Katrina Lorraine Lloyd

Gillian

Intimate mixing -bridging the gap? Catholic-Protestant relationships in Northern Ireland

Keywords: Intermarriage, Conflict, Religion, survey data, politics of identity, Northern Ireland Intermarriage, conflict, religion, survey data, politics of identity, Northern Ireland Word count: 7, 260

Intimate mixing -bridging the gap? Catholic-Protestant relationships in Northern Ireland

Introduction

It is well documented in the research literature that Northern Ireland is a divided society where members of the two main religious groups, Catholics and Protestants, often have limited opportunities to meet and interact with each other due to segregation at work and leisure, in housing, education and personal relationships (Niens et al 2003;[START_REF] Hughes | Segregation in Northern Ireland: implications for community relations policy[END_REF]. While Northern Ireland, like other countries within the United Kingdom, has experienced changes in the diversity of its population (McGrellis 2010;ONS 2003), the region continues to be a society deeply divided along ethno-religious lines. Indeed, although the conflict is often perceived as a religious one, theology plays an insignificant role and researchers such as [START_REF] Doherty | Religion as an indicator of ethnicity in Northern Ireland -an alternative perspective[END_REF] have suggested that the divide within Northern Ireland 'is essentially ethnic notwithstanding the fact that it is denoted by the religious labels 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' (page 75). More recently, McGrellis (2010) has noted that the onset of the conflict has preserved and entrenched 'the ethno-religious-political divide characterized as sectarian, Catholic and Protestant' (page 762).

However it is conceptualized, it is clear that segregation occurs between the two communities in Northern Ireland and attempts have been made throughout the years of what are euphemistically termed 'the Troubles' to encourage religious mixing through integrated schools, mixed-religion housing estates and cross-community schemes to encourage children from across the divide to meet and form friendships. Such efforts are predicated on the theory that bringing people together to interact in social situations can improve intergroup relations and remove prejudices -reported in the research literature (Hewstone et al 2005;[START_REF] Hughes | Segregation in Northern Ireland: implications for community relations policy[END_REF]. On this pretext, successive governments have implemented a number of initiatives and spent millions of pounds to encourage contact between Catholics and Protestants and improve community relations in Northern Ireland [START_REF] Knox | Crossing the divide: Community relations in Northern Ireland[END_REF].

Despite continued efforts, Catholics and Protestants still tend to live apart and this is most notable within disadvantaged working class neighbourhoods [START_REF] Hughes | Segregation in Northern Ireland: implications for community relations policy[END_REF]. It has been estimated that public housing is 93% segregated (McKittrick 2004) and, while middle class residential areas may be more mixed, nonetheless, approximately 30-40 per cent of the Northern Irish population live in completely segregated areas [START_REF] Hughes | Segregation in Northern Ireland: implications for community relations policy[END_REF]. Segregation is also apparent in the education system; over 90% of children attend either a Catholic or a Protestant school at both the primary and secondary level (Cairns and Hewstone 2002) and only 5% of children in Northern Ireland attend formally integrated schools (Hewstone et al 2005).

Similarly, mixed-religion marriages or partnerships, defined in this paper as those between Catholics and Protestants, still represent only a small proportion of the total number of marriages within Northern Ireland. While there are no official statistics on the number of such partnerships in Northern Ireland, figures from the latest Census (2001) and from social attitudes surveys estimate that it is somewhere between 5% and 12% (ARK, Northern Ireland Life and Times survey (NILT) 2005) across the region as a whole. Some of the figures reported in research papers have been obtained from the churches, particularly the Catholic Church as a priest must first obtain dispensation from his bishop to marry a Catholic and non-Catholic in a Catholic ceremony, but none are available from the civil authorities since the religion of the marrying partners is not recorded on the marriage registration form [START_REF] Robinson | Cross-community marriage in Northern Ireland[END_REF]. One difficulty in determining the true figure is that, in line with trends across the rest of the United Kingdom and elsewhere, an increasing number of couples are choosing to marry in civil ceremonies and to live together without marrying (Morgan et al 1996).

