Analysis: 50% of people in Northern Ireland describe themselves as a practising Christian and one in five consider themselves to be evangelical
By Gladys Ganiel, Queens University Belfast
The late preacher-politician Rev Ian Paisley casts a long shadow over this island’s popular imagination as the embodiment of evangelicalism in Northern Ireland. As founder of the Free Presbyterian Church and the Democratic Unionist Party, Paisley’s fusion of religion and politics was stark and apocalyptic, with Catholicism cast as an eternal enemy, the very anti-Christ.
Paisley frequently referred to Ulster as ‘the last bastion of evangelical Protestantism in Western Europe’. Writing in the Protestant Telegraph in 1968, he asserted "we are the defenders of Truth in this Province and in this island. … Ulster is the last bastion of Evangelical Protestantism in Western Europe; we must not let drop the torch of Truth at this stage of the eternal conflict between Truth and Evil."
Two new surveys confirm both the strength of evangelicalism and the unusually high levels of religious practice among both Catholics and Protestants in Northern ireland. But there are some surprising results in the surveys, commissioned by the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland, around who evangelicals are, as well as their political views.
As the report puts it, 'more people go to church each week than attend a local football match in a year.'
One survey was a representative poll of the general public across Northern Ireland, conducted by Savanta ComRes (1,005 participants) and weighted by age, sex, and council region. This is the most comprehensive survey of religious identification, practice, and viewpoints in Northern Ireland in two decades. The other survey was a self-selecting online questionnaire distributed by the Evangelical Alliance, largely via email and its social media platforms. A total of 2,083 responded, mostly Protestant evangelicals.
While evangelicals’ numerical strength might mean that they continue to constitute a ‘bastion’, these surveys confirm that it is a ‘bastion’ that is much more varied and complex than Paisley’s rhetoric implied. Further, Northern Ireland remains much more religious than the Republic of Ireland, UK, and indeed Western Europe.
Religion still matters in Northern Ireland
Church attendance in Northern Ireland has declined markedly since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. According to the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey in 1999, 77% of Catholics and 52% of Protestants attended religious services on a monthly or more basis. By 2019, both Catholics and Protestants recorded monthly or more attendance of around 46%.
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From RTÉ's Doc On One in 2014, Saved! profiles born-again evangelical preacher John Purcell
By contrast in the Republic, monthly or more mass attendance has declined from about 80% in the 1990s to 28% by 2020. In the UK, there are more people of ‘no religion’ than there are of any religion, and less than 15% attend religious services on a monthly basis
The Savanta survey confirmed Northern Ireland’s unusually high levels of religious practice. Some 50% of the entire population chose to describe themselves as practising Christians, with 36% reporting attending church on a monthly or more basis (23% on a weekly basis). 46% of Catholics and 32% of Protestants attend on a monthly or more basis. As the Evangelical Alliance report puts it, ‘more people go to church each week than attend a local football match in a year.’
35% of people pray and 13% read the bible weekly. Many people think religion is about more than private practice: 65% agreed there is a role for faith in society.
Who are the Evangelicals?
Scholars have long disputed how to define evangelicalism. Most agree that evangelicals emphasise a ‘born again’ experience, take the bible very seriously and strive to live out their faith actively, whether that is through converting others or in service that promotes a common good.
A massive 47% of Protestants and a startling 38% of Catholics who considered themselves practising self-identified as evangelicals
Throughout the Troubles and in the years immediately after the Agreement, scholars estimated that between 25 and 33% of the Protestant population could be considered evangelical. Few considered that Catholics might call themselves evangelical.
In the Savanta poll, 21% of the general population chose to identify as evangelical, including 42% of those who considered themselves ‘practising’ Christians. Young practising Christians (aged 18-24) were the most likely to identify as evangelical at 70%, compared to 46% of practising Christians over age 65. Evangelical Alliance’s survey of its own members and associates revealed exceptional commitment: on a weekly basis 96% pray, 95% attend church, and 92% read the bible.
In the Savanta poll, a massive 47% of Protestants and a startling 38% of Catholics who considered themselves practising self-identified as evangelicals. While we do not have the data to accurately chart what appears to a significant rise in evangelical Catholicism, this is a surprising finding that merits further research.
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From RTÉ Archives, 1989 RTÉ News report on a conference on Evangelism organised by Catholic Charismatic Renewal and staged at the Point Depot in Dublin attended by over 3,000 people
In his later years, Paisley enjoyed a warm relationship with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, a former member of the IRA, and it was reported that Paisley and McGuinness prayed together. Even so, what might have Paisley thought of Catholics joining Ulster’s evangelical bastion?
Politics and social justice
Because of Paisley, Northern Ireland evangelicalism has been not only associated with an uncompromising brand of unionist politics, but with the policing of sexual morality. After all, Paisley was also famous for his ‘Save Ulster from Sodomy’ campaign.
The surveys found that evangelicals continue to differ from the general population in their beliefs on abortion and same sex marriage. 92% of Evangelical Alliance respondents disagreed/strongly disagreed that abortion should be available for any reason, compared to 34% of the general population. 96% of Evangelical Alliance respondents and 40% of the general population disagreed/strongly disagreed that churches should be compelled by the government to promote same sex marriages.
On the issue of asylum seekers and refugees, evangelicals have more in common with the political left than would have been supposed
Yet the two surveys confounded some stereotypes of evangelicals. 81% of Evangelical Alliance respondents agreed that asylum seekers and refugees should be supported in practical ways and made to feel welcome, compared to just 56% of the general population. On this issue at least, evangelicals have more in common with the political left than would have been supposed.
The surveys also revealed that 82% of the general population and 83% of Evangelical Alliance respondents agreed that more effort is needed to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland; while 81% (general) and 83% (Evangelical Alliance) agreed it is time to reform the Assembly.
The surveys did not ask if people would take it upon themselves to promote peace and reconciliation. It is impossible to say therefore if evangelical agreement that ‘more effort is needed’ will translate into more effort on the part of evangelicals. But even if evangelicals prove to be more concerned about such issues, the time for Paisley’s ‘eternal conflict between Truth and Evil’ seems to have passed.
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Dr Gladys Ganiel is Professor in the Sociology of Religion at Queens University Belfast
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
