Why are twice as many Catholics on Remand than Protestants?

Normally when I write a post for Slugger it is because I want to articulate a point of view on a given topic, but sometimes something comes up which wasn’t on my radar yet I still feel is worth talking about. I want to emphasise I am not an expert on this, I merely wish to highlight it.

According to Paul Ainsworth, writing in ‘The Irish News‘, there are twice as many Catholics than Protestants on remand in Northern Ireland in spite of the two populations being roughly equal in size.

There are more Catholics on remand in the north’s prisons than those of a Protestant and ‘Other’ background combined, according to the data released by Stormont’s justice minister…

The most recent figures available from the NI Statistics and Research Agency show that of the daily average overall prison population of 1,911, 50% identified as Catholics, while Protestants “and other Christians” accounted for 32.2%, and “no religion” for 14.1%.

Whilst the report quotes Justice Minister Naomi Long emphasising that the data “should not be regarded as a definitive indicator of a prisoner’s community background”, Sinn Féin MLA Emma Sheering expressed concern. The article quotes her as saying that

“the continued over-representation of Catholics across the justice system remains deeply concerning”.

“There is clear evidence of persistent over-representation of Catholics in both adult and youth custody, and these latest figures show Catholics make up more of the remand population than every other community background combined…Those from a Catholic background are more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested, and charged. Previous Criminal Justice Inspection reports have found that Catholics consistently experience poorer outcomes in our prisons, including evidence of prejudice…Further work is required to identify why Catholics are consistently over-represented, to record and monitor trends, and, most importantly, to address these disparities and ensure equality across our justice system.”

It seems to be a feature of societies everywhere that minorities who suffer or who have suffered discrimination tend to be over-represented in their respective justice systems. In the United States, whose history of racial discrimination is well documented, African-Americans who constitute about 13% of the overall population make up well over a third of the prisoner population for example. In the United Kingdom as a whole, 27% of the prison population comes from an ethnic minority background in spite of only forming about 16% of the overall population.

Is it therefore surprising that the same dynamic applies in the north? The Catholic minority suffered heavy discrimination in the past and whilst things are nowhere near what they used to be, surely there are echoes of that approach that still linger in our land? Or are there factors at work that are not apparent at first glance and which cannot be just chalked up to the discriminatory hangover of the state’s origins?