Fionnuala Casey 
Mr Ian Collen (QUB) – As in England, entries for GCSE and A-level languages in Northern Ireland have declined annually since 2004 (CCEA/JCQ). To redress this decline, languages are now compulsory from Primary 5 to Primary 7 in England. In Scotland, two languages will be compulsory at primary level from 2020. This has led to … Read more
Dr Sharon Jones (Stranmillis University College) – The current deficit in skills in modern languages is economically detrimental (Foreman-Peck and Wang, 2013), not least to the growth of the export base (Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, 2014). Evidence suggests that learning a modern language should begin at primary school (Lenneberg, 1967; Jones and Coffey, 2006) … Read more
Prof Simon Lee (OU) – The concept of “parity of esteem” is central to diverse constitutional, political, legal and socio-economic narratives of Northern Ireland and of these islands. In 1994, Professor Simon Lee analysed the history and philosophical underpinning of “parity of esteem” in a collection of essays in honour of Reverend Eric Gallagher, tracing … Read more
Dr Anne Smith (Ulster) and Prof Colin Harvey (QUB) – This presentation focuses on an independent funded project (Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust) that seeks to address the issue of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland in the context of Brexit. A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland remains part of the unfinished work of … Read more
Prof Rory O’Connell (Ulster) and Prof Colin Harvey (QUB) – The BrexitLawNI project is a collaborative project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. It seeks to examine the constitutional, conflict transformation, human rights and equality consequences of Brexit. It particularly focuses on six key issues: the Northern Ireland peace process; North-South relations; border … Read more
Dr Leslie Budd (OU) – Managing the process of the United Kingdom (UK) exiting from the European Union (EU) for Northern Ireland (NI) is the most complex and challenging one of all the UK territories. It is the only part of the UK with a contiguous border with another EU Member State that is also … Read more
Prof Cahal McLaughlin (QUB) Three official reports in Northern Ireland have each recommended storytelling as one of the methods to address the legacy of the past – Bloomfield (1998), Eames-Bradley (2007) and Hass (2014) reports. The proposal of an Oral History Archive in the Stormont House Agreement raises the possibility of similar benefits. The Executive … Read more
Dr Sharon Mallon (OU) The signing of the Good Friday agreement effectively brought an end to the widespread violence associated with the ‘Troubles’. However, communities within Northern Ireland continue to be blighted by an insidious form of violence in the form of punishment beatings and intimidation. Anecdotal evidence published in news media have linked cases … Read more
Ms Louise O’Boyle (Ulster) This presentation will discuss the findings from evidence-based research into the effectiveness of a partnership between Louise O’Boyle (Ulster University) and PIPS Charity North Belfast, over a series of collaborations between 2012-2016. The constituency of North Belfast is an area of multiple disadvantages and has the highest suicide rate in Northern … Read more
Prof Keith Attenborough and Dr Shahram Taherzadeh (OU) Noise barriers are a common method of combating noise (mentioned under ‘environment’ in the KESS hot topics list) but they may be unsightly and tend to divide communities because any gaps affect their efficiency. The presentation will describe alternative methods based on the results of the Open University … Read more