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In Northern Ireland, most research on the impact upon children of living through the ‘troubles’ and in a divided society has assumed that children are from either the Catholic or Protestant community. There has been very little research with children from cross-community families who have one parent from a Catholic background and one from a Protestant background. It is known, however, that these children are over-represented in the public care system in Northern Ireland. The study reported in this paper addresses this gap in knowledge by exploring the experiences and views of children from cross-community families who are in public care in Northern Ireland. The study has key messages for the development of services for looked after children from cross-community families, if these are to be delivered in accordance with legislative duties in Northern Ireland and in an anti-sectarian manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the findings from a series of "Talkshops"--interactive facilitated discussions--undertaken with 114 young people from six secondary schools serving one town within Northern Ireland. The young people first met with the researchers in their own schools, then an elected group came together in combined Talkshops and, finally, a group of six young people, one from each school, met with the researchers to help analyse the data and prepare a presentation on the results. Through the Talkshops the young people explored their views on sectarianism, and the factors they felt helped such attitudes develop; they considered how this impacted on their day-to-day lives and how they had learned to deal with difference. They also considered how things could be different in the future, suggesting ways to promote anti-sectarianism. The article reports the views of the young people, concluding with their summary statement--the message these young people wanted to be heard by adults within Northern Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]