A GROWING number of Catholics are calling themselves "Northern Irish", joining many Protestants in finding an identity with which they are both
comfortable, a report suggests.
The findings, which were revealed one day after a Sinn Fein minister issued another official Press release referring to the "north of Ireland", show that increasing numbers of Ulster Catholics are now comfortable with the concept of Northern Irishness, and by extension Northern Ireland.
CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR VIEWS ON THIS STORYTen years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, almost one in four Roman Catholics (23 per cent) are willing to be tagged under the Northern Irish banner, a title they previously shunned in preference of labels such as Irish.
A similar proportion of Protestants – 26 per cent – chose the label Northern Irish over other options such as British.
The author of the report published in the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, Professor Orla Muldoon, told the News Letter that the number of people who are identifying as Northern Irish is growing steadily.
"It was less than 10 per cent 20 years ago and now it is almost a quarter of the overall sample, as well as roughly a quarter of both traditions," she said.
"In the first instance it was overwhelmingly Protestants who used this label, replacing the Ulster identity.
"Now the Ulster identity has almost vanished.
"Catholics had a preference for the Irish label over the Northern Irish label, but this is changing."
However, Professor Muldoon said that if the state wanted to do more to prop up ideas of Northern Irishness it could be doing more to give people things to hang their Northern Irish identity on such as an anthem or flag.
The Limerick-based academic continued. "There is among Catholic people who say that they are Northern Irish an implicit acceptance of the state of Northern Ireland and that is a significant change on the past."
Senior Unionists welcomed the findings.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said: "I have no doubt that with the advent and the establishment of greater political stability that people are developing a common identity in Northern Ireland and while there is still a strong affinity in unionism to all things British, there is a great sense of pride in our regional identity in Northern Ireland.
"It is good to see this is also reflected in changing attitudes in nationalist communities as well."
Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said: "People have always had a regional identity. There has always been a certain amount of common ground there and of course this is to be welcomed."
The UUP leader said that Britishness was inclusive of a number of identities, such as Irish or Northern Irish.
"For many, many years many Catholics have indicated that they would basically be in support of the union, but that has not manifested itself electorally," he said.
Within the overall group who described themselves as Northern Irish, approximately one-third described themselves as "equally Irish and British".
"They did not see Britishness or Irishness as being mutually exclusive and rejected the notion that these identities are opposites," said Prof Muldoon.
"That indicates a shift away from the traditional national and religious identities that underpinned the Troubles."
The report also highlights differing perceptions among people with different identities when presented with historical images associated with the conflict.
Those who identified themselves as Irish Catholic were more likely to feel uneasy or annoyed when presented with the image of a Union Flag or a photograph of a news presenter wearing a poppy, Prof Muldoon said.
"British Protestants, however, were more uneasy or annoyed when presented with an Irish tricolour or an Irish language letterhead," she added.
The professor, who will be guest speaker at a seminar held at the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) later today, said: "At the height of the Troubles eight or nine out of 10
people identified as Irish Catholic or British Protestant and now we have only six-and-a-half out of 10 who do."
The research – a joint initiative between Queen's University and the University of Ulster – found that just under 10 per cent of Catholics called themselves British, while 60 per cent labelled themselves Irish.
Among Protestants, 62 per cent labelled themselves British, while only four per cent labelled themselves Irish.
Yesterday Sinn Fein Minister Conor Murphy, who prefers the term north of Ireland to Northern Ireland, issued another Department of Regional Development Press release referring to the north of Ireland.
