This study uses a wide range of survey data to examine present-day differences in identity and political allegiance between Catholics and Protestants on the island of Ireland but also to show the extensive cultural similarities that cut across the Catholic-Protestant divide.

Tony Fahey, Ph.D. (1982) in Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, is Research Professor in the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin.
Bernadette C. Hayes, Ph.D. (1986) in Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada, is Professor of Sociology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Richard Sinnott, Ph.D. (1984) in Political Science, Georgetown University, is Director of the Public Opinion and Political Behaviour Research Programme at the Geary Institute, University College Dublin.