who are “triangular”? The segregated areas of Protestant and Catholic Northern Ireland are policed by the same force. Yet the police seem to patrol and ensure order against paramilitary groups more often on the Protestant side. When there is civil unrest between the two groups the police more often than not take the side of the “square” Protestants than that of the “triangular” Catholics. This unjustified act is repeatedly common in Northern Ireland even with the rumor of peace talks. Even though the police, according to Flatland, are at the same hierarchical order in status as the Catholics the Catholics are still discriminated upon by them because the Protestants are in control. The policing process in Northern Ireland is a bad one, yet so is the housing situation. 58% of Catholics live in rented homes as compared to 31% of Protestants. Catholics also have twice the number of inhabitants per household. This goes back to financial status. The most common home in Flatlands in a five sided pentagonal home, for the Catholics those sides are very short. The effects of the segregation have affected every Dean 5thing from the education of youth to where the inhabitants of Northern Ireland live, but what are the factors that influence the segregation of the two groups? A number of reasons can be identified which explain the tendency towards segregation. One is the tendency to live close to ones own religion. People find it more comfortable than mixed communities. It appears that Protestants find it important to keep segregation lines clear by using only Protestant owned services and giving available opportunities only to the Protestant people. Each community is unaware of its own behavior and attitudes, which signal its own cultural identity, and this suggests the exclusiveness of those outside: this is known as cultural blindness. This concept is not only influenced by personal contact, but is in...
