onsidering recent headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking Northern Ireland was hurtling back towards much darker days. The unrest witnessed in Belfast remains a legitimate concern, with deep-set socioeconomic roots. And we’ve been given a stark reminder of the Troubles with the inquest into the Ballymurphy massacre. However, despite the hurdles, there is much to suggest a populace who are intent on making a healthier, genuinely integrated society work. You can trace that commitment back to changes that are unshackling the country from its cyclical history of ethnic conflict and mutual mistrust. In the 23 years since the Good Friday agreement, people in Northern Ireland have repeatedly expressed that there can be no return to bloodshed and brutality in the name of national identity. This is reflected by younger people rejecting the idea of being either British or Irish, in favour of a fluid, fully inclusive Northern Irish identity. A recent poll suggested that while 51% of over-65s here consider themselves British, only 17% of those aged 18-24 identify the same way. Positive impacts can be seen on the ground, in seemingly mundane ways. Take the launch of East Belfast GAA in a historically loyalist area of the city last year. Formed by former GAA players David McGreevy and Richard Maguire, its motto of “Together” rendered in English, Irish and Ulster Scots doubled as a request for members from both Roman Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. A sport that is traditionally associated with the Catholic church and nationalism taking root in a staunch bastion of Protestantism: it would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Now, its success in having competitive, cross-community teams in football, hurling and camogie feels like a tangible victory for cross-cultural relations in the city. Since the creation of the Northern Irish state 100 years ago, discord over religion and nationalism has underpinned day-to-day concerns such as the invisible wall of economic inequality. Taking a step back, it’s obvious to many people that a segregated education system creates and perpetuates such cultural estrangement. According to the most recent public data, 93% of Northern Ireland children attend segregated schools on religious grounds, yet a recent survey indicates 69% of people believe every school should be integrated. As much as £1bn has been spent in the past decade on initiatives seeking to undo the fallout of segregation. It’s abundantly clear that a reboot of shared education is due. With an official review of the system due later in the year, Northern Ireland’s first integrated Irish-language pre-school is attempting to pave the way. Set to open in east Belfast in September, Naíscoil na Seolta (or “Nursery of the Sails” – a nod to the city’s shipbuilding past) is a twofold proposition: a cross-community, integrated school and one that will teach through Irish, offering the many recognised benefits of bilingualism in education. “If we were to teach the children French or Spanish or Italian, they would have the same benefits,” Annelies Taylor, chair of the school, told me recently. “But by teaching them Irish we are teaching their culture, their background, their history. It’s about teaching them they have a place. It’s also about situating them in Belfast as an Irish community, rather than a polarised community.” Having been raised in rural Northern Ireland myself, Taylor’s words resonate with me. One of my earliest memories as a pupil at an all-Catholic primary school was being allocated a penpal from an all-Protestant school in Belfast. It may not have been in Irish, and it often felt like contacting someone on the other side of the world, but our correspondence never touched on matters of country or creed. And why would they? Forty years on from Lagan College in Belfast becoming the first school in Northern Ireland to teach Catholic and Protestant children under one roof, the 64 integrated schools that have followed signal that many young people and their parents have no interest in division. The current makeup of integrated schools in Northern Ireland (40% Catholic, 40% Protestant and 20% other/none) is a fair reflection of our society – one where, for instance, Polish and Somali communities live peacefully side by side on Ravenhill Road in Belfast, and its largest arts festival, Belfast Mela, doubles as a joyous celebration of cultural diversity. By seeking to teach young children of all backgrounds in English and Irish, Naíscoil na Seolta caters to that hunger for inclusivity. The three-year power-sharing impasse at Stormont stemming from, among other things, a proposed Irish language act – legislation that would essentially give Irish equal status to English – showed that our main political parties aren’t above weaponising language for political gain. But thanks to the country’s oldest interdenominational political party, Alliance, successfully proposing a compromise that equally honours an Irish language act and an Ulster Scots act, occupying a middle ground has proved to be crucial. Unquestionably, Irish can and should play a part in the new Northern Irish identity, but we need breakthroughs and compromises across the board. Beyond the vital work of organisations such as the Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), Protestant-raised language rights activists such as Annelies Taylor and Linda Ervine have covered considerable ground in legitimising the reclamation of Irish for all. As well as being co-founder of Naíscoil na Seolta and president of East Belfast GAA, Ervine founded the Irish language project Turas in 2011. Created to “connect adults from Protestant communities to their own history with the Irish language”, it has helped spur a sea change in the perception of language in Northern Ireland. Separation has created a long outdated obstacle to societal healing and progress. Vague notions of religious and cultural supremacy, fed from generation to generation, are now truly at odds with where most people in Northern Ireland are really heading. However, with available integrated schools currently oversubscribed, it’s clear that the promise of our shared future must now meet the demands of our shared present. True reconciliation starts with understanding, which often comes from compromise. Let’s celebrate, rather than simply accommodate, each other’s culture. Brian Coney is a writer and editor living in Belfast