This is a tag applied to all posts published before May 2022. This is because they are all using the same single post template that won’t be used on new posts going forward.
One area that has created considerable political division in Northern Ireland is how to deal with a contested past. Broadly, ‘dealing with the past’ tends to refer to issues relating to people affected by the conflict, how the past is commemorated or remembered and truth recovery and justice. How far is Northern Ireland from an agreed approach to deal with the events of the conflict?
The plant disease and invasive species threat posed to the environment in Northern Ireland is increasing, and likely to continue to do so due to factors such as increasing world trade and the potential impacts of climate change. These factors also increase the potential risk of the threats that we face diversifying and affecting a wider range of plant species.
Read More »A clear and present danger: Plant disease and invasive species
Please note that a more recent article on Suicide statistics and strategy in Northern Ireland: Update was published in November 2019.
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For the second consecutive year, Northern Ireland recorded the UK’s highest suicide rate. Provisional figures for 2015 show a figure of 318 recorded deaths by suicide in Northern Ireland. This compares with a total of 268 for 2014. In recent years, suicide rates have increased substantially from their typical level in the 1970s. For example, in 1971 a suicide rate of 5 per 100,000 population was recorded, and the rate remained in single figures for most of the next thirty years [1]. In the last decade, however, the rate has fluctuated around the mid-teens (14-17 per 100,000 population). There are many reasons why someone may experience suicidal feelings, and suicide is a highly complex issue. So what are some of the risk factors?
Education and training are key factors in economic progress, acting as a means of raising productivity. Whilst other factors can result in short-run economic improvements, education and training are critical to embedding long-term growth. As such, the current reductions in funding for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) could potentially have a negative impact on future economic development in Northern Ireland (NI).
Read More »Economic impact of cuts to the Higher Education sector
How can we ensure that children’s early years lay firm foundations for the future? During the first five years of life children develop at a rapid rate, and their experiences during this period profoundly influence their life chances.
Prolonged heavy rainfall over the winter of 2015 has shown how devastating flooding can be to homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. With predictions that localised flooding will become an ever more common occurrence, how prepared is Northern Ireland to manage flood risk?
Read More »Managing Flood risk in Northern Ireland: Are we prepared?
Rapid technological changes have caused the norms and methods of children’s sexual behaviour to evolve. Much screen-based media use now involves accessing interactive social networking sites such as Facebook and Snapchat. This access, particularly via personal devices, presents opportunities but also risks.
At the beginning of the last Assembly mandate in 2011, the Research and Information Service wrote a piece on the possibility of new legislation for Northern Ireland, ‘Climate Change: the need to raise the game’ [page 90 | PDF | 4.7mb]. Five years on, the climate change debate still remains and legislation specific to Northern Ireland has not yet been introduced. However, discussions around the introduction of legislation have more recently picked up momentum again.
In recent years ‘Preventative Expenditure‘ (PE) has gained a high level of political consensus. There are many definitions, and this imprecision has resulted in departments sometimes claiming that all of their expenditure is preventative. Generally speaking, PE seeks to reduce public spending by investing early before problems become too severe and expensive to address. Those on the left view it as a way to reduce poverty, while those on the right view it as a way to reduce economic inactivity and ultimately service provision costs. While the idea that ‘prevention is better than cure’ is generally accepted, government’s funding of public services has rarely followed the maxim. Recent reports in the United Kingdom (UK) have identified a number of barriers when governments introduce a preventative approach, some of which are explained here.
Read More »What are the key obstacles to introducing a preventative approach in Northern Ireland?
Despite not being particularly large in overall UK terms, the sea fishing industry in Northern Ireland makes a significant contribution to the economy of the three County Down ports of Ardglass, Kilkeel and Portavogie where the local fleet is mainly based. However, the local industry could face an uncertain future due to its heavy reliance on prawns.
Research and Information Service
Northern Ireland Assembly
Ballymiscaw
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Phone: 028 9041 8320
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