2. Overview: Religion & Changing Identity on the island of Ireland
Dr Gladys Ganiel gladysganiel.com

3. Content of Presentation
Decline & Persistence: Quantitative & Qualitative measures Contextual Factors Challenges to Belief in the Future

4. Religious Identification Republic of Ireland, 1961-2016 (Census)
1961
1971
1981
1991
2002
2006
2011
2016
Catholic 95 94 93 92 88 87 85 78
Church of Ireland (including Protestant) 4 3
Muslim 1
Other Christian --
Presbyterian
<.5
0.6
Orthodox
Methodist
Other stated religions
No religion 2 7
10 (9.8)
Not stated
3 (2.5)

5. Religious Identification Northern Ireland, 1968-2012
Catholic
Church of Ireland
Presbyterian
Methodist
Other Christian
No religion
1968 (Loyalty survey) 41 22 28 5 4
<1
1978 (SAS) 32 23 30 6 3
1989 (SAS) 37 18 7 12
1998 (NILT) 39 16 9
2008 (NILT) 17 13
2011 (Census) 14 19
2018 (NILT) 15

6. Mass Attendance Republic of Ireland, 1972-2017
91%
1988
88%
1997
66%
2007
44%
2017
36%

7. Church Attendance Northern Ireland 1968-2017
Catholic
Protestant
1968 (Weekly)
95%
45%
1998 (Hereafter monthly)
81%
52%
2008
68%
2012
54%
2018
47%

8. Other indicators of Decline
Drop in Vocations
Under 30s (more likely to identify as
‘no religion’; less likely to practice)
Decreased social influence (referenda in
Republic)
Weakened relationship
with political power

9. Religion as Shaper of Identity (T Inglis 2014)
Inglis found that even among ‘orthodox’ Catholics, religion was compartmentalised in particular times and places, limiting its personal and social impact. Other sources of meaning, such as place and family, money and success, politics, sport, and love, usually trumped Catholicism. ‘One of the main findings of the study was how little not just the Catholic Church but religion in general was part of the cultural repertoires of the everyday lives of people … There were few indications that God was in their minds and hearts and on their lips.’

10. Religion as Shaper of Identity (J Todd 2018)
Todd’s study confirms that Catholicism is no longer as important an aspect of Irish national identity in the Republic as it once was. But in Northern Ireland, Protestantism and Catholicism remain important aspects of British and Irish identities: Todd found the most significant north-south difference was in the relationship between religion and national identity, in that the nominal categories of Catholic and Protestant were used ‘differently by different subgroups in different parts of the island’. In the ROI, only one in five Catholic interviewees volunteered their religion unprompted, compared to two-thirds of the minority Protestants. In Northern Ireland, with a relatively even population balance of 53 per cent Protestant and 44 per cent Catholic at the time of interviews, just over half of all interviewees volunteered their religious identity.

11. ‘The extent, of the most recent levels of decline [post 1998], signals the crossing of a new threshold, perhaps comparable to the projected melting of the polar ice caps.’
-- Máire Nic Ghiolla Phádraig, 2009

12. Post 1998 Factors?
The impact of the end of the Troubles, both north and south Impact of clerical sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church

13. But Keep in Mind … European Average Church Attendance: 13%
Don’t fall into the sociological
(and ecclesial) trap of
equating religious vitality
with ‘institutional’ identification and practice …

14. Religious Persistence and Vitality?
Papal visit survey (Ganiel 2018) found most Irish thought Francis did not do enough to address abuse during his visit; but found a ‘Francis Effect’ among a sizeable minority, especially among practising Catholics: 39% of practising Catholics and 15% of ‘other’ Catholics have a more favourable view of Church since Francis took office

15. Religious Persistence and Vitality?
Republic and Northern Ireland remain among most religious parts of Europe (levels of identification, belief and practice)
Practice of ‘Extra-Institutional’ Religion

16. Belief in the Future? Challenges
Five Years to Save the Irish Church: Meaningful apology & reparation; synodal reforms; ‘millennials’, relationship to ‘cultural’ Catholicism
Contribute to peacebuilding & dealing with the past in Northern Ireland
Spaces of hospitality for immigrants, ‘other’ religions, island-wide
A Dialogue of Hope: Deliberately seeking secular partnerships to address most pressing issues