Madam, - An outside observer might say that Northern Ireland has changed greatly for the good, particularly since the signing of the ceasefires of 1994. And the decrease in the level of violence is both indisputable and welcome. Yet an examination of recent studies demonstrates that an increased level of fear between the two communities has resulted in greater demands for segregated housing and employment.
The 2001 census results show that 66 per cent of the population live in areas which are 90 pent cent of one religion, a figure which has risen from 63 per cent in 1991.
In 2002, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Coleraine conducted a study of 4,800 households in 12 neighbouring estates in Belfast and found that 68 per cent of 18- to 25-year-olds had never had a meaningful conversation with anyone from the "other community".
In 1994, there were 15 "peace walls" separating Protestant and Catholic housing estates; by 2000 this figure had risen to 27, and by early 2003, it stood at 37.
Children as young as six (after the first two years of compulsory education) recognise the political significance of symbols such as parades or flags associated with the Catholic and Protestant communities respectively; 34 per cent identify only with their own community and 15 per cent make sectarian comments.
The great hope of overcoming such fear and separation has been the steady majority of parents from all sections of the community demanding the right to send their children to integrated schools where Catholics, Protestants, children of other religions and none are educated side by side.
Despite many hardships, financial and communal, this parent-led movement has brought about the staggering achievement of having 58 integrated schools - 19 second-level colleges and 39 primary schools - established right across Northern Ireland, most of them oversubscribed - sadly, almost 600 pupils had to be turned away in September 2005. Nor is there any dwindling in parental wishes to see these developments continue. An opinion poll carried out in 2003 showed that 82 per cent of parents with children under the age of 19 personally supported integrated schools, and 81 per cent of all parents and grandparents saw them as an important contribution towards peace and reconciliation.
In the Belfast Agreement of 1998, "'initiatives to facilitate and encourage integrated education" were singled out as "an essential aspect of the reconciliation process [ in] the promotion of a culture of tolerance" in Northern Ireland.
Yet in a year in which £372 million has been allocated for the capital development of segregated Catholic and Protestant schools, Angela Smith, Parliamentary Under-Secretary with Responsibility for Education in Northern Ireland, refused funding for four integrated schools on March 2nd. Just a year ago, on March 21st, 2005, the British government published its policy document, "A Shared Future", in which it stated: "Separate but equal is not an option. Parallel living and the provision of parallel services are unsustainable both morally and economically".
Can a government forget its own policy in one year? And can a Parliamentary under-secretary be allowed to dictate thus to parents in Northern Ireland? - Yours, etc,
CECIL LINEHAN, Co-Founder, All Children Together, Helen's Bay, Co Down.