Skip to main content

Sectarianism, education, and integration in the North of Ireland

The best solution to bridging the divide between Catholics and Protestants would be integrated schooling, but sadly — with the major parties relying on sectarianism for support — this is still incredibly rare, reports EOGHAN GARDINER

TWENTY years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, supposedly to bring peace and a better future for all in Northern Ireland, why is it that sectarianism between Catholic and Protestant communities is still entrenched in society, and what can be done in order to challenge this?

Some might say that sectarianism withering away is merely a matter of “these things take time” and some may be of the opinion that the people of Northern Ireland should continue to suffer through sectarianism in the here and now in the hopes that, one day, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. This is at best an idealist, and at worst opportunistic, point of view to hold. The idealists who believe this must be convinced of the need to be proactive and practical in tackling sectarianism, while the opportunists who can yet refuse to take action must be challenged.

Both of these occurring would result in the refusal of the electorate to elect politicians who refuse to take the problems stemming from sectarian division seriously. It is the actions, not simply the rhetoric, of these politicians that we must look at when evaluating who is and who isn’t genuinely dedicated to bringing an end to sectarianism.

A crucial step that will need to be taken in order to combat sectarianism is integrated education becoming the norm in Northern Ireland. Integrated education is a means of Protestant and Catholic children, as well as those of a different faith or none, coming together to learn as equals under one joint education system. Unfortunately, the most recent figures show that only about 7 per cent of all pupils are enrolled in integrated education. Belfast, the largest city in Northern Ireland, has only four such schools to serve it and the surrounding areas.

Why are these schools not more widely available? Why aren’t they the norm? Currently, there exists no major political willpower from either of the two largest parties in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, despite both claiming to be in favour of integrated education in one way or another, don’t seem to see it, nor sectarian division as a whole, as important enough of an issue to strike a deal in order to form a power-sharing devolved government in Stormont.

This is no surprise. Both parties rely on two opposing sectarian voting blocs to keep their respective parties as the two biggest in the North. It would be against the interests of these two sectarian powerhouses to tackle sectarian tribalism, which is a must in order to unite working-class people and to create a future better than the past and better than the present.

Ideally, Sinn Fein and the DUP would be in talks with regards to going back to Stormont, with the issue of integrated education acting as an issue of the utmost importance. At the very least, both parties would be in talks and the case could be made for integrated education to be taken seriously, albeit likely that this sentiment would not be echoed by either party in negotiations or in Stormont.

Unfortunately, the political climate doesn’t even come close to either of these cases. There would appear to be no deal on the horizon between Sinn Fein and the DUP, which leaves many to wonder; apart from putting pressure on both parties to reach a deal, is there any other action that can be taken can in order to push for integrated education?

A Labour government, particularly through the Northern Ireland Office, could play an important role in using its position as a means of bringing Sinn Fein and the DUP to the table for talks. Such talks must come in order to ensure integrated education becomes a key issue in the political landscape. With this in mind, it is of key importance that Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland views integrated education as of the utmost importance in order to combat sectarianism.

Pressure must come from all sides, including the British left, to ensure that this is the case. However, it will of course ultimately be a Northern Irish solution that will be needed to solve a Northern Irish problem. At the end of the day, integrated education can only be implemented by a devolved government in Stormont and as such the issue of Sinn Fein and the DUP forming a devolved government must be tackled first.

The task that we face with regards to integrated education is to push it as an absolute necessity in order to end sectarianism and the division stemming from it. This should be the default position held by any person, party or organisation claiming to be seriously dedicated to bringing an end to sectarianism and more so to those who seek to build unity among working-class people in Northern Ireland in order to build a better society.

Eoghan Gardiner is a journalist and Workers’ Party activist in Dublin

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today