Poll finds revival of interest in religion in Northern Ireland among young people

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 19, 2025 / 07:00 am

A new poll commissioned by the Iona Institute has found a marked revival of interest in religion among young people in Northern Ireland.

The results are a clear reversal of the previous continuous decline by age. The youngest age group polled, 18- to 24-year-olds, now say they are more likely to have a “very positive” attitude of Christianity (30% vs. only 4% with a “very negative” view) than any other age group, even those over 65.

David Quinn of the Iona Institute told CNA: “What we are seeing in both parts of the island is some kind of revival of interest in religion among a segment of the youngest adults, the 18- to 24-year-olds.” He said a significant number of these young people are men.

The new poll, commissioned by the institute, was conducted by Amárach Research, a market research agency in Dublin, and based on a representative sample of 1,200 adults in Northern Ireland. It revealed that 40% of Catholics in Northern Ireland are regular Massgoers — which is double the percentage of Mass attendees in the Republic of Ireland, which was similarly surveyed earlier in the year by the same research agency.

The Iona Institute was keen to compare the findings in both the north and south of Ireland especially given the higher percentage of Protestant churches in the north.

One big finding of the poll is that Northern Ireland can no longer be viewed as being simply divided between Catholics and Protestants. The “Nones” — that is, those who say they don’t belong to any religion — have become a major force as well. This finding challenges the traditional sectarian stereotypes in Northern Ireland.

Quinn said he believes that indications of some kind of revival of interest in religion among the youngest age group surveyed should encourage all the churches. The finding is not an outlier. The revival of interest among young adults is consistent with poll findings in the Republic of Ireland, Britain, and the United States. In Britain, the phenomenon has been termed the “Quiet Revival.”

Will this growth in interest in the Catholic faith translate into active participation?

Quinn is wary of making premature or rash claims about the poll results. He sees them as a challenge for the Catholic Church in Ireland.

“I think the churches will need to get a lot better at finding ways to respond to this kind of revived interest… people like the Dominicans are able to do it, and some of the evangelicals are good at it as well,” he said. “But I think it’s something that the churches are going to have to have a real hard think about, because we’re very much stuck in the ‘decline stage’ mentality that says we’re all getting older and so what’s the point?”

Quinn said he believes that in the future there will probably be fewer “cultural Christians” — those who “say they are Christian but don’t practice.” He said that instead, society could be divided between those who hold religious belief and those who don’t, with few people in between.

“The overall conclusion, however, is that religion is not disappearing, contrary to past predictions,” he said.

Quinn said that throughout Ireland there’s “a lot of outright disengagement from religion,” adding: “You’ve got a growing number of people who say ‘I don’t have any religion.’ Cultural Christianity is beginning to fade — you know, the sort of person who said ‘I used to go to Mass the odd time’ isn’t going at all. There’s a growing number of people who don’t even bother with the sacraments at all. So … this kind of nonpracticing … type of Christianity is failing, and the ‘no religion’ group is increasing.”

The Iona Institute research shows that while the 18- to 24-year-old group had the highest number of respondents with a “very positive” attitude toward the Catholic Church (17%), half said they are neither religious nor spiritual. Those in this age group, however, said they are more likely to pray and read or watch religious content than people in the 25- to 34-year-old age group.

Of those surveyed in the poll, 28% said they are Catholic, 14% said they are Presbyterian, 11% said they are Church of Ireland, and 36% said they don’t belong to any religion. The rest belong to other Christian churches or religions.

Nearly 50% of respondents said they view Christianity favorably, though percentages were lower when specifically asked about the Catholic Church (23%) and Protestant churches (30%). The most unfavorable attitudes toward religion in general are among the nonreligious.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents said they are religious and/or spiritual — a slightly lower percentage than in the Republic of Ireland. Of those surveyed, 51% said they pray, 44% said they attend religious services (which does not mean regularly), 33% meditate, and 38% read religious or spiritual books such as the Bible.

The poll also revealed that Catholics have more favorable views of Protestant churches than the other way around.

Not unexpectedly, the sex abuse scandals are a big driver of unfavorable attitudes toward the Catholic Church throughout Ireland.