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.

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/

Briefing Paper: The ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal in Northern Ireland – Governance and Identity

In January 2017, the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, tendered his resignation from the Northern Ireland Executive, citing issues around equality, trust and abuse of power on the part of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Following 3 years of institutional hiatus, during which civil servants assuming greater responsibilities ultimately prevented a return to direct rule, talks between the 5 main political parties, with a focus on negotiations between Sinn Féin and the DUP, recommenced following the Westminster General Election in December 2019. With the support of the Irish and UK Governments throughout the process, and a commitment to this being maintained thereafter, the text of an agreed document named ‘New Decade, New Approach’ was released to the general public on 9th January 2020.

This briefing presents an overview of the agreement reached and examines key aspects of its content, focusing on the elements addressing governance and identity.

The full paper is available to download below:

NDNA Briefing PaperDownload

General Election 2019 Coverage and Analysis

The PI team have been busy in the lead up to the General Election and in the days since, offering insight and analysis across a range of platforms.

Professor O’Donoghue has appeared on BFM Radio Malaysia and Today FM (Ireland).

Clare Rice has been involved in BBC coverage, appearing on Inside Politics, Sunday Politics, Good Morning Ulster, Evening Extra, Newsline, Newsnight, and the BBC News Channel.

Follow us on Twitter (@performidentity) for all the latest updates and links to catch up on our analyses!

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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