The extent of the remarkable and irreversible changes taking place in our society can sometimes be hard to fully appreciate.

Last week, the Equality Commission’s Fair Employment Monitoring Report revealed there were now more Catholics in employment in the north of Ireland than Protestants, a testimony to the work of those who promoted the McBride Principles in the 1980s and others who exposed, challenged and changed deeply ingrained prejudicial employment cultures and practices.

Whilst it remains the case Catholics are disproportionately more likely to suffer socio-economic deprivation than Protestants, this is a welcome development that can only help address that more enduring source of inequality.

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The figures also provide further evidence of the demographic change transforming our politics, as evidenced by the latest election results.

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