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.

scholarly journals Europe and/or the UK: Post-Brexit urban and regional development futures – A special issue

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Nick Henry ◽  
Adrian Smith
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Epochal Change ◽  
Urban And Regional Development ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic

It was over 25 years ago that European Urban and Regional Studies was launched at a time of epochal change in the composition of the political, economic and social map of Europe. Brexit has been described as an epochal moment – and at such a moment, European Urban and Regional Studies felt it should offer the space for short commentaries on Brexit and its impact on the relationships of place, space and scale across the cultural, economic, social and political maps of the ‘new Europes’. Seeking contributions drawing on the theories, processes and patterns of urban and regional development, the following provides 10 contributions on Europe, the UK and/or their relational geographies in a post-Brexit world. What the drawn-out and highly contested process of Brexit has done for the populace, residents and ex-pats of the UK is to reveal the inordinate ways in which our mental, everyday and legal maps of the regions, nations and places of the UK in Europe are powerful, territorially and rationally inconsistent, downright quirky at times but also intensely unequal. First, as the UK exits the Single Market, the nature of the political imagination needed to create alternatives to the construction of new borders and new divisions, even within a discourse of creating a ‘global Britain’, remains uncertain. European Urban and Regional Studies has always been a journal dedicated to the importance of pan-European scholarly integration and solidarity and we hope that it will continue to intervene in debates over what alternative imaginings to a more closed and introverted future might look like. Second, as the impacts of COVID-19 continue to change in profound ways how we think, work and travel across European space, we will need to find new forms of integration and new forms of engagament in intellectual life and policy development. European Urban and Regional Studies remains commited to forging such forms.

Sovereignty, Devolution and the English Constitution

2018 ◽  
pp. 45-67
Author(s):  
Akash Paun
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Political Disaffection ◽  
Eu Referendum ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

This chapter argues that the UK territorial constitution rests upon a profound ambiguity about its central principles. Parliamentary sovereignty remains at the core of how the English understand their constitution. Yet in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, alternative doctrines have flourished, especially since devolution, which conceded the right of each nation to determine its own form of government (popular sovereignty) and established a non-majoritarian system of power-sharing and cross-border governance in (Northern) Ireland. These developments imply that the UK is a voluntary ‘family of nations’ not a unitary state. Yet Westminster has never formally conceded this point and devolution could in theory be reversed by a simple parliamentary majority. Constructive ambiguity has been retained. However, the historic tendency to allow constitutional theory and practice to diverge may be unsustainable in the light of the EU referendum result and the wider mood of English political disaffection that Brexit has tapped into.

Stan Orme and the road to ‘Industrial Democracy’: British attempts at the politicisation of working-class Protestants in Northern Ireland, 1973–75

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Craig
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Industrial Democracy ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The Road ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Uk

As Minister of State in Northern Ireland 1974-1976, Stanley Orme MP (1923-2005) worked at the heart of British government policies that attempted to ameliorate and politicise the membership of those loyalist groups that had successfully brought down the power sharing executive in 1974. Orme followed and extended a government policy of often secret engagement of those outside the mainstream of Northern Ireland politics; a policy that successfully brought about the Provisional IRA’s 1975 ceasefire, but which failed to bring the UVF into electoral politics with the dismal performance of the Volunteer Political Party in the 1974 general elections. Orme’s approach, outlined in the 1975 pamphlet ‘Industrial Democracy’ encouraged workers’ participation in the newly nationalised Harland and Wolff shipyard and was a direct attempt to politicise the Protestant working classes of Belfast. Orme attempted to redirect their support away from both existing militant and right-wing groups that at this time included the UDA, UVF and Ulster Vanguard. Orme’s view was that skilled industrial workers belonged within the fold of progressive social democracy and that the extension of government-backed syndicalist activity in the ship yard would empower the workers and help shift Northern Ireland as a whole from sectarian models of political activity to a class based system similar to the rest of the UK. For Orme, ‘Industrial Democracy’ was the ‘Last Chance for Northern Ireland’ and a potential solution to the province’s ills, ‘If the working-class people of Northern Ireland can be convinced that, whatever their religious denominations, they have economic interests in common, they will be able to approach the constitutional problem… with open minds.’ (‘Last Chance for Northern Ireland?’, [undated] c. 1975 LSE Orme 1/3). Using a combination of Orme’s official and private papers, this chapter seeks to explore and critique Orme’s motivation, his policy, and its effect.

