Young people in Northern Ireland support desegregation

Young people support desegregating society in Northern Ireland, with more than 40% saying they plan to leave the region to work or study, according to new research.

More than 40% also say there is paramilitary influence over young people in their area.

The report, from the think tank Pivotal, shows most young people continue to live in segregated areas and are educated separately from those with a different community background.

A majority of those surveyed believe they are more comfortable with community mixing than older generations and want to see more integration in both education and housing.

Asked to describe their neighbourhoods as mixed, Protestant or Catholic, 82.6% of respondents from a Protestant background said they live in a Protestant area, 59.3% of those from a Catholic background said they live in a Catholic area, and 35.7% of “Others” said they live in a mixed area.

Respondents expressed support for both shared and integrated education, with 66.9% saying a new, integrated school system would move Northern Ireland forward, while 62.8% said their experience of shared education has been good for learning about others from a different background.

A third of the participants (33.9%) also cited the creation of more mixed housing areas as their first or second priority for change.

The findings are based on responses from 259 participants aged 14-25 from across Northern Ireland to a survey which was completed online during February and March 2023.

A further issue for young people is the idea of “green versus orange” politics, which a majority of those surveyed said they would like to move away from.

Despite this, most still care about the constitutional question – more than 60% say the question of whether Northern Ireland should remain in the UK or be part of a united Ireland is important to them.

Only 10% of young people agree that politicians in Northern Ireland do a good job of representing the issues that matter to them.

All of the participants in the survey were born after the Good Friday Agreement, but more than 66% said they still feel the impact of the Troubles today.

Despite all respondents being of the “ceasefire generation”, they reported that paramilitaries continue to have an impact on their lives.

More than two-fifths of young people (42.1%) reported a paramilitary influence in their area.

This proportion was highest among young people from an Other (50.0%) or Protestant (43.9%) community background, compared with those from a Catholic background (37.2%).

The three issues that matter most to young people are transport, desegregation, and drugs.

Nearly 80% of respondents said better transport is one of their top priorities and a majority (65.4%) said there are too many drugs available to young people in their area.

The rising cost of living was cited as the biggest concern for the next five years – and the thing they want help with is good careers advice.

Just over half of those polled said they can see a good future for themselves in Northern Ireland, but 41.8% say they plan to go elsewhere to find work or for further study.

Some 58.8% of those who identified as Other say they plan to move, compared with 46.7% of Catholics and 37.1% of Protestants.

Most respondents also said there are limited job opportunities for young people in Northern Ireland, and those with experience of work were more likely to agree with this than those yet to get their first job.

Pivotal director Ann Watt said addressing these concerns is key to making more young people view Northern Ireland as a place that can thrive.

“These findings show the breadth of local young people’s concerns. They are very worried about the rising cost of living, and the limited job opportunities available to them here, as well as other issues affecting day-to-day life like mental health, the ongoing influence of paramilitary organisations and the availability of drugs locally,” she said.

“The fact that their number one desire is to have better careers advice shows that the ability to build a better future for themselves is a massive priority for local young people.

“They raised concerns about whether their education had given them the skills they need for the job they want.

“Only one in 10 young people felt that Northern Ireland’s politicians represented the issues that mattered to them. There was a real desire amongst young people to have a greater influence on decision-making.

“The findings in this report point to several key issues that, if addressed, could help build a Northern Ireland where more of our young people believe they could thrive.

“These issues include ongoing segregation in society, how safe young people feel within their communities, and the disconnection they perceive between what they learn in school and what they need to build a career.”

Most respondents to the survey identified their community background as Protestant (59.8%), with 33.2% from a Catholic background. A total of 6.9% identified their community background as “Other”.

While participants were drawn from every county in Northern Ireland, most came from Co Antrim (68.3%), mainly due to responses from the wider Belfast area.

A total of 13.3% responses represented Co Down, with 11.2% from Co Londonderry. A low response rate was recorded from Cos Tyrone (3.6%), Armagh (2.4%) and Fermanagh (1.2%).