(Photo: Getty/iStock)Figures obtained by Northern Ireland Humanists suggest that humanist weddings may now be the third most common in the province. However, the figures do suggest that humanist weddings are now more popular than Protestant ones. Figures for Protestant weddings are not yet available, although in 2023 the three main Protestant denominations in Northern Ireland managed 1,084 marriages between them and this was on a downward trend. Northern Ireland Humanists claim that the sharp rise in humanist weddings is an indication that people in Northern Ireland wish to move on from the sectarianism of the past. According to the Iona paper, humanist ceremonies fell by more than 10 per cent and civil ceremonies dropped slightly by 1.3 per cent.