CATHOLICS HAVE gained more than Protestants from the peace process in Northern Ireland, new research says.
Ten years after the signing of the Belfast Agreement, it is the minority community which is making the most of the opportunities in the post-Troubles era.
A study undertaken by academics from Queen's University, Belfast found that Catholics:
• have made significant inroads into the workforce;
• are now more likely to have a degree than Protestants;
• are now less likely to leave school with no qualifications than Protestants,
• are reducing child poverty faster than Protestants.
Professor Richard English, who headed the research team, said the social and economic benefits of peace appear to be flowing to Catholics - and in particular the Catholic middle-class - faster than the Protestant community.
"There is a significant breakdown in terms of the ways in which different sections of both communities have intersected with the changing, new Northern Ireland," he said.
"Broadly speaking, in terms of educational and employment opportunities, the less advantaged groups within the Protestant community have tended to do far less well than their equivalent group within the Catholic community.
"So in that sense, while you can't talk starkly about winners and losers in the last decade in Northern Ireland, what you can do is point to a community on the Catholic side which has more uniformly enjoyed the benefits of the changes than has been the case on the Protestant side of the divide."
The research, which was commissioned by More 4 News, compared the situation in Northern Ireland 10 years ago.
The study found the percentage of Catholics who had higher qualifications was now greater than Protestants (31 per cent to 25 per cent). In 1997 the level in both communities was 17 per cent.
It also noted that the number of unemployed Catholics had more than halved since the Belfast Agreement, going down from 12 per cent to less than 6 per cent.
While Catholics were still more likely to be unemployed than Protestants, since 1997 the number of Catholics in the workforce has risen by 3 per cent. Protestant numbers fell by about 5 per cent.
The Catholic working class remained more deprived than the Protestant working classes across a range of indicators. However, there was evidence that Catholic deprivation was being addressed much faster. The percentage of children in (Catholic) maintained schools on free school meals this year, compared with 10 years ago, declined by 30 per cent, compared with 17.5 per cent in Protestant schools.