The Economics Behind the Anger

	Average Personal Income	Average Household Income
UK	₤74.90	₤182.10
Best Region (South East)	₤89.40	₤210.50
Worst Region (Yorkshire/Humberside)	₤65.70	₤163.30
Northern Ireland	₤52.30	₤144.70

Pg 214: Table 1.6 Average personal and household weekly incomes, 1982-1983 (Source: Regional Trends, 1985, quoted by Gafikin and Morrissey in Teague, Rhetoric, p 143)

	Unemployed	Full-Time Working	Part-Time Working
Catholics
Males	35%	62%	3%
Females	17%	55%	28%
All	28%	59%	13%
Protestants
Males	15%	82%	3%
Females	11%	55%	35%
All	13%	71%	16%

Pg 213: Table 1.4 Economic activity by religion: percentages (Source: Continuous Household Survey, 1984, quoted by Gafikin and Morrissey in Teague, Rhetoric, p 150) 

Socio-Economic Status	Catholics	Protestants
A	2.5%	6.4%
B	8%	11.4%
C1	22%	26.1%
C2	29.8%	26.7%
D	30.7%	25.6%
E	7%	3.8%

pg 215: Table 1.7 Socio-economic Status by religion, 1978 (Source: Northern Ireland Attitude Survey [NIAS], quoted by Moxon-Browne, Nation, pg 83)


As much as I hate math, I love charts and tables. In particular, I love these tables (from Sabine Wichert's book Northern Ireland Since 1945) because I believe they provide a whole new dimension to the conflict in Northern Ireland.


The tables pretty much speak for themselves as to what they mean. On pg 78 of Toolis's book, Rebel Hearts, Toolis quotes a man named Fergus claiming, "The Protestants have all the best jobs in Cookstown. They get to work inside...in the factories." If these numbers don't back up that assertion, they certainly back up that Protestants simply have more jobs in general. Similarly, in the documentary, the Secret History of the IRA, a Catholic neighborhood is shown alongside a Protestant one. The discrepancy between the two is rather staggering. (the footage showing the neighborhoods begins at 5:36)

This clear difference between folks of these two different religious backgrounds is clearly a source of bitterness in Ulster, and may very well be another reason some of these young men joined the IRA.