Throughout 'the Troubles', mixed-religion partnerships in Northern Ireland have been problematic for many of those who have entered into them. In some cases they have brought threats, intimidation and death (Wigfall-Williams 2007). Even recently, during what has become known as the 'peace process ' in Northern Ireland, McGrellis (2010) found that one young Protestant respondent taking part in her research who told her friends that she had dated a Catholic reported that '…they did give me a hard time.' (McGrellis page 773). This suggests that the increasing diversity and the undoubted secularisation and declining church attendance that is taking place within Northern Ireland and elsewhere [START_REF] Aarts | Does belonging accompany believing? Correlations and trends in Western Europe and North America between 1981 and 2000[END_REF][START_REF] Bruce | The Secular Rules: The Public Place of Religion in Britain[END_REF]Crouch 2008;[START_REF] Hayes | Vacant Seats and Empty Pews[END_REF] may not be enough to overcome the difficulties perceived by many people to accompany intermarriage [START_REF] Leonard | It's better to stick to your own kind'. Teenagers views on crosscommunity marriages in Northern Ireland[END_REF].

According to the Northern Ireland Mixed Marriage Association (NIMMA) mixed marriages, by the fact that they happen at all, can be seen as a start of a reconciliation process which is crucial in Northern Ireland. Similarly, research carried out elsewhere in regions that have experienced conflict has suggested that intermarriages, whether based on religion or race, can have a positive impact on tolerance within communities (Hodson et al 1994). [START_REF] Smits | Ethnic intermarriage and social cohesion. What can we learn from Yugoslavia?[END_REF] points out that intermarriages are 'an important indicator of the quality of the relationships among groups in a society' (page 417) and reported findings from research in the former Yugoslavia that showed that intermarriage reduces the probability of violent conflict among social groups. [START_REF] Leonard | It's better to stick to your own kind'. Teenagers views on crosscommunity marriages in Northern Ireland[END_REF] also points to international research that supports the potential for mixed partnerships to act as a catalyst for social change while [START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF] suggest that mixed marriages 'can be viewed through the prism of the Contact Hypothesis meaning that mixing of separated groups may cause greater mutual understanding and societal harmony' (page 5). However, quoting from Buckley and Kenney (1996) [START_REF] Hamilton | Segregated lives: Social division, Sectarianism and Everyday Life in Northern Ireland, Institute for Conflict Research[END_REF] note the limited impact that mixed marriages can have while [START_REF] Song | Is intermarriage a good indicator of integration?[END_REF] suggests that the link between intermarriage and integration is complex and that intermarriage is not necessarily a good indicator of social integration. While there is a lack of tangible evidence on the number, and possible impact, of mixed-religion partnerships in Northern Ireland -and elsewhere -recent research has begun to address this deficit by providing data on the extent of mixed partnerships in England and Wales [START_REF] Voas | The Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnicity: Evidence on Mixed Partnerships in Britain[END_REF] and Scotland [START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF]. [START_REF] Voas | The Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnicity: Evidence on Mixed Partnerships in Britain[END_REF] used Census data to examine the extent of religious mixing among married and cohabiting couples in England and Wales. He found that cohabitation was more common among younger people and that those who were cohabiting were more likely to be in mixed-religion relationships than their married counterparts. [START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF] (Bruce et al. 2005;[START_REF] Walls | Sectarianism at work: Accounts of employment discrimination against Irish Catholics in Scotland[END_REF][START_REF] Walls | Religious discrimination in Scotland: A rebuttal of Bruce et al.'s claim that sectarianism is a myth[END_REF] and, while parallels have been drawn between sectarianism in Scotland and Northern Ireland (see for example [START_REF] Kelly | Challenging sectarianism in Scotland: The prism of racism[END_REF] it is acknowledged that within Northern Ireland, 'sectarian segregation and conflict remains powerfully present' (Holligan and Raab 2010, page 4).

Given the amount of research that has been carried out on the effects that contact with the 'other' community has on people in Northern Ireland and the perceived positive outcomes it engenders, such as the promotion of positive outgroup attitudes and trust (Hewstone et al 2006), it is perhaps surprising that very little information is available on the characteristics and attitudes of people who live with a partner who is not the same religion as they are, often, it has been argued, against a tide of negative attitudes from family, friends and the wider population [START_REF] Macfarlane | Mixed marriage in Ballycuan, Northern Ireland[END_REF]Donnan and McFarlane 1983;Whyte 1990). What research evidence there is on mixed-religion partnerships in Northern Ireland has generally been based on small samples of married couples using qualitative data collection methods that are difficult to generalise to the population as a whole [START_REF] Robinson | Cross-community marriage in Northern Ireland[END_REF][START_REF] Lee | Mixed and matched -Interreligious courtship and marriage in Northern Ireland[END_REF]Morgan et al 1996;Wigfall-Williams 2007).

