ABSTRACT
The most commanding aspect of life in Northern Ireland is the presence of two communities labelled variously Catholic and Protestant, republican and loyalist, Irish and British, with none of the tags being sufficient to capture the essence of what it is that unites either group or distinguishes it from the other. The people of Northern Ireland constitute what Hugh MacLennan so eloquently described as two solitudes. In spite of their joint occupation of the same small territory, or perhaps because of it, their ethno-religious identity has served to separate them. All major social institutions are now affected by segregation-especially marriage, education, work and housing, with inevitable structural alienation and disaffection. The grammar schools which had been the major providers of secondary education were expanded and continued with their emphasis of providing an academic education aimed at university entrance or, at least, entry into the white collar work force.
