Why We Need Rowallane Integrated College
by Dr. Maurice Hayes, Chairman of The Ireland Funds Advisory Committee in Ireland and Former Northern Ireland Ombudsman

At long last the Northern Peace Process seems to be nearing some sort of conclusion. The IRA guns have been silent for a decade, the IRA have decommissioned weapons and channelled the energy of the Republican movement into democratic politics. The Loyalist paramilitaries, who have not disarmed, are beginning to seek ways into politics. The St. Andrews Agreement is designed to secure the return of devolved government by March next, with Unionists sharing power with Sinn Fein supporting the police.

The crucial challenge for that government will be to bind up the wounds left by thirty years of bitter conflict, to learn from the mistakes of the past, and to eradicate the sectarianism and intolerance which have divided the society for generations, and have themselves incubated and sustained the conflict.

Most analyses of the problem cite segregation on religious lines between Catholics and Protestants as a main contributory factor. When this is reinforced by residential segregation, which has worsened through widespread intimidation, with little social interaction between the groups, suspicion and hostility become endemic, based on ignorance or fear of the other group. People see others as stereotypes, cardboard figures which can be dehumanised, demonised and attacked .

Many of these attitudes have been shown to start in early childhood, and to be reinforced by separation. Education, which could be an important means of combating ignorance and sectarianism, itself becomes a contributing factor when children are educated separately in religiously segregated schools. This is not to say that the schools indoctrinate the pupils with sectarian ideas, but the very separation, the fact that children go to different schools, emphasises that there is a difference, and the lack of contact with children from the other religion reinforces the sense of difference, which becomes more pronounced.

In Northern Ireland, nine out of ten children attend religiously segregated schools, meeting only at third level, at college or university. The trouble is too that only a small minority of children from working-class areas (where divisions are most marked) get to go to university.

The first Minister of Education, in 1922, proposed a secular system of education. This was shot down by the Catholic bishops, much to the relief of the Protestant churches, which did not want it either. Schools remained separate, one system rooted in a British, the other in an Irish cultural tradition.

The one beacon of hope in all this arose in the early 1970s when a small group of dedicated parents set up the Integrated Schools movement. From a tiny start in a disused scout hut, there are now 61 schools, catering for 18,500 pupils. This amounts, however, to less than 6% of the school population. In the classic integrated school, the intake is balanced between Catholic and Protestant, as is the staff, and the curriculum reflects both Irish and British cultures, and provides an environment in which pupils can mix, learn, play and socialise together and can respect difference and diversity.

The Ireland Funds have supported these schools from the start, both directly and through the IEF and NICIE. There is a consistent parental demand, new schools are being opened or in planning at pre-school, primary and secondary level.

In the past, the pattern of help has been to support a new school for a few years until the numbers being recruited and the standard achieved met the criteria for state funding.

This is becoming much more difficult because a drop in the birth-rate means that there are 50,000 empty desks in Northern Ireland schools. In these circumstances, it becomes difficult to persuade the authorities to sanction a new school in an area where schools are closing, and integrated schools must find additional charitable funds.

However, this brings opportunity too, not perhaps for new integrated schools, but for effectively integrating existing schools. Two small schools in a village, one Catholic the other Protestant and both under threat, could perhaps be amalgamated, thus ensuring that there could be a single school. There have been schemes of this nature in England and Scotland, and no reason why it could not work in Northern Ireland.

The integrated schools are an important part of the future, but at 5.8% of the total, will take decades to reach critical mass. In addition, residential segregation makes integrated schooling extremely difficult in the areas where it is most needed.

The Funds will continue their support, as in the past, for integrated schools, and for parents who choose this option for their children. They will also support pilot schemes in which schools merge or share facilities in a way which enables children to mix across traditional boundaries and to learn together the value of diversity and to acquire the mutual respect which is the basis for citizenship.

Dr. Hayes was voted European Person of the Year in 2003 by the European Movement