In addition, while data are available on the attitudes of society as a whole in Northern Ireland towards mixed marriages and the concept of mixing within neighbourhoods, workplaces and schools [START_REF] Hughes | Community relations in Northern Ireland: Attitudes to contact and integration[END_REF]Wigfall-Williams and Robinson 2001;[START_REF] Hughes | Attitudes to Community Relations in Northern Ireland: Grounds for Optimism?[END_REF] there is little information on the attitudes of those living in mixed relationships towards these issues. This is partly due to the small number of respondents living in mixed-religion partnerships picked up in surveys of random samples of the population in any one year. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to use data from a pooled dataset which has been collected from a random sample of enter into mixed-religion relationships and to compare their attitudes towards mixing with those reported for the rest of the population. This will enable researchers to establish baseline figures for comparison in future years as Northern Ireland emerges from conflict into a new era of peace in which such marriages may become an accepted and normal part of society. The findings can also be compared and contrasted with those reported from other countries which are emerging from conflict.

Method

The data come from NILT which is an annual survey of a random sample of adults aged 18 years and over living in Northern Ireland. The survey began in 1998 and from 1998 to 2004, 1800 respondents were interviewed each year. In 2005, 1200 respondents were interviewed. The survey is carried out in the respondent's own home using face-to-face interviews on CAPI; there is also a self-completion form that the respondent fills in and returns to the interviewer either on the same day or at a later date. The information collected by the survey changes year on year; however, some questions are asked every year, or with a gap of a few years, to provide a time-series of information on topics that are particularly pertinent in Northern Ireland.

In any one year of the NILT survey, around 10% of respondents say their partner is a different religion to them. The question they are asked is as follows: If married or living as married ... 'Is your husband/wife/partner the same religion as you?' 1 As the annual numbers are small, it is not possible to carry out detailed analyses on the characteristics and attitudes of those who choose to marry or live with people who are of which contains questions that have been asked in each of these years. Using this method, the number of respondents who say their partner is a different religion than they are is 802. This represents 10% of all respondents who had partners (8,299); 87% said their partner was the same religion as they were and 3% said their partner had no religion at all. The analyses presented in this paper will use only the former two groups of respondents.

Results

Characteristics of respondents living in mixed-religion partnerships

As Table 1 shows, three times as many respondents who were in mixed-religion partnerships were not married as those who lived with a partner who was the same religion as they were (χ 2 =123.24, df=1, p<0.001). They also tended to be younger than their same religion counterparts with 56% being under the age of 45 years compared with 39% of respondents who were the same religion as they were. In general, more younger (18 to 34 years) than older respondents (35 years and over) lived together and this trend was most marked among those who were in mixed-religion partnerships; 28% were living together compared with 13% of respondents who were a similar age but who were in same religion partnerships (χ 2 =144.69, df=5, p<0.001). Similar trends have been reported for England and Wales [START_REF] Voas | The Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnicity: Evidence on Mixed Partnerships in Britain[END_REF] and Scotland [START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF]. Almost one quarter (24%) of respondents who were in mixed-religion partnerships said they had no religion compared with only 4% of those who were in same religion partnerships (χ 2 =528.64, df=3, p<0.001). Of the respondents who had no religion, and who lived in mixed-religion partnerships, 36% said they were brought up as Catholic, 59% as Protestant, 3% in an 'other' religion and a further 3% said they were not brought up in any religion. In comparison, of those who had no religion, and who lived in same religion partnerships, the figures were 23%, 74%, 1% and 3% respectively.

According to Brewer (2002), 'there are more Christians in Northern Ireland per head of population compared to the rest of the United Kingdom, and they are more devout and regular in their observance' (page 28). However, previous research has shown that while a majority of respondents in mixed-religion partnerships do identify with a religious tradition, many do not carry this belief through into religious practice. In her research, using a small opportunity sample of married couples in Northern Ireland, Wigfall-Williams (2007) found that more respondents in same religion marriages than those in mixed-religion marriages went to church regularly. Conversely, and in line with research carried out by [START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF] in Scotland, more of those who were in mixed-religion marriages said they 'never' went to church compared with the respondents who were married to people who were the same religion as they were.

