Being raised in church in Northern Ireland is a fairly unique experience that sometimes feels like a million miles away from the ideas around faith that I hold now.

The Bible belt of the UK, Northern Ireland has always had religion running through public life. I once heard a statistic that sounds just likely enough to be true, that it’s believable  but still insane enough to still be dubious about. That there are more Christians in a 50 miles radius from Belfast per capita than anywhere in the world.

How true this is I’m not entirely sure but it’s believable enough that I couldn’t say it was ridiculous altogether.

Either way, religion permeates everything. Politics, schooling, laws. You name it, religion probably has a part to play.

There does however seem to be a shift occurring in the public life in Northern Ireland where religion is concerned.