The Irish Border

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-168
Author(s):  
Colin Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Controversial Issue ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This chapter focuses on Northern Ireland, a jurisdiction within the UK acutely affected by the nature of the Brexit debate and the process. It is a contested region that is divided along ethno-national lines and still emerging from a violent conflict. Removing Northern Ireland from the EU against its wishes will have long-term consequences that remain difficult to predict. One result is a more intense discussion of the region’s place within the UK, with Irish reunification acknowledged to be a way to return to the EU. The chapter then analyses the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland attached to the Withdrawal Agreement which regulates the single most controversial issue in the Brexit process: namely, the Irish border question. It looks at the difficulties connected to the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland and explains the creative solution that was ultimately agreed in the withdrawal treaty to prevent the return of a hard border in the island of Ireland through regulatory alignment, while also indicating the challenges that the Protocol creates.

Many Happy Returns? Investment Governance and the Political Economy of Time in UK Pensions Provision

2021 ◽  
pp. 209-246
Author(s):  
Craig Berry
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
The Political ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk

We are increasingly conscious that private pension schemes in the UK are primarily financial institutions. UK private pensions provision has always been highly financialized, but the individualization of provision means this dynamic matters more than ever to retirement incomes. Furthermore, individualization has occurred at a time when the UK economy’s capacity to support a long-term approach to capital investment, upon which pensions depend, has declined. The chapter argues that pensions provision essentially involves managing the failure of the future to resemble the present, or more specifically present forecasts of the future. As our ability to manipulate the value of the future has increased, our ability to tolerate forecast failure has declined. The chapter details how pension funds invest, and how this has changed, and provides an original understanding of several recent attempts to shape pensions investment, ultimately demonstrating the limitations of pensions policy in shaping how provision functions in practice.

The context of healthcare

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Health Profile ◽  
Long Term Conditions ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Uk

This chapter begins by covering the UK health profile, then defines the key concepts in primary care and public health, and outlines the generic long-term conditions model. It provides a brief overview of the National Health Service, including differences in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It covers current NHS entitlements for people from overseas, commissioning of services, and public health in a broader context. It also describes health needs assessment, and provides an overview of the services in primary care, the role of general practice, and other primary healthcare services. Further services, including those to prevent unplanned hospital admission, aid hospital discharge, those that support children and families, housing, social support, and care homes are all covered.

scholarly journals After abortion’s arrival in Northern Ireland: Conscientious objection and other concerns

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Nathan Emmerich
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
The Political ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Potential Problems ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Short Time

Until recently, Northern Ireland was infamous for having one of the most restrictive legal frameworks for abortion in Europe. This meant that few were performed in the country, and those who wished to terminate a pregnancy were forced to travel to other parts of the UK or further afield. In 2019 a continuing political stalemate in Northern Ireland has indirectly resulted in the relevant legislation recently being repealed by the UK government. For a short time, this meant that the legal position in Northern Ireland regarding abortion became one of the most permissive in Europe. This short paper sets out the current position and, in the light of the political and legislative roadmap set out by the Northern Ireland Office, identifies and briefly discusses some potential problems that might arise. Most notable are the points raised with regard to conscientious objection. Specifically, the potential for developments in Northern Ireland to further calls for healthcare professional’s ability to rely upon conscientious objection to be removed.