Similar results were found by this research. Just over one in five (21%) respondents who were in mixed-religion partnerships said they went to church once a week or more compared with 51% of those who lived with people who were the same religion as they were. Furthermore, three times as many respondents in mixed-religion partnerships as

Insert Table 1 about here

Socio-economic status

According to [START_REF] Ata | Dynamics of interfaith marriage: An eschatological vocation beyond the limits of dialogue[END_REF] research reported from outside Northern Ireland has indicated that intermarried couples are more likely to be above average in educational level, to both be working and to be less likely to be unemployed. Morgan et al (1996), however, suggests that while detailed information about the socio-economic status of individuals within mixed marriages is scant, the evidence that does exist appears to be divided. Morgan advocates that there is some suggestion that mixed marriage is predominantly a middle class phenomenon but that information from mixed marriage families who send their children to integrated schools indicates that the partners in mixed marriages contracted from the mid 1980s onwards come from a very wide spread of socio-economic backgrounds (Morgan et al 1992).

Evidence from the NILT survey partly supports the former contention; respondents in mixed-religion partnerships had higher incomes and better educational qualifications than those of their counterparts living in same religion partnerships; however, there was no statistically significant difference in social class 2 . At the lowest end of the income scale 48% of respondents who were living in same religion partnerships had an income which was less than £10,000 per annum compared with 37% Conversely, more of the latter than the former had annual incomes of £30,000 or more (11% and 7% respectively) 3 . Two in five (41%) respondents living with someone who was a different religion than they were had qualifications that were of A-level standard or above compared with only 27% of respondents who lived with someone of the same religion (χ 2 =91.38, df=3, p<0.001). Hewstone et al ( 2005) suggest that higher educational levels tend to be associated with 'less virulent outgroup attitudes' (pg 22) and research studies carried out in Northern Ireland have shown that contact at the university level has a positive effect on attitudes towards the 'other' group (e.g. Cairns et al 1993). Indeed, it has been reported that for many young people in Northern Ireland, attending university has given them their first opportunity to mix with the 'other' group [START_REF] Robinson | Cross-community marriage in Northern Ireland[END_REF]Hewstone et al 2005). As Table 2 shows, there were no significant differences in relation to the respondent's social class (based on current or previous job).

Insert Table 2 about here

Employment

Reflecting the age difference noted above, and as Table 3 shows, more respondents who were living in mixed-religion partnerships were employed (64%) and fewer were retired (10%) than those who were living with people who had the same religion as them (53% and 21% respectively). Taking only respondents of working age (18-64 years) and running the analysis again, 68% of respondents in mixed-religion partnerships were

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Factors related to mixed-religion partnerships

A number of factors could be related to whether people choose to live in mixed-religion partnerships in divided societies. As Table 4 shows, findings from the NILT survey indicated that respondents who live in mixed-religion partnerships (35%) were much more likely than those who did not (21%) to have lived outside Northern Ireland for more than six months (χ 2 =82.71, df=1, p<0.001). Earlier qualitative research by [START_REF] Robinson | Cross-community marriage in Northern Ireland[END_REF] suggested that it was acceptable to enter into a relationship with the 'other' if he/she was not from Northern Ireland. Another factor is whether respondents had attended mixed or segregated schools in Northern Ireland. Using a similar methodology to the one adopted for this paper, Hayes et al (2007) reported that adults who had attended formally integrated or mixed-religion schools in Northern Ireland appeared to have less sectarian views in terms of their attitudes towards the 'other' community than those who attended schools with pupils only of the same religion as themselves. They were also more likely to reject traditional identities (Nationalist and Unionist) and political allegiances (Nationalist and Unionist parties) than those who had attended a segregated one. Similar findings emerged from this research. As Table 4 shows, 16% of respondents who lived in mixed-religion partnerships said they had attended an integrated or mixed school compared with 11% of those whose partner was the same religion as them (χ 2 =19.55, df=2, p<0.001). The results also showed that twice 13 as many respondents (32%) who were in a mixed-religion partnership as those who were not (16%) said that a child in their care had attended a mixed-religion school in Northern Ireland (χ 2 =92.75, df=1, p<0.001).

