Bishop: Analysis of integrated schools in Northern Ireland simplistic

Published: 2006-02-03

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- Integrated schools in Northern Ireland produce fewer sectarian students, said university researchers, but a Catholic bishop said their analysis was too simplistic. The report analyzed six years of research into the political attitudes and identities of youths in Northern Ireland. It argued that schools in which Catholics and Protestants are educated together "have the potential to create a new common ground in Northern Ireland politics." It said Protestants who attended an integrated school were less likely to say that they were British or unionist, but nevertheless were not willing to adopt an Irish or nationalist identity, while Catholics who attended an integrated school were less likely to endorse an Irish identity, but were more likely to say they were neither unionist nor nationalist. Auxiliary Bishop Donal McKeown of Belfast, a former high school principal and a member of the Council of Catholic Maintained Schools in Northern Ireland, called the report "one of the first serious pieces of research on young people's attitudes depending on the school that they went to." However, he said, "the analysis is simplistic. You have to ask whether if pupils at the age of 14 say they are less nationalist or unionist (it) is going to make a big difference."

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