Perceptions of Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland Published Today

Date published: 13 March 2019

This bulletin provides a snapshot of the views of a representative sample of people in Northern Ireland on their perceptions of and attitudes towards paramilitary influence and activity in Northern Ireland. Information is presented in relation to the full sample and disaggregated by demographics including age, gender, religion, education and political identity.

• Area: Overall 41.5% of respondents were found to live in ‘mixed’ religion areas across Northern Ireland and 52.1% of respondents described their area as being neither Loyalist nor Republican. An overwhelming majority of respondents (96.4%) felt very or fairly safe living within their area.
  
• Sense of Community: Almost two thirds of respondents (65.7%) strongly agreed or agreed that there is a strong sense of community within their area and 90.7% felt that they had some sense of belonging to their neighbourhood. However, almost three in four respondents did not feel that they had any influence upon the local decisions made about their area (73.5%).
  
• Crime and Safety: Almost three fifths of respondents (56.7%) felt that people within their area were confident in reporting crime and anti-social behaviour to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). A similar proportion (56.9%) strongly agreed or agreed that PSNI keeps their area safe. Respondents aged 65 and over had the highest levels of confidence in PSNI, alongside those who identified as Protestants and those who were educated to tertiary level. Those residing in Belfast felt least confident in reporting crime and anti-social behaviour to PSNI and were least likely to agree that PSNI keeps their area safe.
  
• Levels of Crime: Of those who responded, 48.7% stated that they agreed and 15.5% strongly agreed that there were low levels of crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour within their area, 13.4% stated that they neither agreed nor disagreed, 15.5% stated that they disagreed and 6.8% strongly disagreed.
  
• The Law and Justice System: Overall 82.9% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that people within their area generally abide by the law. However, a smaller proportion of respondents felt that they were protected by the law and justice system (62.9%). More respondents who were Protestant, aged 65 and over, married or in a civil partnership or educated to tertiary level agreed with both of the above statements.
  
• Paramilitary Influence: A small proportion of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that paramilitary groups ‘create fear and intimidation’ within their area (15.4%), have a controlling influence (14.2%), or help keep their area safe (5.4%). Just over one-fifth strongly agreed or agreed that paramilitary groups contribute to crime, drug-dealing and anti-social behaviour within their area (22.0%). Across all questions, a greater proportion of respondents living in Belfast strongly agreed or agreed that paramilitary groups have some form of influence within their area.
  
• Young People and Crime: Almost two thirds of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that there is a lot of crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour among young people within their area (65.1%) and that young people are influenced too much by paramilitary groups within their area (65.5%). More respondents living in Belfast agreed or strongly agreed that there were high levels of crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour among young people and that young people are influenced too much by paramilitary groups within their area.