Irish Street far happier than Top of the Hill

PEOPLE living in Irish Street are far happier and more satisfied with their lives than people living in Top of the Hill but both areas share a strong sense of community.
Irish Street.Irish Street.
Irish Street.

That’s according to a new baseline report on a survey conducted earlier this year that examined “the disadvantaged neighbourhoods of Sion Mills (located close to Strabane); East Belfast (Short Strand and Lower Castlereagh) and the Waterside area of Londonderry/Derry (Top of the Hill and Irish Street) and the better-off, comparator area of Erinvale, in the south-west of the Greater Belfast conurbation.”

Conducted by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, the report turns up some interesting findings, particularly with regard to the Londonderry interface of Irish Street and Top of the Hill.

Both areas were characterised by a strong sense of community, for instance, with over 80 per cent of people in both areas feeling strongly attached to their neighbourhoods.

“There was remarkable similarity in the figures derived for four of the disadvantaged areas (Sion Mills, Top of the Hill, Short Strand and Irish Street), all of which fell within the 84-85 percentage band,” the authors state.

Both areas also had a large percentage of residents who felt their neighbourhoods had improved over the last two years.

“The neighbourhoods with the most positive neighbourhood trajectories were the Londonderry/Derry case studies of Irish Street and Top of the Hill, where the numbers of residents who thought the neighbourhoods had improved outweighed those who thought it had deteriorated,” the report says.

Irish Street also had the second highest number of residents who were satisfied with their estate as a place to live.

“The neighbourhoods with the highest satisfaction levels were Sion Mills and Irish Street where 94 and 93 per cent respectively of residents were satisfied,” the report states.

When it comes to happiness and life satisfaction, however, the two Waterside neighbourhoods united by geography couldn’t be more divided.

The authors explain: “Happiness levels fluctuated by area. They were highest in Irish Street, where 76 per cent of respondents recorded a score of at least seven, and lowest in Top of the Hill, where 61 per cent responded in this way.”

Equally, people living in Irish Street were the most satisfied with their lives, whilst their near neighbours down the street at Top of the Hill were the least satisfied of all the areas surveyed.

“Satisfaction rates varied markedly across the disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Residents in Irish Street were most likely to report a ‘medium’ or ‘high’ satisfaction ranking, with 83 per cent responding in this way,” the researchers found.

The report also points out that both areas are to a large extent religious ghettoes.

The authors said the low satisfaction levels in Top of the Hill were possibly due to it being a poorer area.

“Respondents in Top of the Hill exhibited the lowest rates (‘only’ 65 per cent of residents reported a satisfaction ranking of ‘medium’ or ‘high’).

“Although the reason for this will be explored through subsequent quantitative and qualitative research activities undertaken by the study team, this finding is perhaps not unexpected as, in many respects, it is the most disadvantaged of all the case studies, as Appendix 2 reveals,” the report states.

In that Appendix the authors point out some of the key differences between Irish Street and Top of the Hill.

For example Top of the Hill is far more populous with a population of 1,843 in 716 households compared with Irish Street, which has a population of 476 in 234 households.

There are far more children in Top of the Hill (44.69 per cent of households contain dependent children) than in Irish Street (20.51 per cent of households contain dependent children).

More people own their own houses in Irish Street (64.11 per cent owner occupation; 22.22 per cent social housing; and 11.54 per cent private rented) than in Top of the Hill (48.05 per cent owner occupation; 29.05 per cent social housing; and 18.16 per cent private rented).

And more people in Top of the Hill are on the dole (9.73 per cent) than in Irish Street (6.32 per cent).

Both areas have high levels of economic activity due to disability or sickness: Top of the Hill (12.59 per cent); and Irish Street (12.07 per cent).

Irish Street has a much higher level of residents (42.23 per cent) who have some kind of long term health condition compared with 28.97 per cent in Top of the Hill.

The report also points out that both areas are to a large extent religious ghettoes.

In Irish Street 88.87 per cent of people are from a Protestant community background, and in Top of the Hill, 92.73 per cent of people are from a Catholic community background.

The report explains that in Top of the Hill: “There is little green space apart from a park higher up the hill. A school has recently closed.”

But: “There are several very active community groups and a Community Forum. A large parcel of vacant land exists due to the demolition of a school a few years ago, and a regeneration process of the area was recently announced recently.”

In Irish Street: “Shopping facilities are good due to the proximity of the Lisnagelvin Shopping Centre and Crescent Link.”

And: “The Irish Street Community Centre occupies a fairly new building in the area but reports difficulty with community engagement.”

Significantly, there is less volunteering in both of these areas than elsewhere.

The report states: “The highest amount of total volunteer hours and per capita volunteer hours were provided in Short Strand and Sion Mills while the fewest were provided in Irish Street and Top of the Hill.

“The differences were marked: in Short Strand an estimated 215,000 - 298,000 hours were provided at an average of 91 - 126 hours per resident; in contrast in Irish Street and estimated 6,000 hours were provided at an average of 13 hours per resident.”

This has a major economic impact, the report explains: “In Irish Street residents provided volunteering with an estimated economic value of £0.11m per year: this is the equivalent of £227 per resident.

“In Top of the Hill residents provided volunteering with an estimated economic value of £0.56m per year: this is the equivalent of £305 per resident.”

Other areas posted considerably higher figures.

‘Recession, resilience and rebalancing social economies in Northern Irelands’ neighbourhoods: finding from a baseline survey of residents,’ by Paul Hickman, John Flint, Jenny Muir and Chris Dayson was published in September.

It’s the first of five reports by a group of academics from Sheffield Hallam University, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Sheffield - which has been commissioned by the Office for the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) - to look at the experience in the aforementioned areas.

The study runs from March 2012 to March 2015.