In the 100 years since Ireland was partitioned, Brexit has made worse the religious and political divide and emphasised the steady progress towards a community that has a secular majority. This was the feeling among a panel of experts convened by the Religion Media Centre for the weekly briefing. In Ireland, north and south, politics and religion have traditionally been intertwined. But the Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998, seemed to have spurred the growth of secularisation.
In this discussion hosted by journalist William Crawley, the panel included:
- Dr Eamon Phoenix – political historian and head of Life-long Learning at Stranmillis University College, Queen’s Belfast
- Dr Gladys Ganiel – research fellow of the George Mitchell Institute for Global Peace at Queen’s University, Belfast who specialises in the Northern Ireland conflict, evangelicalism, and Christianity in Ireland
- Tim Cairns – former special adviser to the DUP
- Fr Martin Magill – parish priest of St John the Evangelist on the Falls Road in Belfast
To join RMC briefings email [email protected]
Report: Brexit hardens Northern Ireland divisions while a secular majority forms
People could not “airbrush out our history. But then we find ways to be able to actually hear and learn from it, and then find common ground”
– Fr Martin Magill
FULL BRIEFING YOUTUBE VIDEO
The Religion Media Centre live-tweets all of our briefings, you can find the entire thread on our Twitter feed @relmedcentre
