Devolution, Social Policy and Education: Some Observations from Northern Ireland

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Donnelly ◽  
Robert D. Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Recent Policy

Many commentaries on social policy in the UK assume that policy as developed in England applies to the constituent countries of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, the advent of political devolution in the last five years is slowly being reflected in the literature. This paper takes education policy in Northern Ireland and discusses recent policy developments in the light of the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The Agreement, it is suggested, is providing a framework which promotes equality, human rights and inclusion in policy making. Some early indications of this are discussed and some of the resultant policy dilemmas are assessed. The paper concludes that accounts of policy development in the UK, which ignore the multi-level policy-making contexts created by devolution, do a disservice to the subject.

Converting shared parental leave into shared parenting: the role of employers and use of litigation by employees in the UK

2019 ◽  
pp. 61-82
Author(s):  
Jana Javornik ◽  
Liz Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Shared Parenting ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Uk

The UK government introduced Shared Parental Leave (SPL) in 2014 to expand parents' capabilities to share parenting, by affording fathers similar entitlements to post-birth leave as mothers. Policy sought to simultaneously address other sources of gender inequality to expand parents' capability sets to remain in work after childbirth and to share parenting differently. This social policy development represents a major step forward in addressing gender inequality at home and at work. However, the policy has not produced the desired change in fathers' leave uptake and the implementation has exposed several issues. This chapter argues that legal rights are one possible instrument for reaching that goal andincludes a wider legal and labour market landscape as a potentially relevant source of inequalities. Using the capability approach, it examines how the SPL shapes fathers' capability set to co-parent and how the broader regime of employment and anti-discrimination law addresses gender equality in home and at work. The chapter offers a more comprehensive explanation for the failure of SPL to enhance parents' capability to share parenting in ways they as a couple have reason to value, as well as an example of how to incorporate a multi-level interdisciplinary analysis of legal rights into social policy analysis through a capability lens.

scholarly journals Out of the frying pan, into the fire? Environmental governance vulnerabilities in post-Brexit Northern Ireland

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciara Brennan ◽  
Mary Dobbs ◽  
Viviane Gravey
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Governance Reform ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications

Environmental governance in Northern Ireland has been highly problematic and the subject of intense criticism. Since the collapse of the devolved government in January 2017, environmental policy development and urgently needed processes of environmental governance reform have stagnated. Combined with the continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, this situation has the potential to exacerbate an already challenging governance context and the severe environmental consequences of political inaction are already becoming clear. This article will reflect on how future environmental governance arrangements in Northern Ireland might develop in light of both distinctive local challenges and reforms that have been proposed for other parts of the UK post-Brexit. Its central theme is the potential for the distinctive environmental governance vulnerabilities present in Northern Ireland to be compounded by Brexit. It concludes that a process of reform centred on the development of common frameworks, underpinned by environmental objectives, principles, rights and duties and enforced via meaningful accountability mechanisms would help strengthen environmental protection even where the political will or power is lacking. Such a process of reform could help address both existing environmental problems and potential environmental governance gaps posed by Brexit, as well as providing valuable lessons for other jurisdictions facing major environmental governance reform or contending with the practical implications of governance without a functioning government.

Transcending Territory: Towards an Agreed Northern Ireland?

1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Double Minority ◽  
Sizeable Minority ◽  
Inter State

AbstractThe 1998 Belfast Agreement concluded by most of the political parties in Northern Ireland and the British and Irish Governments is a very sophisticated blueprint, which attempts to deal with the various facets of a political entity in which a sizeable minority of the population wish to belong to another state. The structures and processes devised in the Belfast Agreement must cope with the so-called 'double minority' problem, ensuring that while Northern Ireland remains in the UK, it is on terms which respect and safeguard the members of the nationalist community who wish to be in a united Ireland, but also provide for the change in constitutional status from the UK to Irish unification in a manner which respects and safeguards the members of the unionist community who are opposed to that change. The Belfast Agreement, particularly in the reformulated Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution, would appear to place primacy upon people and their diversity of identities and trad itions over territory. The Belfast Agreement also operates within a special framework which accommodates national identities through sub-state and inter-state relationships in which law seeks to protect human rights, both individual and collective.

scholarly journals ABORTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: REFLECTIONS FROM THE UK SUPREME COURT

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 477-494
Author(s):  
Bríd Ní Ghráinne ◽  
Aisling McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Uk Supreme Court ◽  
The Uk

AbstractOn 7 June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSCt) issued its decision on, inter alia, whether Northern Ireland's near-total abortion ban was compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). This article critically assesses the UKSC's treatment of international law in this case. It argues that the UKSCt was justified in finding that Northern Ireland's ban on abortion in cases of rape, incest, and FFA was a violation of Article 8, but that the majority erred in its assessment of Article 3 ECHR and of the relevance of international law more generally.

Outcomes-based approaches and the devolved administrations

2018 ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Derek Birrell ◽  
Ann Marie Gray
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship

Governments in all three devolved administrations of the UK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have been adopting what they define as an outcome based approach to aspects of their policy making. This chapter examines the attraction of outcome based approaches and the outcome based accountability (OBA) model in particular. It assesses the conceptual issues arising from the OBA methodology and its application and examines arguments about the value of the OBA approach. The relationship between outcomes and indicators and the use of OBA for monitoring and evaluating performance is discussed. While there has been substantial buy-in to the principle of an outcomes based approach in the three administrations the paper questions whether there is evidence that these approaches have improved performance and policy.