Peripherality and Northern Ireland

1994 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 90-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Begg ◽  
David Mayes
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
The North ◽  
Working Age ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
North Western ◽  
The Eu

In writing recently about the economic problems that Northern Ireland faces (Begg and Mayes, 1994) we argued, uncontroversially, that an end to the ‘Troubles’ would significantly alter the region's prospects. Our analysis, nevertheless, focused on other factors which might be amenable to policy action. With an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland now on the cards, these other characteristics of the Northern Ireland economy must be expected to be of increased importance in determining the Province's competitiveness compared with other parts of the UK and, indeed, other regions of the European Union. In particular, Northern Ireland is a prime example of a ‘peripheral’ economy, located as it is at the North-Western corner of the EU and facing the further barrier of a sea crossing to markets other than the Republic of Ireland. It is also a region that shares a number of the characteristics of the older industrial regions of Britain, such as high unemployment, persistent emigration of working-age population and difficulties in achieving industrial restructuring (Harris et al., 1990; Harris 1991).

scholarly journals Shifting the Goalposts: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study of the Health of Long-Term Incapacity Benefit Recipients during a Period of Substantial Change to the UK Social Security System

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAYLEIGH GARTHWAITE ◽  
CLARE BAMBRA ◽  
JONATHAN WARREN ◽  
ADETAYO KASIM ◽  
GRAEME GREIG
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Health State ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe UK social security safety net for those who are out of work due to ill health or disability has experienced significant change, most notably the abolition of Incapacity Benefit (IB) and the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). These changes have been underpinned by the assumption that many recipients are not sufficiently sick or disabled to ‘deserve’ welfare benefits – claims that have been made in the absence of empirical data on the health of recipients. Employing a unique longitudinal and mixed-methods approach, this paper explores the health of a cohort of 229 long-term IB recipients in the North East of England over an eighteen-month period, during a time of significant changes to the UK welfare state. In-depth interviews with twenty-five of the survey cohort are also presented to illustrate the lived experiences of recipients. Contributing to debates surrounding the conceptualisation of work-readiness for sick and disabled people, findings indicate IB recipients had significantly worse health than the general population, with little change in their health state over the eighteen-month study period. Qualitative data reinforced the constancy of ill health for IB recipients. Finally, the paper discusses the implications for social policy, noting how the changing nature of administrative definitions and redefinitions of illness and capacity to work can impact upon the lives of sick and disabled people.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of hydrological pathways in modulating multi-annual climate teleconnection periodicities from UK rainfall to streamflow

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 2223-2237
Author(s):  
William Rust ◽  
Mark Cuthbert ◽  
John Bloomfield ◽  
Ron Corstanje ◽  
Nicholas Howden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The North Atlantic Oscillation ◽  
The Uk

Abstract. An understanding of multi-annual behaviour in streamflow allows for better estimation of the risks associated with hydrological extremes. This can enable improved preparedness for streamflow-dependant services, such as freshwater ecology, drinking water supply and agriculture. Recently, efforts have focused on detecting relationships between long-term hydrological behaviour and oscillatory climate systems (such as the North Atlantic Oscillation – NAO). For instance, the approximate 7 year periodicity of the NAO has been detected in groundwater-level records in the North Atlantic region, providing potential improvements to the preparedness for future water resource extremes due to their repetitive, periodic nature. However, the extent to which these 7-year, NAO-like signals are propagated to streamflow, and the catchment processes that modulate this propagation, are currently unknown. Here, we show statistically significant evidence that these 7-year periodicities are present in streamflow (and associated catchment rainfall), by applying multi-resolution analysis to a large data set of streamflow and associated catchment rainfall across the UK. Our results provide new evidence for spatial patterns of NAO periodicities in UK rainfall, with areas of greatest NAO signal found in southwest England, south Wales, Northern Ireland and central Scotland, and show that NAO-like periodicities account for a greater proportion of streamflow variability in these areas. Furthermore, we find that catchments with greater subsurface pathway contribution, as characterised by the baseflow index (BFI), generally show increased NAO-like signal strength and that subsurface response times (as characterised by groundwater response time – GRT), of between 4 and 8 years, show a greater signal presence. Our results provide a foundation of understanding for the screening and use of streamflow teleconnections for improving the practice and policy of long-term streamflow resource management.

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