Insert Table 4 about here

Party support and Identity

In line with the findings of Hayes et al (2007), Table 5 shows that adults who were in mixed-religion partnerships were more likely than those who were not to reject traditional identities and political allegiances. Significantly more of the former (17%) than the latter (6%) said they support the Alliance party which is regarded as a moderate 'middle of the road' political party rather than what are traditionally perceived to be more polarised Catholic (e.g. Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), Sinn Fein) and Protestant (e.g. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)) political parties (χ 2 =127.62, df=4, p<0.001). They were also much more likely than their counterparts who live in same religion partnerships to say they were neither Nationalist nor Unionist (59% and 27% respectively; χ 2 =340.22, df=2, p<0.001). This is a major difference and one which has also been reported by researchers examining, retrospectively with adults in Northern Ireland, the association between attendance at a mixed school and party support and national identity (Hayes et al 2007). The findings from both these studies merit further exploration in future research.

Attitudes towards mixed-religion areas, workplaces and schools

Previous research in Northern Ireland has indicated that while large numbers of people live in segregated areas and send their children to segregated schools, support for mixing, in principle at least, is fairly high among both Catholics and Protestants but highest among people who say they have 'no religion' [START_REF] Hughes | Ten years of social Attitudes to community relations in Northern Ireland[END_REF][START_REF] Hughes | Attitudes to Community Relations in Northern Ireland: Grounds for Optimism?[END_REF]. It has been shown that at a societal level in Northern Ireland there is a gap between the attitudes of people towards mixing and their actual behaviour, particularly in relation to housing and education. While a majority of people say they prefer mixing, in reality many live in segregated neighbourhoods and send their children to segregated schools [START_REF] Hughes | Ten years of social Attitudes to community relations in Northern Ireland[END_REF]. This is of course influenced by a range of factors including family traditions, availability and accessibility of integrated schools and mixed neighbourhoods. For the purposes of this paper, however, it is of interest to explore a little known area i.e. the attitudes of people who live in mixedreligion partnerships towards these issues and whether those who say they prefer mixing actually carry this through in terms of their behaviour. Looking first at attitudes, as might be expected, respondents who lived in mixed-religion partnerships (91%) were significantly more likely than those who did not (75%) to say they would prefer to live in mixed-religion neighbourhoods (χ 2 =102.12, df=2, p<0.001). More of the former also said they would prefer mixed-religion workplaces (95%) than those who were in partnerships with people of the same religion (95% and 86% respectively; χ 2 =52.18, df=2, p<0.001). However, the largest difference in attitudes related to the type of school 15 respondents would prefer to send their children to -85% of those in mixed-religion partnerships said they would prefer to send their children to a mixed-religion school compared with 59% of those in same religion partnerships (χ 2 =207.49, df=2, p<0.001).

Insert Table 6 about here

Behaviours in relation to mixing in areas and schools

Using the data available, it was possible to examine whether attitudes towards mixing translated into actual behaviour in relation to whether respondents had ever sent a child in their care to a mixed-religion school. Overall, as Table 7 shows, three times as many people who were in favour of mixing in education said a child in their care had gone to a mixed-religion school than those who were not in favour of mixing (21% and 7% respectively; χ 2 = 335.48, df=1, p<0.001). Furthermore, the figure for those who were in mixed-religion partnerships who favoured mixing in schools and sent their child to a mixed-religion school rose to 35%. In addition, looking just at the 1998 NILT survey in which a question was asked about whether respondents perceived their area to be mixed, significantly more of those who were in mixed-religion partnerships said their area was mixed than those who were not in same religion partnerships (42% and 32% respectively 4 ). This was the only NILT survey in which a question on mixed-religion areas was asked. The findings also showed that respondents who lived in same-religion partnerships were three times more likely to be married than those who lived in mixedreligion partnerships although this trend was more notable among younger respondents.

Insert Table 7 about here

It may be that people with different religious beliefs find that living together is one way to avoid dissent among families and friends when it comes to choosing a place of worship or compromising by marrying in a registry office in order to avoid church disapproval. As this is a general trend in society and is coupled with increasing secularisation within Northern Ireland and elsewhere, it may be seen as an ideal solution by those wanting to enter into partnerships with people of a different religion to them, particularly since many respondents who live in mixed-religion partnerships say they do However, despite these changes and the increasing secularization within society, young people still mention these as issues for consideration when, and if, they were contemplating a mixed-religion marriage in Northern Ireland [START_REF] Leonard | It's better to stick to your own kind'. Teenagers views on crosscommunity marriages in Northern Ireland[END_REF]). This may be due, at least in some part, to the ongoing politicisation of the issue of integrated schooling within Northern Ireland as identified in recent news reports (BBC, 2010).

