Candidate Selection in Northern Ireland: a cold house for women?

Dr Neil Matthews (QUB) This presentation outlines key findings from research on party candidate selection procedures and their impact on the number of women selected to contest elections in Northern Ireland. Relatively little is known of both the nature of the selection methods adopted by Northern Ireland’s main political parties and their role in producing … Read more

The Creative Citizens Programme: Local Government involving citizens in arts development

Dr Victoria Durrer with Kevin Murphy (Voluntary arts Ireland) and Rosalind Lowry (Arts & Events Development Officer, Mid and East Antrim Council) The ‘Creative Citizens Programme’ is a partnership between Voluntary Arts Ireland (VAI) and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. ‘Creative Citizens’ is an action research project that brings local people together with local … Read more

Deliberative Democracy in Northern Ireland: Enhancing the quality of governance by involving citizens in decision making

Dr John Garry (QUB) How can the quality of governance in Northern Ireland be enhanced? This presentation addresses this broad question by focusing on the extent to which the quality of democratic decision making in Northern Ireland may be increased by facilitating a role for the considered views of citizens. Specifically, it suggests a feasible … Read more