A Framework for Understanding Religion in Northern Irish Civil Society

Abstract

The churches are the largest voluntary associations in Northern Irish civil society (Morrow et al. 1991), but they have rarely been included in broader analyses of it. In particular, churches and religious organisations have been overlooked when it comes to analyses of how civil society has contributed to the Northern Irish peace process (Ganiel and Dixon, 2008). Apart from the work of Brewer (2003) and Appleby (2000), which highlights significant contributions of religious peace-builders,² much of the scholarship on religion in Northern Ireland has focused on its contribution to the conflict or, at the very least, its role in maintaining boundaries between the Catholic and Protestant communities (Brewer and Higgins, 1998; Bruce, 1986; Fulton, 1991; Liechty and Clegg, 2001; Mitchell, 2003, 2006). Others have downplayed the religious dimensions of the conflict (McGarry and O’Leary, 1995), or argued that it matters only for a few fundamentalists or evangelicals. In this area, the Rev. Ian Paisley and his followers have been stereotyped as religious fanatics, providing ammunition for those who would exclude religion from the public sphere on the grounds that it is dangerous.³

This research was funded by the Royal Irish Academy’s Third Sector Research Programme. I wish to thank the research participants who gave so generously of their time and insights.