Politics

What does Northern Ireland’s reaction to the death of Pope Francis say about attitudes?

Protestants as well as Catholics lined up to sign book of condolences in Belfast

Pope Francis death: Book of condolences open in Belfast City Hall. Photograph: Darren Kidd/PA
Pope Francis death: Book of condolences open in Belfast City Hall. Photograph: Darren Kidd/PA
Freya McClements's picture
Freya McClements
Sat Apr 26 2025 - 06:00

In the lobby of Belfast City Hall, the queue was of councillors, not members of the public.

It took time, once the book of condolence for Pope Francis was opened on Wednesday, for people to drift in and sign their names; when they did so, they were Protestant as well as Catholic.

Among them was 79-year-old Colin Flinn, from a Presbyterian background, who told The Irish Times the late pontiff had been “a great example to the world, to politicians, to everyone. And so humble.”

This language was echoed by DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who described the pope in an interview with the BBC as “someone who wanted to do things differently, he seemed a more gentle, humble, engaging and caring individual.”

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It was important, Robinson said, to “recognise the significance of this passing”. Francis was, he said, “not somebody that I follow, but somebody I can recognise for the position that he holds and the importance that people attach to him.

“I recognise this is a significant moment of mine, of yours, those neighbours in Northern Ireland for whom the pope means a great deal.”

His party colleague, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, made similar remarks, offering her “sincere condolences” and recognising that Francis was “held in high regard and admiration by so many ... I know that his loss will be felt deeply.”

Such words from senior DUP figures would once have been unthinkable.

For this is the party founded and led by Ian Paisley, the Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church, who in 1986 was thrown out of the European Parliament after he heckled the then pope, John Paul II, while brandishing a poster declaring him the anti-Christ.

“History shows unionist politicians were not always positive or constructive about the Catholic church and at times their comments were hurtful and disrespectful, as Ian Paisley’s track record in the 1980s testifies,” says writer and former BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent Stephen Walker.

“The DUP leader’s comments show how times, and indeed unionism, have moved on, and many in high office, like Gavin Robinson, are more mindful of the power of language and the need for civility and kindness.”

Meanwhile, says former chair of Co-Operation Ireland Peter Sheridan, “simple gestures like those short number of words that Gavin Robinson and Emma Little-Pengelly made, become etched in people’s memory”.

It was Sheridan who masterminded another hugely significant gesture – the handshake between Queen Elizabeth II and Martin McGuinness in Belfast in 2012. “The power of that small gesture, if you like, even momentarily, gave a sense of moving forward ... [and] the comments of Gavin Robinson and Emma Little-Pengelly do go a way to resolving differences and rebuilding trust,” he says. “Those few comments are a move from division towards connection.”

At the risk of stating the obvious, gestures matter in Northern Ireland; in the last year or so, there have been many firsts – such as the presence of the First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill, at a PSNI graduation ceremony and at a Northern Ireland soccer match in Windsor Park, or the visit of Little-Pengelly to a GAA club in west Belfast.

That these are seen as significant reflect how Northern Ireland is changing – politically, socially, demographically and in terms of religious adherence. In the 2021 census, almost one in five identified themselves as having no religion – a “marked increase”, the statisticians said, compared to the one in 10 who did so a decade earlier.

Yet it also reflects how far Northern Ireland has to go. Sectarianism persists in post-conflict Northern Ireland; hours after the pontiff’s death, a video was being shared online of an anti-pope song apparently played by a band at an Apprentice Boys’ parade in Lisburn.

“It would be churlish not to recognise that the DUP’s comments are a vast improvement on what was said in the past, so there’s obviously a recognition within the upper echelons of the DUP that there’s a need to move past where they’ve been up to this point,” says nationalist commentator Chris Donnelly. “But there’s still significant room to travel.”

He cites the presence of Ms O’Neill at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, or the official Remembrance Day event last November “when she was alongside members of the British armed forces at Belfast City Hall. Sinn Féin recognise, as the leading voice of nationalism, that actions matter as well as words.”

Michelle O’Neill will attend the pope’s funeral in Rome, while the Deputy First Minister will not.

For a senior DUP politician to have attended the pope’s funeral “would have been a very symbolic gesture ... that would have been appreciated,” says Donnelly.

The power of such a gesture cannot be underestimated, says Sheridan. “It may not solve everything, but it definitely opens the door, and sometimes that’s the most you can hope for in these situations.”