Background to the Research

• The period between 1988 and 1998 witnessed a concerted effort on the part of successive UK governments to address the seemingly intractable problems of community relations in NI. The approach has been twofold, with attempts to find a constitutional resolution to the conflict complemented by the development of a community relations infrastructure.
  

Research Approach

• In the light of the above developments, this paper provides a resume of literature on the macro-political context. It outlines the nature of community relations chiefly in terms of policy, legislative and infrastructural developments, before offering an assessment of community relations in NI.
• It considers time-series evidence from surveys conducted in 1989 (the first year for which there was a community relations component in the NI Social Attitudes Survey and which coincided with the Government's renewed focus on community relations) and 1996.
  

Main Findings

Macro-Political Developments

• A sustained twin-track approach to resolving NI's constitutional imbroglio emerged in 1987.
• In the wake of the 1989 local government elections, power sharing strategies within local councils were encouraged.
• Various European Community initiatives, notably, the European Community Peace and Reconciliation Programme (1995) encouraged the fostering of inter-community cooperation.
• The signing of the Downing Street Declaration between the British and Irish governments in 1993 and the declared ceasefires by both the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Combined Loyalist Military Command in October 1994 contributed to the descent of a more relaxed atmosphere in NI at that period.
• Despite the beginning of controversial marches by members of the Portadown Lodge of the Orange Order from Drumcree parish church in 1995 and the end of the ceasefires in 1996, confidence in NI about the prospects for a speedy restitution of the ceasefires remained buoyant.

Community Relations in NI

• The outbreak of violence in 1969 which followed Catholic demands for civil rights forced the British Government to set in place long term reforms to address the inequities which were a consequence of Unionist control in the regional government of NI. In addition, the government made a commitment to examine relationships between the two communities and the underlying causes of violence.
• The main infrastructural outcome was the establishment of the Community Relations Commission and a Ministry to oversee its work.
• By the mid-1970s the official community relations infrastructure had collapsed. However, a paper prepared for the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (SACHR), heavily influenced the return of community relations as a priority for policy makers in the latter half of the 1980s. Developments in several areas ensued, namely, policy, legislation and infrastructure.

Policy

• The Government established an explicit community relations policy which had three primary aims: (a) to increase contact between Protestants and Catholics; (b) to encourage greater mutual understanding and respect for diverse cultural traditions, and (c) to ensure that everyone in NI enjoys equality of opportunity and equity of treatment. Related specifically to the issue of equality and equity, 1994 saw the introduction of Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment (PAFT) guidelines.

Legislation

• DENI, which has a statutory responsibility to 'encourage' integrated education, provided for such under the Education Reform Order (1989). The Reform Order also provided that two cross curricular themes would become mandatory in the teaching of most academic subjects, namely, 'Education for Mutual Understanding' and 'Cultural Heritage'.
• In 1989, the Fair Employment (NI) Act was passed. This was followed in the same year by the establishment of a Fair Employment Commission and a Fair Employment Tribunal to deal with cases of alleged discrimination.

Infrastructure

• A community relations infrastructure was re-established. Central to this was the creation of the CCRU in 1987.
• In September 1987, DENI released £250,000 for the establishment of a Cross Community Contact Scheme.
• In February 1989, £2 million was made available by Government for the advancement of community relations objectives. £250,000 of this was to extend the Cross Community Contact Scheme and the remainder contributed towards the establishment of the Cultural Traditions Group and the NI Community Relations Council.
• District Councils also received finance for the establishment of a community relations programme.

An Assessment of Community Relations in NI

In an effort to examine effectiveness and to determine good practice in community relations initiatives, programmes and organisations, the CCRU commissioned a series of macro-evaluations. These can be classified under the following six headings which, whilst not mutually exclusive, give a flavour of the diverse nature of activity:

• Cultural Traditions
• Community Development/Community Relations
• Reconciliation
• Reactive
• High Profile Community Relations
• Education and Personal Development

Social Attitudes- Survey Evidence

• Both Catholics and Protestants shared an overall sentiment that relations are better than they were five years ago.
• Catholics tended to be marginally more optimistic than Protestants in terms of how relations would fare over the next five years.
• On the subject of prejudice towards religious denominations within NI, generally, Catholics perceived higher levels of prejudice than Protestants. Conversely, whilst 30.5% of Protestants suggested that there was hardy any prejudice, only 10.6% of Catholics agreed.
• Some 82% of respondents expressed a preference for mixed neighbourhoods.
• Both religious groups shared a strong preference for workplaces with a mixed religious composition.
• Mixed schooling was the preferred choice of 61.6% of the overall survey population.
• Almost half (49.8%) of respondents think that the chances are the same for both communities in getting a job.

Conclusions

• Survey evidence illustrates that public attitudes on a range of issues associated with improving community relations moved decisively towards closer inter-communal association and integration.
• However, there is a discernible shift in the electoral behaviour of people in NI, with increasing polarisation becoming apparent as a result of increasing geographical segregation
• Arguably, NI is becoming more, rather than less, polarised.
• Whether the improvements in attitudes and some of the behavioural patterns will be replicated on a long-term sustainable basis throughout NI society, remains to be seen.