The poll showed more of the younger group also have a very positive attitude towards the Catholic Church \u2013 17 percent \u2013 than all of the age groups above them.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, although the Catholic Church \u2013 along with most other religions \u2013 covers the entire island, including the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The North has been historically divided between majority Protestant and minority Catholic communities. Growing secularism in the United Kingdom and rising numbers of Catholics have been contributing to demographic change.<\/p>\n
The poll<\/strong><\/p>\n The Iona Institute poll is based on a representative sample of 1,200 adults and was conducted by Amarach Research.<\/p>\n In the 2021 census, nearly 70 percent of the Northern Irish population considered themselves Christian. Catholics were just over 42 percent, while Protestants were nearly 17 percent Presbyterian; just over 11 percent the Anglican Church of Ireland; a little over 2 percent Methodist, and nearly 7 percent other Christian congregations.<\/p>\n The Iona Institute said one of the survey\u2019s major findings is that Northern Ireland can no longer be viewed as being simply divided between Catholics and Protestants, since the \u201cnones\u201d \u2013 those who say they don\u2019t belong to any religion \u2013 have become a major force.<\/p>\n The Iona Institute survey \u201cis the first major poll of attitudes to religion in Northern Ireland in many years,\u201d the Director of the Iona Institute, David Quinn, told Crux.<\/p>\n \u201cOne big thing it shows is that the North cannot be thought of in Catholic versus Protestant terms anymore because now we have a lot of \u2018nones\u2019, that is people who don\u2019t belong to any religion. They have a \u2018plague on both your houses\u2019 attitude,\u201d Quinn also said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the future, there will probably be fewer \u2018cultural Christians\u2019 around, that is, people who say they are Christian but don\u2019t practice. Instead, society could be divided between those who believe in religion and those who don\u2019t believe, with little in between, that is between the religious and the \u2018nones\u2019,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis seems to be what is happening in both the North and the South. The overall conclusion, however, is that religion is not disappearing, contrary to past predictions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n At a glance<\/strong><\/p>\n Some major findings of the Iona survey are:<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that some kind of revival of interest in religion is occurring among the youngest age group surveyed should encourage all the Churches,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n Not an outlier<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt is not an outlier finding because polls elsewhere have seen the same thing. Maybe a growing subset of young people are concluding that secularism isn\u2019t really giving satisfactory answers to life\u2019s big questions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked by Crux about the differences between Northern Ireland and the Republic, Quinn said he wasn\u2019t sure there is much difference, \u201cexcept insofar as there are a lot more Protestants in the North.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn both parts of the island, we see a lot of negativity towards the Churches from the non-religious, but we also see revived interest among a minority of Gen Z. We also see a drift by some towards \u2018spirituality\u2019 as distinct from organised religion,\u201d he said. \u201cSo there are all kinds of things going on, but they do not point towards the total triumph of a secular worldview or anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRichard Dawkins,\u201d Quinn said, \u201cwill be very disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn noted in both parts of Ireland, there has been significant liberalization in certain social attitudes. Both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have liberalized laws governing abortion, allowed same-sex marriage, and are aiming to bring assisted suicide to their countries.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more liberal Churches welcome all this, but we note that most of the young people becoming interested in religion do not tend to have liberal views,\u201d he told Crux.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t ask about this in the poll, but if you talk to Church leaders dealing with young people, they will tell you this. These young people are often reacting against the liberalism of some of their peers and in particular the \u2018boomers\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Quinn says the poll shows that the continued decline of religion \u201cis not inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe see a big uptick in interest in religion among the 18\u201324-year-olds, in line with polls in Britain and elsewhere such as \u2018The Quiet Revival\u2019 one. I think this is incredibly significant. A growing number of young people see that secularism cannot answer life\u2019s big question,\u201d he told Crux.<\/p>\n Follow Charles Collins on X:\u00a0@CharlesinRome<\/a><\/p>\n\n