The integrated education movement in Northern Ireland shows how inclusive schools can thrive even in areas which have suffered segregation for many years. The mistrust between the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland is due to many factors but it has been underpinned by an education system that keeps their children apart. The consequence of segregated schooling has been that stereotypes and prejudices about the ´other side´ have gone unchallenged and fed into sectarianism and violence.

In 1981 a group of parents ‘broke the mould´ in Northern Ireland society by coming together to open the first planned integrated school, Lagan College. With 28 pupils in a scout hut on the outskirts of Belfast, pioneering parents laid down a challenge to the prevailing structures of society and took a risk for peace, creating a new educational establishment that would truly reflect both communities in its pupils, teachers and governors. Those 28 pupils have now risen to 19,400, while the demand for places in integrated schools is continuing to grow despite a drop in the overall school aged population in Northern Ireland. Could that have any message for us?

The integrated schools have a Christian ethos, but one that places a great deal of importance on valuing the beliefs and traditions of others, whether they are Catholic, Protestant or from other religious or non-religious traditions.
To overcome the very high degree of segregation in Northern Ireland’s schools, integrated schools admit a proportion of students from each of the main religious communities. The different situation in Britain means that Accord is calling for state schools to have open admissions instead of quotas, but many of the lessons learnt in Northern Ireland have wider implications.

Academic research has shown that integrated schools that embrace the diversity of their pupils are better placed to build understanding than separate schools linked by cross community projects, however worthwhile those projects may be.
Finally, there is a lesson for those schools that do have inclusive admissions: breaking down barriers of fear and intolerance takes time and work, so no school should rest on its laurels.