A new study has found that young adults in Northern Ireland are showing greater openness towards religion than other age groups.
The research, commissioned by the Iona Institute and carried out by Amarach Research, revealed that nearly one in three people aged 18 to 24 (30 per cent) have a positive attitude towards religion. Only a small number, around four per cent, said they hold a “very negative” view.
The findings also suggest that younger people are the most positive towards the Catholic Church, with 17 per cent of respondents in that age group expressing a favourable view.
David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute, described the results as encouraging. Speaking to Crux, he said, “The fact that some kind of revival of interest in religion is occurring among the youngest age group surveyed should encourage all the Churches. It seems that more young people are realising that secularism does not always provide satisfying answers to life’s biggest questions.”
The survey of 1,200 adults also explored wider religious identity. It found that 28 per cent of respondents identified as Catholic, 14 per cent as Presbyterian, and 11 per cent as members of the Church of Ireland. Over a third (36 per cent) said they did not belong to any religion.
More than half of those surveyed (56 per cent) described themselves as “religious and/or spiritual”, while 39 per cent said they were neither.
The Iona Institute said the results reflect a changing social landscape in Northern Ireland, where many people no longer define themselves strictly along Catholic or Protestant lines. Quinn noted, “The North can no longer be viewed simply in Catholic versus Protestant terms. A growing number of people do not belong to any religion at all and often reject both traditions.”
During the decades-long conflict known as The Troubles, divisions between Catholics and Protestants dominated Northern Ireland’s political and social life. Although the 1997 Good Friday Agreement brought an end to most of the violence, religious and cultural identities have continued to shape the region’s public life.
Looking ahead, Quinn suggested that society may be shifting towards a clearer divide between those with faith and those without. “There will likely be fewer ‘cultural Christians’ who identify as Christian but do not practise,” he said. “Instead, we may see a growing contrast between the religious and the non-religious. But what is clear from this research is that religion is not disappearing, despite what many once predicted.”
Adapted from Christian Today UK.
