NI Governance

On this page, you will find all the work we are doing relating to governance issues specific to Northern Ireland in the 21st century. Brexit contributes to the current issues in NI governance, but other governance matters - UK-specific or Northern Ireland-specific - are relatively independent of Brexit issues and instead are the consequence of multilevel governance.

Event Recordings: Brexit and Identity in Northern Ireland

The ‘Performing Identities’ team hosted two lunchtime events on 23/24 June 2021, marking the culmination of a total of 5 years of work on ESRC-funded projects examining Brexit, Northern Ireland and legal, political and social dynamics of both.

In the first event, the PI team came together virtually to present some key findings from research that had been completed as part of the current project, which commenced in early 2019. This concluded with a Q&A.

A recording of this full event is now available below, along with time indicators for each part of the session.

Schedule

00.13 – Colin Murray (‘Rooting Around in Archives: The Protocol in Context’)

13.06 – Ben Warwick (Citizenship and Brexit)

24.21 – Megan Armstrong and Clare Rice (Brexit and Identity in Northern Ireland)

41.38 – Sylvia de Mars and Aoife O’Donoghue (Multi-level Governance and Brexit)

49.25 – Discussion and Conclusion

Performing Identities: Brexit and Northern Ireland – Part 1

On Thursday 24th June 2021, we hosted a second lunchtime event – a panel discussion focused on the theme of identity in Northern Ireland.

The purpose of this session was to engage in conversation about different perspectives on identity in Northern Ireland and to explore how the often overlooked complexity and diversity of identity in this context interacts with the traditionally binary conceptions along religious and/or constitutional lines.

The esteemed panel included:

Emma DeSouza (Rights Campaigner; Writer)

Mark Devenport (Former Political Editor, BBC NI)

Linda Ervine MBE (Director, Turas; President, East Belfast GAA)

Susan McKay (Journalist; Author of ‘Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground’ – available to purchase here)

John O’Doherty (Director, The Rainbow Project)

Danielle Roberts (Women’s Rights Activist)

A recording of the full discussion, hosted online, is available below.

Performing Identities: Brexit and Northern Ireland – Part 2 (Identity)

PI’s Megan Armstrong also live-tweeted the session, and her summary thread can be found here.

Evidence submitted to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee: ‘New Decade, New Approach’ Inquiry

Evidence has been submitted by Clare Rice to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee as part of their inquiry into the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal reached in Northern Ireland in January 2020. This submission examines the agreement in terms of its content on governance and the sustainability of the institutions.

The full paper can be downloaded here:

Blog: ‘Governance in Northern Ireland: Learning from the ‘Cash for Ash’ Scandal

In a new article, written for the Political Studies Association (PSA) Blog, Clare Rice examines the fallout from the Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry and considers the implications of the Report’s recommendations for governance in Northern Ireland.

“The #CashforAsh scandal contributed to the unravelling of a complex political web which ultimately saw the collapse of political institutions and three years without a government.”

The full article is available to read here: https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/governance-northern-ireland-learning-cash-ash-scandal

Blog: Northern Ireland’s ‘New Approach’ in a Decade of Uncertainty

What has changed since the 2019 General Election, and what does Brexit mean for the new deal that has been reached in Northern Ireland?

PI team member, Clare Rice, considers these questions in a new article published on the DCU Brexit Institute blog – available to read here: http://dcubrexitinstitute.eu/2020/01/northern-irelands-new-approach-in-a-decade-of-uncertainty/

Call for Interview Participants

The Performing Identities research team have been conducting interviews in Northern Ireland, exploring the themes of identity and Brexit. So far, we have held workshops in Belfast and Derry-Londonderry, where we asked participants to join us in person for a conversation.

Now, we are issuing a final call for participants to take part in a short, anonymous interview via Skype with us, from anywhere in Northern Ireland.

To compensate you for your time, all participants will have the choice of receiving either a £20 National Book Token or a £20 Amazon voucher!

Please fill in this form to register your interest, and we will be in touch with you to arrange a suitable time to talk – https://forms.gle/Ms991SLDFBStQ5k76

If you have any queries, please email PerformingIdentitiesProject@gmail.com or contact us on Twitter (@performidentity).

We look forward to hearing from you!

Blog: On Northern Ireland

A new venture as part of the Performing Identities project!

We will be adding to this section over the coming weeks. Keep an eye on social media for further updates!

Workshop Participants Sought

The Performing Identities research team will be soon holding workshops that will build an understanding of what it means to be Northern Irish. At the workshops we will explore lots of different ideas on identity so we are looking for people from any background who are prepared to discuss this. The workshops will feed into research and creative materials and you will have a say in what the most useful materials are, and how you would like them to be designed.

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Project Fieldwork Begins

One strand of the ESRC funded research we are undertaking involves interview and focus group research within Northern Ireland. The research is designed to be participatory and allow participants a central role in the design of the questions, the way they are answered, and the outcomes of the project.

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