In addition to differences in characteristics, this research also found that there was significant variation in two important areas of contact with the 'other' community between those who were in mixed-religion partnerships and those who were not; namely the former were more likely to have spent time outside Northern Ireland and to have attended mixed-religion schools. Many more of them also said that a child in their care had attended a mixed-religion school. Furthermore, respondents who were in mixedreligion partnerships tended to reject traditional identities and political allegiances compared to those who were in same religion partnerships. This was shown by the unwillingness of respondents in mixed-religion partnerships to align themselves with et al 2004), it is the case that parental attitudes strongly impact on children's attitudes then the offspring of people who live in mixed-religion partnerships may hold more positive attitudes towards the 'other' community than those who come from partnerships in which the parents are the same religion. However, these results are tentative; and, as advocated by [START_REF] Hayes | Education as a mechanism for conflict resolution in Northern Ireland[END_REF], there is a need for 'extensive, longterm panel surveys' (page 2) to disentangle the effects of the parents and the school on this issue.

Hewstone et al ( 2005), quoting from an early piece of research carried out by Whyte in 1990, stated that mixed marriages in Northern Ireland did not bridge any gaps because, it was claimed, one of the partners (usually the husband) cut off all ties with his own kin. The findings reported in this paper suggest that people in mixed-religion partnerships may, in fact, be making a small but significant contribution to lessening prejudice in Northern Ireland and to improving cross-community contact in relation to their attitudes towards mixing, their behaviours (sending their children to mixed-religion schools and living in mixed-religion areas) and their rejection of traditional identities and political allegiances. Also, while it was not possible to test the assumption that one of the partners cuts off contact with his/her family in this pooled dataset, evidence from the 2001 NILT survey shows that there was no significant difference in amount of contact with family members (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins) for those who were in mixed-religion partnerships and those who were not [START_REF] Ark | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey[END_REF]. While the sample size was small (102 respondents in mixed-religion partnerships) and the questions fairly limited in scope, the findings suggest that these couples have as much family support as those in same religion partnerships. Recent research in Northern Ireland has suggested that this type of social support -known as 'bonding' social capital -is more common in religiously homogeneous areas (particularly among Catholics) than in mixed-religion areas (Campbell et al 2008). More research is required with bigger sample sizes and more in-depth questions to further explore the nature and quality of family contact and relationships, along with other forms of social capital available to people in mixed-religion partnerships, and the impact this has on their lives.

Overall, the results of this research have provided much-needed information on the characteristics and attitudes of people who live in mixed-religion partnerships in a region characterised by conflict. Of course marriage across cultural, religious or racial boundaries is not a phenomenon unique to Northern Ireland, and the findings outlined in this paper are relevant and applicable to many other countries with a similar history.

Particularly useful would be comparable research carried out in areas of conflict in other parts of the world to determine the extent to which is a common occurrence or one that is unique to Northern Ireland.

The analysis used in this paper was restricted by the number and scope of timeseries questions that are asked in the NILT survey each year. It is recommended that more research is carried out on this small, but growing, important section of society in Northern Ireland. ', Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 151-168. BUCKLEY, A., and KENNY M.C. 1995 Negotiating Identity: Rhetoric, Metaphor, and Social Drama in Northern Ireland, Washington and Community Development Journal, vol. 45, no.1, pp.22-38. CONNOLLY, P. 2000 'What now for the contact hypothesis? Towards a new research agenda', Race, Ethnicity andEducation, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 169-193. CROUCH, C. 2008 'Change in European Societies since the 1970s', West European Politics, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 14-39. MCALLISTER, I. and DOWDS, L. 2007 'Integrated Education, Intergroup Relations, and Political Identities in Northern Ireland', Social Problems, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 454-482.

