scholarly journals ‘Ulster Says No’: Regulating the consumption of commercial sex spaces and services in Northern Ireland

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 806-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J Maginn ◽  
Graham Ellison

Commercial forms of sex such as prostitution/sex work, strip clubs and even sex shops have been the subject of much political debate and policy regulation over the last decade or so in the UK and Ireland. These myriad forms of commercial sex and land usage have managed to survive and even thrive in the face of public outcry and regulation. Despite being part of the UK we suggest that Northern Ireland has steered its own regulatory course, whereby the consumption of commercial sexual spaces and services have been the subject of intense moral and legal oversight in ways that are not apparent in other UK regions. Nevertheless, in spite of this we also argue that the context of Northern Ireland may provide some lessons for the ways that religious values and moral reasoning can influence debates on commercial sex elsewhere.

Author(s):  
Colin Forrest ◽  
Ron Hill ◽  
Chris James

The members of the governing boards of schools, colleges which provide vocational education and training, and universities in the UK have traditionally been volunteers. In some contexts, however, for example, colleges in Northern Ireland, governors are now paid. Whether volunteer governors in other or all settings should be remunerated is the subject of debate. This article analyses the various aspects of that debate. It considers the nature of volunteering; the socio-political context of volunteering; and the growing momentum for the remuneration of governors of all UK educational institutions. The article also considers the arguments for and against governor remuneration, which include remuneration and: the way governors and the governing of educational institutions are valued; the visibility of governing; governor recruitment; the diversity of governing board membership; the quality of governing; the remuneration of other publicly funded agencies and organisations; the accountability governors experience in their role; the market for school governors; and whether a policy which implemented governor remuneration could be reversed. The article also considers aspects that would need to be resolved in practice: who would be paid and for what; the level of remuneration; the funding of governor remuneration; and the organisation of remuneration.


Author(s):  
Thomas Hennessey

This chapter compares and contrasts the 1973 and 1998 Agreements that, on the face of it, are remarkably similar: both involve power-sharing and an institutional link between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The phrase ‘Sunningdale for slow learners’, attributed to Seamus Mallon, masks a misunderstanding of the fundamental differences between the two Agreements. The former Agreement looked to establish a Council of Ireland with executive powers that had the potential to evolve into an embryonic all-Ireland government; the latter Agreement established a consultative North-South Ministerial Council with no executive powers that could not evolve into a united Ireland by incremental moves. This was the key to Unionist acceptance of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in comparison to Unionist rejection of the Sunningdale Agreement. In constitutional terms the GFA was a Unionist settlement that secured Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom, recognised British sovereignty in Northern Ireland and established that a united Ireland could only be achieved on the basis of the principle of consent. In contrast the Sunningdale Agreement was, in constitutional terms, a Nationalist settlement that did not recognise Northern Ireland was part of the UK and attempted to bypass the principle of consent by establishing powerful North-South bodies. The chapter argues that the only thing the two Agreements has in common was a power-sharing element for the government of Northern Ireland.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciara Brennan ◽  
Mary Dobbs ◽  
Viviane Gravey

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-330
Author(s):  
Donna Soto-Morettini

Abstract J. T. Rogers’ Oslo has had an extraordinary run for new ‘straight’ drama: sell-out performances both in New York and London, and 7 Tony nominations. But what is it? On the face of it, Oslo is a history play – a carefully imagined reconstruction of secret talks that became the precursor to the Clinton/Arafat/Rabin Camp David meetings that resulted in the 1993 Oslo Accords. The subject and the players have been thoroughly researched by J. T. Rogers, and the play’s reception has been largely celebratory. This perhaps is the result of a play-going public’s appreciation of some intelligence in political debate and no doubt an appreciation of the play’s optimism, despite the ultimate failure of the Accords. This paper looks closely at three questions posed by Rogers’ play: 1) IS it a history play, and if so, how does it apprehend/narrate history? 2) Murray Krieger once said that history is the child of myth that never altogether escapes its parentage – is Oslo, in this sense, an unruly child of myth – not so much a history play, as it is a trans-historical political lesson? 3) If Oslo is NOT a history play, to what end does it employ its very specifically researched context?


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Tham ◽  
G Dovell ◽  
R G Berrisford ◽  
M L Humphreys ◽  
T J Wheatley ◽  
...  

SUMMARY Nutrition and post-operative feeding in oesophageal cancer resections for enhanced recovery remain a controversial subject. Feeding jejunostomy tubes (FJT) have been used post-operatively to address the subject but evidence to support its routine use is contentious. There is currently no data on FJT use in England for oesophageal cancer resections. Knowledge regarding current FJT usage, and rationale for its use may provide a snapshot of the trend and current standing on FJT use by resectional units in England. A standardised survey was sent electronically to all oesophageal resectional units in the United Kingdom (UK) between October 2016 and January 2018. In summary, the questionnaire probes into current FJT use, rationale for its usage, consideration of cessation of its use, and rationale of cessation of its use for units not using FJT. The resectional units were identified using the National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit (NOGCA) progress report 2016 and 1 selected resectional unit from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, respectively. Performance data of those units were collected from the 2017 NOGCA report. Out of 40 units that were eligible, 32 (80.0%) centres responded. The responses show a heterogeneity of FJT use across the resectional centres. Most centres (56.3%) still place FJT routinely with 2 of 18 (11.1%) were considering stopping its routine use. FJT was considered a mandatory adjunct to chemotherapy in 3 (9.4%) centres. FJT was not routinely used in 9 (28.1%) of centres with 5 of 9 (55.6%) reported previous complications and 4 of 9 (44.4%) cited using other forms of nutrition supplementation as factors for discontinuing FJT use. There were 5 (15.6%) centres with divided practice among its consultants. Of those 2 of 5 (40.0%) were considering stopping FJT use, and hence, a total of 4 of 23 (17.4%) of units are now considering stopping routine FJT use. In conclusion, the wider practice of FJT use in the UK remains heterogenous. More research regarding the optimal post-operative feeding regimen needs to be undertaken.


