Sectarianism

The impact of segregation and separation, driven by sectarianism, was increasingly evident throughout our consultation. There are a greater number of so-called ‘peace’ walls now than existed throughout the conflict. The costs attached to a doubling up of services are further evidence of how the past continues to infect our public life.

For many people it remains the one thing which, if not properly tackled, could drag us back into the abyss.

A large number of those consulted aspired to a new Northern Ireland where toleration, respect for cultural and religious diversity, equality and justice are the foundations of our relationships. They want a secure, safe, stable and shared Northern Ireland where politically motivated violence or its threat is removed. This does not mean obliterating all signs of difference and diversity but rather it means developing a respectful relationship with those who are different from us.

The Group heard of the positive contribution that sporting organisations have made to providing diversionary activity, including cross community events, for young people at a time when sectarian attitudes and systems could so easily have sucked them into a spiral of destructive behaviour.

Many of these organisations lost members and had premises destroyed during the conflict and the development of sport in general was
affected for many years in Northern Ireland as a result of the ongoing situtation.

REFLECTIONS
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Conflict has far reaching consequences for any society including a legacy of deep rooted sectarianism. This is not by any means peculiar to Northern Ireland. Its most destructive consequences are seen when it interfaces with power and privilege to dominate individuals or groups.

Sectarianism produces a spectrum of negative behaviour seen in ordinary everyday activities, such as where we shop or the judgements we make about people when we are introduced to them by name. This is, however, the ‘soft’ end of the spectrum of divisive and destructive behaviours arising from sectarianism.

At the other end of the spectrum, sectarianism is sometimes used to justify harm, injury or death inlicted on an individual or community because they are different and judged to be the lesser. It is unlikely that anyone has escaped unscathed given that we have lived within a sectarian society and have learned at best to tolerate it and at worst to accept and reproduce it.
Non-sectarianism is easy to request but difficult to achieve unless it is addressed at all levels of society and becomes part of our ethos, structures, policies for, and behaviour in, government. To engage in attitudinal change we must understand the complex relationship between intentions and consequences. This enables us to judge whether speech, actions or decisions are potentially or actually sectarian.

Many of our sporting activities remain divided along sectarian lines and the Group recognises the efforts that have been made to address these issues. Much work remains to be done, however, and the Group would urge sporting organisations, to consider and review their policies and practices in the context of whether they further good community relations and reconciliation.

Much progress has been made in ‘making the peace’ and establishing institutions for self-governance. The debate around sectarianism and how it should be tackled is viewed by some as harking back to the ‘bad old days’ and not in keeping with the new dispensation.

Sectarianism, however, remains as a dark reminder within our society of how things were and could be once again if not acknowledged and tackled.
Any society moving forward from conlict has no choice but to address the separations that exist between its people. hese separations are negative and destructive when they exist in housing, employment and social life.

Specifically the arguments about the ethos or quality of education provided in the faith based sectors have to be balanced against the reality that reconciliation may never be achieved if our children continue to attend
separated schools.

By definition and nature sectarianism involves religion and the destructive patterns of relating that arise from a negative mixing of religious belief and politics. When religion is used to draw boundaries, whether communal or territorial, and to reinforce patterns of inequality and social conlict, then prejudice and discrimination are given divine sanction, even if such behaviour contradicts the professed belief of its adherents.

The Christian churches carry a particular historical responsibility, for they not only gave the language which both shaped and fuelled division, but often gave sanction to those who exploited theological disputes and diferences for political and territorial gain. Catholic and Protestant became the identifying labels of the political and national allegiances of each side of the divide. Too often the violence and bitterness of communal strife was allowed to increase the suspicion and gulf between the two Christian traditions. here was a failure by the institutional church bodies to make a sustained united impact during the conlict. Often it was the actions and initiatives of individual congregations, organisations and church people that made a significant difference.

Yet some of the churches have recognised and addressed the religious dimension from the earliest days of the conlict. In their public statements some have accepted responsibility for nurturing attitudes which have contributed to the strength of sectarianism in the wider community. Indeed significant initiatives have taken place in recent years to identify and challenge sectarianism in their life and practice.

Any move by the churches to acknowledge and respect the integrity of each
other’s tradition does make a significant impact on the context in which wider society can address the legacy of sectarianism. There is a strong Christian tradition in Northern Ireland. Therefore Christian churches have a particular responsibility to take a leading role within communities for addressing the destructive presence of ongoing sectarianism.

The Group recommends that the Legacy Commission, proposed in Chapter 7, should take the lead in ensuring that sectarianism continues to be addressed, including through setting the direction for that debate and by highlighting the contribution that all sectors of society can make to address the problem.

The Group recommends that the Legacy Commission engages speciically with the Christian churches in Northern Ireland to encourage them to review and rethink their contribution to a non-sectarian future in the light of their past, particularly in the area of education.