Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland

Neighborhood Effects of Intergroup Contact on Change in Youth Intergroup Bias

“…Although in-group love does not directly translate to outgroup hate (Brewer, 1999), past research has found that intergroup bias does lead to negative intergroup interactions, such as avoiding helping the outgroup (Weisel & Bohm, 2015). In the setting of Northern Ireland, where the binary arrangement of political life reinforces the zerosum nature of the conflict (Brewer & Higgins, 1998), intergroup bias, rather than negative outgroup attitudes alone, may have implications for long-term intergroup relations. Thus, mere contact, without being good quality, may have negative intergroup implications across adolescent development (e.g., Barlow et al, 2012).…”

Dealing with the Legacy of Ethnic Conflict: Confronting ‘Othering’ through Transformative Adult Education—A Northern Ireland Case Study

“…Kaufmann (2007) argues that the Order is 'an extremely multifaceted organization which must be considered in all its manifestations: cultural, religious, convivial, and political' (p. 1). Its stated commitment to protecting Protestant interests, in particular, has given the Order a prominent and often controversial role in some of Northern Ireland's most significant social and political disputes and which has left it open to accusations of anti-Catholicism and sectarianism (Brewer & Higgins, 1998).…”

“…Similarly, the ethos of Orangeism is defined by an analysis of British history that pits an enlightened, democratic and Protestant Britain against the dark forces of an Irish nationalism grounded in the illiberalism and despotism of a Catholicism incapable of tolerating difference and enlightenment (Brewer & Higgins, 1998). As one Orange commentator declared in 1899:…”

“…Importantly, this threat has not just centred on the religious dimension but is seen also within the cultural, economic and political spheres (Kaufmann, 2007). As the Niven (1899) quote highlights, the Order presents an analysis of Irish history that emphasises this threat and which forms the basis of the imagery used in Orange parades to commemorate particular events that are seen to epitomise Protestant persecution such as the massacres of both the 1641 and 1798 rebellions (Brewer & Higgins, 1998; see also Bew, 2009). …”

Democratic Socialism and Sectarianism: The Northern Ireland Labour Party and Progressive Unionist Party Compared

“…The absence of a class-based non-sectarian political party commanding the allegiance and support of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland is something which characterises politics and society in this part of the world. While much has been written about the reasons why sectarianism came to form the basis of political life in Ulster (Brewer and Higgins, 1998) little research has been forthcoming about the obverse; that is to say when more 'conventional' modes of political organisation broke with the established norm and became politically and electorally viable. With the exception perhaps of the pioneering work of Bew, Gibbon and Patterson (2002), cross-sectarian collaboration based on democratic socialist principles has tended to be treated by many scholars as merely an abnormal rupture in an otherwise deeply ethnic or confessional party system (Mitchell, 1995;McGarry and O'Leary, 1995).…”