  Ireland to examine the characteristics of people who have chosen to

  to them. To overcome the problem of small numbers, a dataset has been created that pools eight years (1998 to 2005) of information on respondents and

  religion partnerships said they 'never' or 'practically never' went to church (χ 2 =543.38, df=5, p<0.001).

  the first to use a pooled dataset of a large-scale random sample survey of the population in Northern Ireland to explore the characteristics and attitudes of people who live in mixed-religion partnerships. The findings show that there are differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of people who live in mixedreligion partnerships compared with their contemporaries who live in same religion partnerships. The former tend to be younger, better educated and to have higher incomes although they do not differ in their social class, at least as assessed by the Registrar General's Social Class measure (which is the only social class measure used in NILT from 1998 to 2005). These findings offer some support for previous results based on small-scale qualitative research carried out with mixed-religion married couples which suggested that mixed marriage is predominantly a middle class phenomenon(Morgan et al 1996;[START_REF] Ata | Dynamics of interfaith marriage: An eschatological vocation beyond the limits of dialogue[END_REF].

  regularly, which mirrors findings from Scotland[START_REF] Holligan | Inter-sectarian couples in the 2001 Census[END_REF]. Furthermore, while the Catholic Church used to require those who were not Catholic to sign a document promising that the children would be raised Catholic, this is no longer the case. According to[START_REF] Mcareavey | Mixed Marriages: Conversations in Theology, Ecumenism, Canon Law and Pastoral Practice[END_REF] Catholic parties in a mixed marriage are now only obliged to do their best to have the children baptised and raised in the Catholic faith. This move away from compulsion in relation to children's religious upbringing, together with the growing availability of integrated schools within Northern Ireland, may alleviate at least some of the dilemmas faced by mixed-religion parents.

  perceived to be Catholic (e.g. Sinn Fein, SDLP) and Protestant (e.g. DUP, UUP) political parties and to reject Unionist and Nationalist identities.These findings add to the weight of evidence suggesting that contact with the 'other' community may change attitudes and influence behaviours in later life such as living in mixed-religion areas, sending children to mixed-religion schools and voting preferences (e.g.Hayes et al 2007). While a number of researchers have noted that the nature of the contact situation and the status of the groups involved are important factors in determining the impact of the 'contact hypothesis' (e.g. Connolly 2000; Dixon et al 2005; Hughes et al 2007) nevertheless, recent findings from longitudinal research (Hewstone et al 2008) have suggested that contact is effective at reducing bias against the 'other' group, particularly when it is through family members and work colleagues. Much of the research reported in the literature on attitudes towards mixing in housing, workplaces and schools suggests that a majority of people in Northern Ireland are generally in favour (e.g. Hughes and Donnelly 2002; Hughes 2003). However, until now, few attempts have been made to ascertain the views of those in mixed-religion partnerships towards these issues, and the research that has been carried out has generally been based on small-scale opportunity samples of married couples (see for example Wigfall-Williams 2007). The findings of this research, based on a random sample of adults, show that more of those in mixed-religion partnerships support mixing in all three areas; they are also willing to turn these attitudes into behaviours by sending their own children to mixed-religion schools and, as shown from the findings of the 1998 NILT survey as well as longitudinal research by Hewstone et al (2008), to live in mixed-religion neighbourhoods. If, as suggested by theories of political socialisation

  ., GLENDINNING, T., PATERSON, I. and ROSIE, M. 2005 'Religious discrimination in Scotland: Fact or myth?

  ., GALLAGHER, A. M. and DUNN, S. 1993 Intergroup contact in a Northern Irish university setting: A report to the Central Community Relations Unit, Coleraine: Centre for the Study of Conflict, University of Ulster. CAIRNS, E. and HEWSTONE, M. 2002 'The impact of peacemaking in Northern Ireland on intergroup behaviour' in G. Salomon & B. Nevo (eds), The nature and study of peace education, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 217-28. CAMPBELL, A., HUGHES, J., HEWSTONE, M. And CAIRNS, E. (2008) 'Social capital as a mechanism for building a sustainable society in Northern Ireland',

