Northern Ireland mixed marriages: 20% of all relationships now Protestant and Catholic - a positive influence for shared future says Northern Ireland Mixed Marriage Association (NIMMA)

The genesis of the organisation began in the early 1970s when several dozen young people from Belfast in mixed relationships met at Corrymeela as a self help group.

"Before the troubles took hold one in ten marriages in Northern Ireland were mixed," Paul told the News Letter.

It is always difficult to give precise figures on the issue as the census does not gather specific information on the topic.

However he says mixed marriages took a definite dip during the worst days of the Troubles. There was less mixed socialising and mixed couples were even targeted with violence.

"More recently, a survey by Queen's University School of Education about six years ago found that one in five relationships in Northern Ireland are now mixed".

NIMMA has also noticed a steadily rising level of traffic to their website, with people perusing detailed advice on mixed relationships.

"There are now more mixed relationships than there ever were," Paul said.

Anecdotally, it appears the incidence of mixed marriages is much more common east of the Bann.

He suggests this could be because young people in rural areas west of the Bann tend to socialise much more in their own communities.

But in bigger towns and cities, the emerging peace after the Troubles has seen much more mixed socialising and relationships.

"This may well be reflected in the growing numbers of people who are voting in a more middle of the road way," he adds.

If a young couple from the Falls and Shankill decide to get married, they naturally look for a mixed housing area to move to, he says.

For mixed couples from Belfast, popular areas include Glengormley, Carryduff and North Down. Such couples often prefer their children to attend integrated schools.

The Catholic church policy of requiring children from mixed marriages to be brought up Catholic was thankfully removed in the 1980s, he says.

A common trend now is to have some children baptised as Catholic and some Protestant, with the whole family attending both churches. Other mixed families only attend churches for major occasions.

NIMMA has long lobbied for more mixed social housing and more integrated education for their members.

However the biggest objection to mixed marriage from relatives remains unchanged over 50 years.

It is usually expressed as, “You know I love you and I don't want you to get hurt....”.

"It is a fear of the unknown and a fear that they won't be happy. However all such objections are usually resolved when your first child is born.

"If a couple in a mixed marriage learn to live together and see each other's point of view, that same influence spreads out within their wider family. So that must be having a positive impact on our wider society. Twenty per cent of all relationships or marriages is very substantial influence for a shared future.”