Dr Katy Hayward (QUB) A key conundrum facing policymakers is how to realise a central ambition of the Brexit campaign (i.e. hardening the UK’s borders with the EU) without damaging the benefits currently ensured by the UK’s ‘soft’ borders with Ireland. This presentation will focus on the Irish border as the locus of this challenge … Read more
Dr Lee McGowan and Dr Viviane Gravey (QUB) Many aspects of public policy in Northern Ireland involved an EU dimension, being shaped in Brussels and implemented locally. The return of devolved government to Northern Ireland opened up new possibilities for engagement with the EU, provided access to specific funds and gave Northern Ireland a presence … Read more
Dr Graham Brownlow (QUB) The vote for Brexit has created a situation where economic policy, to a certain extent, is developing faster than textbook theory. Northern Ireland’s economic predicament is a combination of UK-wide processes, more intense forms of UK-wide problems and processes unique to the region. The speed, sequence and ‘architecture’ of regional economic … Read more
Prof John Garry (QUB) Politics in Northern Ireland is typically dominated by the ethno-national divide between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists. The EU referendum presents an opportunity for a major political issue to cross-cut this division, with variation in both communities on the issue of EU membership. In this presentation I use data from a … Read more
Prof Geraint Ellis (QUB) The Northern Ireland planning system is now primarily seen as a mechanism for coordinating and facilitating development, with the aim of delivering opportunities for economic growth. However, in managing our built environment, it also plays a major – but often unseen – role in shaping peoples’ lives by creating (or constraining) … Read more
Dr Stephen McKay (QUB) The Northern Ireland planning system has witnessed major reform in 2015, with key responsibilities being transferred to new local authorities. There are far-reaching consequences of this relating to the future management of development and the production of a new generation of area plans. This will also have an impact on arrangements … Read more
Dr Alice Diver (Ulster) The recent statutory cap on Housing Benefit in England and Wales is commonly known as the ‘bedroom tax’ or the ‘spare room subsidy’, depending upon whether one is a critic or a proponent of it. It has given rise to a small, but significant spate of domestic legal cases that examine … Read more
Dr Caroline Linse (QUB) As of 2011 there were over 50,000 migrants, who speak a language other than English or Irish at home, residing in Northern Ireland. Many of these individuals do not possess adequate levels of English language proficiency in order to access services. Research funded by the Northern Ireland Inclusion and Diversity Service … Read more
Dr Piotr Blumczyński (QUB) and Prof John Gillespie (Ulster) Culture revolves around values: they hold the cultural community together and underpin the mutual interests. A cultural group whose members hold opposite or otherwise incompatible values is hardly conceivable, which demonstrates that the concept of culture is predicated on shared values. However, values are often “invisible” … Read more