Background to the Research

• CCIC and JSCC jointly conducted a survey of 1,000 young people in fifteen schools across Northern Ireland to give young people an opportunity to record their experiences in Northern Ireland ranging from daily experiences of harassment and bullying to the most serious consequences of the Troubles, such as bereavement and injury. The aim was thus to give a political voice to young people currently excluded form expressing their views through elections and opinion polls.

Research Approach

• A total of 1000 young people between the ages of 14 and 18, across 15 schools in Northern Ireland completed an anonymous questionnaire in school, and in about two thirds of cases, the teacher was present while they did so. The sample was fairly evenly divided between males and females, Catholics and Protestants and a mix of urban and rural schools were surveyed.

Main Findings

Young People and Political Violence

• Young people aged between 12-18 do not appear to have a ready desire to be involved in politics in Northern Ireland. Only 21% stated they had 'quite a lot' or a 'great deal' of interest in contemporary politics.
• The British, Irish and American governments were all thought to have been helpful to the peace process. Forth three per cent of respondents also identified 'public opinion' as helpful to the peace process.
• Males are more likely than females to have a definite political opinion with females more likely than males to respond 'don't know'. Traditional response patterns emerged in response to questions about party support, suggesting that religious background is still one of the most significant factors in deciding political opinion and affiliation.

The Good Friday Agreement

• A high percentage of respondents had an interest in the Good Friday Agreement, with 73.1% agreeing that given the opportunity, they would have voted on the agreement.
• Sixty two per cent of respondents (77% Catholic and 45% Protestant) said they would have supported the agreement whilst 4% of Catholic and 33% of Protestant respondents said they would have voted against. A substantial share of both Catholics and Protestants said they didn't know how they would have voted; again females were less decisive than males on this issue.
• Less consensus was found in relation to other issues such as prisoner releases, RUC restructuring and decommissioning. Such differences in opinion largely reflected the religious background of the respondents. Catholics were more supportive of early prisoner releases whilst the majority of Protestants viewing that prisoners should serve their time.
• The majority of Catholics thought that the RUC should be restructured, including a change in name, whilst Protestants remained supportive of retaining present policing arrangements.
• Consistently high percentages of both Catholic and Protestant respondents agreed that all paramilitaries should decommission (overall 75%). Females again, tended to be less decisive and were less likely to be positive about paramilitary organisations.

Impact of the Peace Process

• There was a high degree of negativity towards the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland, particularly amongst Protestants, with only a very small minority believing that the current peace process will work.
• Most respondents believed that Cross-Community Europe had made a positive contribution to peace, though there were some misgivings concerning the funding of projects.
• The vast majority Catholic and Protestant respondents agreed that religion will always have an impact on the way people feel about each other in Northern Ireland.

Cross-community Attitudes

• The majority of respondents (70% Catholics, 68% Protestant, 69% overall) ) said they would not object to a relative marrying outside their religion, however about a quarter of respondents (35% male and 20% female) indicated objecting to some extent to cross community relationships in their family.
• Just over half of the respondents said they had religious beliefs or practised their religion, whilst 15% said they had none, 6% of which, said they might change their minds.
• Religiosity was higher amongst Catholics (74% claiming to be deeply religious or to practice their religion, compared to 33% of Protestants. More Protestants (22%) than Catholics (6%) said that they had no religious beliefs, although more Protestants (30%) than Catholics (12%) said they were religious but not affiliated to any religion.
• The vast majority of respondents (82%) believed that cross community work was a good idea and 54% considered it 'very important to improve community relations'; 14% felt that not enough of such work was being carried out.
• Cross community work was regarded positively by both Catholic and Protestant respondents, however 7% felt that such work made no difference and 3% did not want to mix with the other community.
• All of those who attended schools that were not mixed had positive attitudes to such work, compared with only 87% of those who attended somewhat 'mixed' schools.
• Forty six per cent of respondents said they had had opportunity to participate in cross community work, of which 43% said they accepted. Overall, 46% had never had such opportunity.
• Attitudes and experiences were more anti-cross community work among males than females, and fewer males than females reported having the opportunity to take part. Overall, Protestants seemed to have more opportunities for mixing with the other community than Catholics, and grammar school pupils having had more such opportunities than secondary schools.

The Troubles: the experiences and stories of young people

• Over half of respondents (52.5%) had been caught up in a riot at least once, and almost a third (32.1%) had witnessed people being killed or severely injured on at least one occasion. Catholics and males as subgroups, it would appear, generally tend to have had more Trouble-related experiences than Protestants and females.
• Only 4.2% of the young people surveyed reported that the Troubles had completely ruined their lives and 5% stated that they had completely changed their lives.

Youth: a valued resource?

• Two thirds of respondents had not heard of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• About half of respondents said they had concealed their identity for fear of sectarian abuse whilst about half also said they avoided going to certain places in order to avoid such abuse.
• Thirty nine per cent of respondents had experienced some form of abuse on the way to or from schools.
• Forty one per cent said they would leave Northern Ireland at some time, mostly to look for better jobs, or to go to university; 40% said they would stay.
• About half of all respondents, slightly more Catholics than Protestants, said that they had lived in a segregated community.