Sylvia de Mars

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.

PI Panel at UACES 2020

The Performing Identities will (virtually) come together on Monday 7th September to lead a panel discussion at the UACES Virtual Conference 2020.

Initially planned to be happening in Belfast, the full conference has now moved to an online platform in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We have planned a panel on the theme of Brexit and Northern Ireland, in which each member will outline some key aspects of the work being done within the Performing Identities project.

This will include the presentation of initial findings from interview-based research in Northern Ireland, and overviews of several forthcoming papers not yet in the public domain.

Central to our plans for the session is to provide a forum for informal discussion – on the work of the team, but also more generally on the topics being covered.

As a ‘non-traditional panel’ at the UACES conference, we had ambitious plans for this session in Belfast. While now proceeding in a virtual format, this remains a session not to be missed for anyone interested in Brexit and its impact in Northern Ireland!


Unfortunately, this panel is only open to registered participants of the conference, but we will be tweeting updates on the day from our account – @performidentity


NEW: ‘EU Law in the UK’

We are delighted to share that PI team member, Sylvia de Mars, has published a new book.

‘EU Law in the UK’ is the first textbook to be published in the field since Brexit. It examines the institutional and substantive elements of EU law, considering them in terms of Brexit and the potential implications of this for UK law.

“It takes a uniquely contextual approach designed to enliven the learning experience, support understanding, and help students appreciate the relevance and impact of EU law.”

Oxford University Press

A phenomenal achievement in the context of the fast pace of change over recent years. Congratulations, Sylvia!

Copies of the book can be purchased online here or from most book retailers.

Evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020

PI team members Sylvia de Mars, Colin Murray, Aoife O’Donoghue and Ben Warwick have submitted evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights with regard to the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020.

This submission focuses on Clause 2 of the bill, which relates to Irish citizens. In particular, it is highlighted that the omission within the Explanatory Notes of all reference to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (GFA) is concerning.

REPORT: ‘Continuing EU Citizenship “Rights, Opportunities and Benefits” in Northern Ireland after Brexit’

Four of PI’s team members – Colin Murray, Sylvia de Mars, Aoife O’Donoghue and Ben Warwick – have prepared one of two reports for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, examining challenges to citizenship rights in the context of Brexit.

Brexit therefore creates the potential for new and more extreme gaps in the rights and protections available to different groups of people living within Northern Ireland.

This report highlights a number of pre-existing complexities with regard to citizenship laws in Northern Ireland and examines the specific challenges these give rise to in the context of Brexit. A number of recommendations are made as to how these can be addressed.

The full report is available to download here: https://www.nihrc.org/publication/detail/continuing-eu-citizenship-rights-opportunities-and-benefits-in-northern-ireland-after-brexit

Evidence submitted to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee: ‘Unfettered Access’ Inquiry

Evidence has been submitted by Colin Murray and Clare Rice to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee as part of the ‘Unfettered Access: Northern Ireland and Customs Arrangements after Brexit’ Inquiry

You can also catch-up on what PI team members, Colin Murray and Sylvia de Mars, had to say on this theme when they gave oral evidence to the Lords EU Select Committee in February here (with a full transcript available here).

Evidence to Lords EU Select Committee

Colin Murray and Sylvia de Mars attended a meeting of the European Union Select Committee in the House of Lords on 11th February 2020, to give evidence on the revised Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol. Completing the panel was David Henig, called to share his expertise on trade.

Colin and Sylvia addressed a range of issues pertinent to the work of the Committee, drawing on their expert knowledge of EU law, UK constitutional law and the particularities of the situation in Northern Ireland.

This informative session was followed keenly by experts across the UK, not least in Northern Ireland (see this thread from BBC NI’s Economics and Business Editor, John Campbell), as the complexities that will need to be addressed by the end of 2020 were made unequivocally clear.

The full meeting is available to watch by following this link – https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/006d7a57-9cd7-474b-96ea-0773023c0582#player-tabs/p>

Alternatively, the Performing Identities Twitter account (@performidentity) will be sharing short clips from the meeting over the coming days along with some bite-size analysis and insight.