How has COVID-19 emergency funding for individual artists been distributed in Northern Ireland?
This visualisation provides a snapshot of £11.1 million in emergency funding provided to over 2824 individual artists in Northern Ireland.
The impact of COVID-19 on Northern Ireland
This visualisation based on analysis published by Ulster Bank, Danske Bank, NISRA, PSNI and Google Mobility Reports, looks at the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.
Snapshot of COVID-19 Funding: Department for Communities
This visualisation provides a series of interactive graphs which offer a snapshot of funding to address key challenges arising from the effects of the COVID-19.
COVID-19 and farming – A bitter harvest?
2020 was already set to be a challenging year for farmers across the UK. Having finally reached an agreed Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, the UK is set to formally leave the EU at the end of the current transitional period in December 2020. As a result of this decision, the UK and each of the devolved administrations were facing major changes in terms of how they would be supporting farmers outside the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) framework. There were concerns amongst some local stakeholders around the impacts that such moves would have on the nature and viability of agriculture here.
Farmers and mental health
In this Mental Health Awareness Week, which also coincides with this year’s Balmoral Show, this article examines an issue which has received comparatively little attention and on which, so far, not much research has been
What now for direct support to farmers in Northern Ireland post-Brexit?
A key issue within Northern Ireland since the UK’s decision to leave the EU in June 2016 is exactly how this decision will affect local farming?
Tourism update: 2024
Introduction Tourism in Northern Ireland accounted for £2.3 billion or 5% of the region’s Gross Value Added in 2019. The sector supported 70,200 jobs in Northern Ireland in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns
Addressing the Digital Divide in Northern Ireland
This blog article focuses on key UK Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Departmental initiatives which are currently in place to address the digital divide in Northern Ireland (NI). Following on from the previous blog post
An overview of the Digital Divide in Northern Ireland
This blog article provides a brief overview of the ‘Digital Divide’. Drawing on the Northern Ireland experience, it explores key characteristics of the Digital Divide, as well as the importance of closing this divide, especially
Every child deserves a real chance in life: A renewed government focus on solving educational underachievement in Northern Ireland?
Young people have faced unprecedented changes to their childhoods and futures due to COVID-19. A significant part of this disruption has been to their education. While schools and education staff adapted admirably to online learning,
COVID-19 and school shutdowns: Examining the after-effects
In an effort to minimise the spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2 (which causes the disease COVID-19), schools in Northern Ireland closed their doors to normal school life on 23 March 2020. Approximately 450 schools remained
Free periods? Period poverty, its impact on education, and policy responses to the issue
Period poverty is a topical issue, globally and within the United Kingdom (UK). Recently, there has been some concern about the relationship between period poverty and school attendance. In addition, the reduction of taxation on
Who runs Northern Ireland? Taking stock of gender and power in Northern Ireland
Please note that more up-to-date statistics on gender representation can be found in the RaISe research paper Who Runs Northern Ireland? A Summary of Statistics Relating to Gender and Power in 2020. The late feminist
EU exit regulations and Northern Ireland
A high profile consequence of the continuing failure to establish an Executive and fully functioning Assembly was the legislative passage this week of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill 2018. A
A brief overview of the Northern Ireland Assembly Library
This week is Libraries Week so we thought we would provide an insight into the Northern Ireland Assembly Library, its work and the collection that it manages. The Assembly Library The Library, like the Assembly
From custody to community: mental health and criminal justice in Northern Ireland
Every year, World Mental Health Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the state of mental health services globally. In Northern Ireland (NI), the intersection between mental health and the criminal justice system presents a
The misuse of prescription drugs in Northern Ireland
by Max Larkinson & James Bamford Earlier this year the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a report on Addiction Services in Northern Ireland (NI), highlighting a steady increase of both alcohol- and drug-specific deaths (Figure
Women’s gynaecological health in Northern Ireland
Women’s gynaecological health refers to, menstruation, sexual health, fertility and menopause. Health inequalities experienced by women have long been apparent, often described by campaigners as the ‘gender-health gap’. Evidence has shown that a lack of
An overview of the Digital Divide in Northern Ireland
This blog article provides a brief overview of the ‘Digital Divide’. Drawing on the Northern Ireland experience, it explores key characteristics of the Digital Divide, as well as the importance of closing this divide, especially
Are electric cars a realistic alternative to petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland today?
The UK Government has a vision where almost all cars and vans on UK roads will be electric by 2050. Encouragingly, the market for electric cars is growing year-on-year, though realistically they continue to make
Ready for the journey? Public attitudes to electric and ultra-low emission vehicles
The UK Government is encouraging drivers to buy zero emission battery electric vehicles to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport. It will phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030,
Update – the Gibraltar Protocol
This article updates a previous article on the negotiations around the Gibraltar Protocol. Gibraltar provides an interesting point of comparison with Northern Ireland in terms of arrangements following the UK’s exit from the EU. The
Consent, cross-community support and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol
John Locke once wrote, ‘we should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves’. In
Judicial Review of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol – Allister (James Hugh) et al’s Application AND In the Matter of the Protocol NI[2021] NIQB 64
The Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol (‘the Protocol’) was the subject of a judicial review challenge at the High Court of Justice in Belfast. The hearing, which stretched over several days, took place in May 2021 and
Assembly Library on Twitter
Northern Ireland Assembly on Facebook