2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darragh McGee ◽  
Alan Bairner

In light of a growing trend by which Northern Irish-born footballers opt to pledge their sporting allegiance to the Republic of Ireland, the issue of player eligibility has become the subject of much public and political debate across the island of Ireland. In seeking to shed light on this controversial topic, this article examines the myriad factors which are negotiated by northern nationalist footballers when faced with the choice of which ‘nation’ to which they belong. Based on extracts from a series of interviews with northern nationalist players, the study situates their lived experiences within the broader socio-political landscape of Northern Ireland, highlighting a range of factors from the perceived culpability of the Irish Football Association (IFA) to sporting pragmatism on the part of the players. The research is theoretically grounded in the writings of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu, in particular by utilizing their respective interpretations of the socio-psychological concept of habitus in an attempt to understand the interplay between the relatively superficial and potentially temporary nature of sporting identity and a more deeply ingrained sense of national or political identification.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Donnelly ◽  
Robert D. Osborne

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.


Author(s):  
Orla Lafferty

UTV, formerly known as Ulster Television, has been the franchised commercial broadcaster in Northern Ireland since Hallowe’en night, 1959. While detailed research has been carried out on the history of the BBC in Northern Ireland (Cathcart, 1984, McLoone, 1996) there has been neglect in the study of the political, social and cultural role of UTV in this period. Johnson and Turnock (2005) attempted to address the lack of attention given to the regional structure of commercial broadcasting in the UK yet fail to even mention UTV in their index. There has however been some slight discussion of UTV within the wider context of broadcasting in Northern Ireland (Butler 1995, Curtis, 1998 and Millar 1994) and Bernard Sendall and Jeremy Potter’s (1983, 1990) volumes Independent Television in Britain provide an invaluable source of historical information. More recently a book released for the channel’s 50th anniversary gives some insight into the channel's working processes but remains mainly anecdotal. These studies have not acknowledged the importance of regional broadcasters, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland and have failed to sustain their research. This paper aims to address this issue through three assertions. Studies on broadcasting in Northern Ireland have tended to focus on the lack of political debate or exploration of the situation in the region as well as productions which caused controversy when aired. This has led to a large neglect of aired programme material that can be analyzed and critiqued to add a different perspective to the already vast debate on the media and Northern Ireland. Secondly, the most important relationship for UTV as an independent broadcaster was its relationship with the Independent Television Authority and network. Finally, in coping with the ‘Troubles’, UTV adopted the approach of creating a dialogue with the community and ensuring that their focus remained on local people and their stories.


2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Mike Pollard

Three senior Chief Executives of acute hospital trusts in the UK recently visited the Northern Territory (NT)and South Australia (SA) to study remote and rural health care in general - and Aboriginal health in particular. As with all other aspects of Aboriginal life, the subject of health status is highly charged and generates heightened emotions and intense political debate across the country but particularly in the NT and SA where many of the remote indigenous people live. Every "mainstream" Australian has an opinion on the trials and tribulations of the indigenous people.The field study was part of the NHS Leadership Centre's Senior Chief Executives' Development Programme. Itcomprised a longitudinal journey across the continent from Darwin (NT) through to Alice Springs to Tanundain the Barossa Valley and then on to Adelaide following the route of the 2,500 kilometre Stuart Highway. Itinvolved visiting rural health services, and meetings with Aboriginal leaders, academics, health practitioners and senior officials of the SA government.A specific research topic was to understand how practitioners working in extreme environments, and delivering long-term programmes of care, can maintain their morale and motivation.


Somatechnics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
Fiona K. O'Neill

In the UK, when one is suspected of having breast cancer there is usually a rapid transition from being diagnosed, to being told you require treatment, to this being effected. Hence, there is a sense of an abrupt transition from ‘normal’ embodiment through somatechnic engagement; from normality, to failure and otherness. The return journey to ‘embodied normality’, if indeed there can be one, is the focus of this paper; specifically the durée and trajectory of such normalisation. I offer a personal narrative from encountering these ‘normalising interventions’, supported by the narratives of other ‘breast cancer survivors’. Indeed, I havechosento become acquainted with my altered/novel embodiment, rather than the symmetrisation of prosthetication, to ‘wear my scars’,and thus subvert the trajectory of mastectomy. I broach and brook various encounters with failure by having, being and doing a body otherwise; exploring, mastering and re-capacitating my embodiment, finding the virtuosity of failure and subversion. To challenge the durée of ‘normalisation’ I have engaged in somatic movement practices which allow actual capacities of embodiment to be realised; thorough kinaesthetic praxis and expression. This paper asks is it soma, psyche or techné that has failed me, or have I failed them? What mimetic chimera ‘should’ I become? What choices do we have in the face of failure? What subversions can be allowed? How subtle must one be? What referent shall I choose? What might one assimilate? Will mimesis get me in the end? What capacities can one find? How shall I belong? Where / wear is my fidelity? The hope here is to address the intra-personal phenomenological character and the inter-corporeal socio-ethico-political aspects that this body of failure engenders, as one amongst many.


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