  HEWSTONE, M., CAIRNS, VOCI, A., PAOLINI, S., MCLERNON, F., CRISP, R., and NIENS, U. 2005 'Intergroup contact in a divided society: Challenging segregation in Northern Ireland', in D. Abrams, J. M. Marques, and M.A. Hogg (eds), The social psychology of inclusion and exclusion, Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press, pp. 265-92. HEWSTONE, M., CAIRNS, E., VOCI, A., HAMBERGER, J., and NIENS, U. 2006 'Intergroup contact, forgiveness, and experience of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland', Journal of Social Issues, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 999-120. HEWSTONE, M., TAUSCH, N., HUGHES, J. and CAIRNS, E. 2008 'Can contact promote better relations? Evidence from mixed and segregated areas of Belfast', (retreived 29 October 2010) http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/can_contact_promote_better_relations_evidence_from_mi xed_and_segregated_areas_of_belfast_-_summary_report.pdf HODSON, R., SEKULIC, D., and MASSEY, G. 1994 'National tolerance in former Yugoslavia', American Journal of Sociology, vol. 99, pp. 1534-58. 2010 'In transition: young people in Northern Ireland growing up in, and out of, divided communities', Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 33: no. 5, pp. 761-778. MCKITTRICK, D. 2004 'Ulster to tackle segregation with mixed housing estates', The Independent, (retrieved 2 July 2010) http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/ulster/article54860.ece MORGAN, V., DUNN, S., CAIRNS, E. and FRASER, G. 1992 'Breaking the mould: the roles of parents and teachers in the integrated schools in Northern Ireland', Coleraine: University of Ulster, Centre for the Study of Conflict. MORGAN, V., SMYTH, M., ROBINSON G. and FRASER, G. 1996, Mixed marriages in Northern Ireland, Coleraine: University of Ulster NIENS, U., CAIRNS, E., and HEWSTONE, M. 2003, 'Contact and conflict in Northern Ireland', in O. Hargie & D. Dickson (eds), Researching The Troubles: Social science perspectives on the Northern Ireland conflict, Edinburgh: MainstreamPublishing, pp. 123-40. NORTHERN IRELAND SOCIAL ATTITUDES SURVEY 1989 Belfast: ARK (retrieved 2 July 2010) www.ark.ac.uk/sol . 1990 Interpreting Northern Ireland, Oxford: Clarendon Press WIGFALL-WILLIAMS, W. 2007 Peace in the margins: Identity negotiation in mixedtradition marriages and its potential for mitigating inter-community conflicts in Northern Ireland. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Washington: George Mason University Wigfall-Williams, W. & Robinson, G. 2001 A World Apart: Mixed Marriage in Northern Ireland, Belfast: ARK.

  examined the relationship between intermarriage and age, education and social class. They note a rise in the number of mixed marriages particularly among younger age groups and suggest that changing societal factors such as increasing secularisation may have contributed to a breakdown in sectarianism in Scotland. Their findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the extent to which sectarianism exists in Scotland

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	of those who were living in mixed-religion partnerships (χ 2 =31.58, df=4, p<0.001).
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	employed compared with 63% of those in same religion partnerships (χ 2 =16.39, df=4,
	p<0.01).
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Table 1 :

 1 Marital status and age group

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	Tables
		Same religion	Mixed-religion	All
		%	%	%
	Marital Status*
	Married	96	88	95
	Living as married	4	12	5
	Total	100	100	100
	Age Group*
	18-24 years	2	4	2
	25-34 years	13	22	14
	35-44 years	24	30	24
	45-54 years	24	26	24

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Table 4 :

 4 Living outside Northern Ireland and Type of School Attended

	Same religion	Mixed-religion	All
	%	%	%

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Table 5 :

 5 Party support and Identity

	Same religion	Mixed-	All
	%	religion	%
		%

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Table 6 :

 6 Attitudes towards mixing in neighbourhood, workplace and school

	Same religion	Mixed-	All
	%	religion	%
		%

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Table 7 :

 7 Attitudes towards mixing in school and whether child went to integrated school (all respondents) Some respondents may be reporting mixed-religions such as Catholic/Protestant while others may be reporting mixed denominations such as Presbyterian/Church of Ireland. 2 Social class was based on present or most recent occupation, formerly Registrar General's Social Class.3 This association was statistically significant even when pensioners (who had lower incomes overall) were removed from the analysis. However, the number of respondents who were in mixed-religion partnerships in 1998 was only 99 and so the findings need to be treated with some caution. Research Director of ARK in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work at Queen's University Belfast. ADDRESS: School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK. Email: k.lloyd@qub.ac.uk GILLIAN ROBINSON is Director of ARK in INCORE at the University of Ulster. ADDRESS: Aberfoyle House, University of Ulster, BT48 7JL, UK. Email: gm.robinson@ulster.ac.uk

	Prefer mixed	Prefer same	All
	school	religion school
	%	%	%

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Ethnic and Racial Studies

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