Statistical Press Release - Good Relations Indicators: 2016 Update Report

Date published: 29 September 2016

The purpose of the indicators is to monitor the state of good relations in the population over time.

NB. All figures 2015 unless otherwise stated.

Our Children and Young People

47% of young people and 52% of adults think that relationships between Protestants and Catholics are better now than they were five years ago. Figures for the previous year were 52% and 50% respectively.

66% of young people report regularly socialising or playing sport with people from a different community background. This is up by 3 percentage points.

Our Shared Community

59% of schools were involved in shared education with another school in the previous year. This is down from 76%.

87% of people say that they can be open about their cultural identity in their neighbourhood, and 83% say the same about their workplace.

Our Safe Community

In 2015/16, 1,001 hate crimes were sectarian in motive, and 853 were racially motivated. Corresponding figures for the previous year were 1043 and 921 respectively.

18% of people said they had been annoyed by republican murals, kerb paintings or flags in the last year. 23% of people said they had been annoyed by loyalist murals, kerb paintings or flags in the last year. The previous year this was 27% and 32% respectively.

Our Cultural Expression

80% of people believe that the culture and traditions of the Catholic community adds to the richness and diversity of Northern Ireland society. A similar proportion (82%) believe this about Protestant culture and traditions, whilst a smaller proportion (61%) believe this about the culture and traditions of people from different Minority Ethnic groups.

Less than a third of adults (27%) felt like they have an influence when it comes to any of the local decisions made in their neighbourhood, and less than a quarter (22%) to the decisions made in Northern Ireland. For young people, these proportions were much lower (9% and 7%, respectively).

The report is available on the Executive Office Analysis, Insight and Outcomes Unit website

Further information relating to the collection and production of the statistics can be obtained by contacting: