Daily Times

BIRMINGHAM: Carl Frampton enjoyed many memorable moments during his boxing career but the retired two-weight world champion has now switched his focus to campaigning for integrated schools in divided Northern Ireland. Religious differences between Catholics and Protestants still shape life profoundly in the UK province, 24 years after the landmark Good Friday peace deal. The vast majority of children still go to segregated schools and live in segregated communities. Frampton, who hung up his gloves last year, is an ambassador for the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education and is determined to use his profile to push for change. The 35-year-old Protestant says he and his Catholic wife, Christine, are not churchgoers and did not christen their children, Carla, 11, and seven-year-old Rossa in church, preferring a humanist ceremony. They do not go to an integrated school, in which pupils from both communities mix, but that is because none exists near their home in Lisburn. One of the issues is there are not enough options,” Frampton said. “It is a prime school for becoming officially integrated due to the demographics of the area. There are a lot of children from mixed marriages and some Catholics. I am going to push on with it next year and hope they will accept. If I was involved with the primary school becoming integrated it would be a hugely proud moment for me.” A survey of around 2,000 people carried out last year by LucidTalk for the Integrated Education Fund found that 71 percent believed integrated education should be the norm — a rise of five percentage points since 2013. There are currently 68 formally integrated schools and colleges in Northern Ireland, which represent 7.5 percent of its educational settings, teaching about 25,000 children.