that pervades Northern society as comprehensively as many hope or assume. But the research suggests there are significant differences between those who attend these and segregated schools on political and constitutional attitudes.
Thus Protestants attending integrated schools were less likely to endorse either a British or unionist identity, more likely to adopt a Northern Irish one and decidedly not willing to switch to an Irish or nationalist one. Catholics attending an integrated school were less likely to endorse an Irish identity, more open to a Northern Ireland one, but quite unwilling to say they were unionist or British. Catholics were more ready to cross traditional boundaries, and this research bears out the existence of a significant Catholic majority pragmatically accepting the British link. From both sides there is a welcome potential to create a new common ground in the North's politics.