The Place of ‘Childhood’ in Internet Content Regulation

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Oswell
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Conference Presentations ◽  
Regulation Policy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Content Regulation ◽  
Recent Policy

This paper discusses recent policy calculations in the UK concerning the Internet and child protection issues. Through an analysis of official documents, conference presentations, interviews and press reports, a story is pieced together of the culture of policy making. Problems are made visible, social agents mobilized and techniques invented for the enactment of policy. Central to my argument is an analysis of how childhood is figured discursively as a particular problem for regulation. Policy decisions are made, not in relation to ‘real’ children, but in relation to their representation and the authority of those who claim to represent them. I focus specifically on the circulation of three images of the child: the child-as-victim, the child-in-danger and the dangerous child.

scholarly journals A Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland: An Unknown Quantity in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Egan ◽  
Rachel Murray
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The Political ◽  
Unknown Quantity ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Legal Document ◽  
Legal Difficulties ◽  
Final Agreement ◽  
Political Settlement

AbstractThe basic aim of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement was to try to achieve a political settlement to the conflict in Northern Ireland. While the channels for the settlement were to be primarily institutional, the importance of safeguarding the rights of both communities in Northern Ireland by addressing equality and justice issues was recognized, to varying degrees, by all parties to the process that led to the drafting of the Agreement. As the negotiations progressed, the human rights section of the Agreement grew exponentially, moving ‘from the margins to the mainstream’ so that the final Agreement contains a whole section on human rights protections. Not only have these particular elements of the Agreement come to fruition, but they also have received a considerable amount of public and political interest as well as academic comment and analysis. Buried within the human rights chapter, however, is a concept that has so far received minimal interest or enthusiasm from any quarter. That is the reference in paragraph 10 of the ‘Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity’ chapter to the possibility of establishing an all-island Charter of Rights.The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it traces the genesis of the Charter of Rights concept through to its inclusion in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement; secondly, it examines the approach thus far taken by the Joint Committee of the two human rights commissions to the task entrusted to them in relation to the Charter by the Agreement; and finally, it explores some of the issues that need to be considered and the challenges faced by that Committee in future efforts to assist in the construction of any such Charter. In so doing, it describes the political and legal difficulties faced in attempts not only to formulate agreement on human rights but also to create a legal document which may be applicable to two jurisdictions. It concludes by suggesting ways in which the project may be progressed.

Frailty – from bedside to buzzword?

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Manthorpe ◽  
Steve Iliffe
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
The Subject ◽  
To Come ◽  
Recent Policy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore common usage and understanding of the term “frailty”, which is increasingly used in health care debates in England. Design/methodology/approach – This is a commentary from the perspectives of health and social care researchers. Recent policy and research are drawn upon in the arguments presented. Findings – Most research on the subject of frailty comes from clinical practice although a parallel sociological or gerontological critique of the social construction is emerging. The public is likely to come across the term frailty through the media’s adoption of the term. Different definitions of frailty mean that estimates of the numbers of “frail people” will vary. Research limitations/implications – The commentary draws on material in the English language and on policy, commentary, and research material. Practical implications – The commentary may prompt reflection in practice and policy development on the usage of the term frailty and promote efforts to ensure that its meaning is clear and that it is acceptable to those to whom it is applied. Originality/value – The paper contributes to debates about frailty by considering the implications of using the term across health and social care and in integrated settings and encounters. It draws on medical presentations of the term frailty and on critiques of it as a powerful discourse.

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTATION OF STATE SOCIAL POLICY IN UKRAINE

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (37) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. V. Plotka
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Policy Mechanisms

The article explores the state and prospects of social policy development in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to determine the main directions of social policy implementation in Ukraine, the subject composition of social policy. Methods which was used in the article: analytical, statistical, monographic. The study revealed the patterns of socio-economic turmoil in Ukraine and their impact on the implementation of social policy. The haphazardness in the implementation of social policy in the country is emphasized. The main directions of reforming the system of social benefits and benefits are outlined, which must be subordinated to the following goals: constitutional, political, economic, social, financial.Keywords: politics, social policy, mechanisms, benefits and payments.

Politics and Devolution in Northern Ireland, 1998–2007

2021 ◽  
pp. 209-240
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Resource Limitations ◽  
The North ◽  
Political Management ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
The Uk

This chapter analyses politics in Northern Ireland in the context, first, of the failed attempts to implement devolution that led to its suspension, then the St Andrews Agreement in 2006, elections and the restoration of devolution in 2007. It reappraises the tortuous years in terms of the territorial strains that were still present in Northern Ireland, the resources available to the Republican/Nationalist and Unionist party leaderships in Northern Ireland as well as to the Blair government, and the political management approaches that they each pursued. It focuses on the political imperatives and constraints that determined the Northern Ireland Assembly's journey between intermittent existence and suspension, and eventually led to the unlikely agreement between the leaders of the extreme representatives of Republicanism and Unionism. The chapter is informed by the proposition that both sides in Northern Ireland still recognised their resource limitations in asserting their ideal outcomes in the short term. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Fein still pursued power-sharing devolution in the short to medium term to realise their long-term objectives of Irish unity. This was principally to be achieved through electoral success and the cultivation of the North–South institutions under strand two of the Belfast Agreement to normalise Irish governance through instrumental arguments, shared policy development and functional spillovers. Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), as the principal Unionist party, competitively sought to use devolution as a new framework in which to sustain an inter-governmentalist approach to governing within the UK, asserting the very different long-term aim of maintaining Northern Ireland within the Union.

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