This article appeared in the Belfast Telegraph of 16 June 2012
Northern Ireland’s youngest adults have no memories of the worst of The Troubles. From September, new voters coming onto the electoral register will be people who were not even born when the first IRA ceasefire was declared.
Our 18-24-year-olds showed some surprising differences from the rest of the population in their views on politics and policy. How does our first cohort of truly post-conflict voters view Northern Ireland?
One area where young people differ little from the rest of the population is the big constitutional question. Overall support for maintaining the border is almost exactly the same, at 64%, among young adults as it is among the rest of the population.
It will surprise many that young adults are those most hostile to the use of Irish and Ulster-Scots. Half of them think government departments should use only English when dealing with the public, as opposed to a third of people overall.
Young adults seem to accept the current political settlement while remaining cynical about the performance of Northern Ireland politicians.
