Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is the smallest country in the United Kingdom (the others being England, Scotland, and Wales) and occupies one-sixth of the island of Ireland. The country is divided into six counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone with Belfast being the capital city. It has a population of just over 1.8 million people in 14,130 square km – for comparison, Connecticut has around 3.6 million people in 14,356 square km. 

There is a lot of political baggage that caused a major divide among the population on the island of  Ireland that separated Unionists/Loyalists (predominantly Protestant who want to remain part of the UK) and Republicans (predominantly Catholic who want to reunite as the Republic of Ireland. Even today, many live in their own communities, attend their own schools, have their own Churches, and their own businesses.

Northern Ireland has a fairly high Church-going population compared to the rest of the UK but suffers from traditionalism and moralism with a rapid rise of secularism. Churchgoers are often inward-focused and don’t have a personal relationship with God. However, schools and Universities are still able to be open with the Gospel.

Freely sharing the gospel in schools and universities are just a few of the many opportunities still open in Northern Ireland. Opportunities are continuing to rise, and we desire to see Northern Irish people go from a school-answer knowledge of God to a thriving relationship with Him.