Even more random statistics

When asked "Have you ever felt sexually attracted to someone?", % of the 16 year old boys sampled by the Northern Ireland Young Life and Times Survey 2009, replied "no".

Marginally more interesting for readers of this blog, perhaps, will be the answers to the two questions on national identity:

Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself?

British: 28%
Irish: 36%
Ulster: 3%
Northern Irish: 30%
Other: 2%
Don’t know: 1%
Missing: 1

That answer will probably cause squeals of delight from the usual ethno-nat suspects, but they should hold on to their gloating for a little longer:

Some people feel very strongly about their national identity, that is, whether they feel British or Irish or something else. Other people say that their national identity is not important to them. How important is your national identity to you?

Very important 27%
Quite important 31%
Neither important nor unimportant 20%
Not very important 11%
Not at all important 9%
Don’t know 1%
Missing 0

So...

1. For 42% of what tends to be a very volatile and extreme (in terms of opinion held) age group, national identity isn't even "quite important"? And as people grow into adulthood and hopefully maturity, will that figure increase or decrease? The latter I'd guess.
2. Of those that do care, the "choice" on national identity, isn't much of a choice really is it? What if someone feels a mixture of British/Northern Irish/Ulster or even (cue multiple blowing of afore-mentioned ethno-nat gaskets)... British and Irish? And that's before we even think about also throwing "European" into the mix.

The SNP attempted with its single choice, "either-or", proposition for the Scottish Census, to tell us that being proud of being both Scottish and British was an impossibility. This survey does the same, where's the option for those (even at the age of 16) who refuse to be boxed into a single, all-encompassing identity?