Sectarianism is still a blight on city - report
Londonderry Sentinel
02 July 2008
SECTARIANISM and segregation remain prevalent in some of Londonderry’s most deprived areas, new research has indicated.
“The Facts, Fears and Feelings” project explored the impact of sectarianism in everyday life for more than 100 young people, aged 16-35, in both Derry and Belfast.
The research involved young people in the Fountain and Creggan areas of the city.
Through their involvement in the study, some of the young people went on to develop the ‘Cut It Out! Stand Together Against Sectarianism’ campaign.
This unique initiative involved the distribution of over 3,000 badges and ads on over 50 cross-town buses in Belfast and Derry, asking people to take a stand against sectarianism.
Dr Rosellen Roche, a social anthropologist from Queen’s School of History and Anthropology, conducted the research and headed the project.
Dr Roche said: “The young people involved, who are mostly out-of-school, seeking work and attempting to gain qualifications, represent a contingent that can often be ignored in research.
“This study does not claim to represent feelings in Northern Ireland as a whole, nor does it present a ‘cure’ for sectarianism and segregation.
“It does, however, illustrate how personalised sectarianism can be, how it can seep down through generations and how young people, like those involved in this project, are grappling with it in contemporary, post-Agreement Northern Ireland.”
Among the key findings were the impact of social isolation and the influence of families.
“Almost two thirds of the young people we worked with were so isolated from the other community that they actually felt completely untouched by sectarianism,” said Dr. Roche
“They live in a kind of ‘cocoon’ within their own communities, with little reason for mixing or mingling across the divide.”
“One third of participants talked openly about their parents or grandparents having negative views of the other community.
“They often excused this on the basis that they consider their elders to be victims of conflict, who are therefore entitled to be prejudiced.”
Dr Roche said the findings now presented a number of challenges.
“As academics, policy makers, volunteers and political leaders, it is our job to listen to the young people, to gage what really should be done and to help to put community mechanisms in place that will mix young people consistently across the divide,” she said
