ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the social and physical segregation of Northern Ireland. It examines not only the sectarian bases of social division in Northern Ireland but also those associated with social class. Social divisions in Northern Ireland are based on other issues as well, such as social class. Data from successive censuses indicate that residential segregation in Northern Ireland according to religious community is, if anything, increasing. Northern Ireland has the dubious distinction of being the only part of the United Kingdom to retain a selective system of postprimary education, with pupils being allocated to grammar or secondary schools on the basis of an examination taken at the age of eleven. Sectarian divisions are deeply etched, but they are not the only source of segregation in Northern Ireland. Although sectarian differences do indeed form the basis for most social and physical segregation in Northern Ireland, a number of stylised "facts" about the situation are not borne out by empirical analysis.
