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A blog from the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service

Governance Blog Archive

Here you will find an archive of Governance Blog articles published before 1 May 2022, divided into their relevant categories.

Brexit

World Trade Organization public forum in 2016
During a House of Commons debate on Article 50 in February 2017, Brexit Minister, David Jones, confirmed that if the UK failed to secure a deal with the EU…
Sample form used by applicants for direct payments (DAERA)
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?…
A set of stars in the shape of the Flag of Europe, with one missing
Following the referendum in June 2016, the UK Prime Minister has stated that Article 50, the trigger mechanism for withdrawal from the EU, will be initiated by the end…

Democracy and Government

A photo showing the Chairperson (Kellie Armstrong MLA) and Deputy Chairperson (Megan Fearon MLA) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Women's Caucus (photo courtesy of Politics Plus)
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…
A photograph of the Houses of Parliament
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…
An image 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…

Justice

Image of girl using mobile phone: Increased access to social media, particularly via personal devices, presents opportunities but also risks (Image: Creative Commons Zero)
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…

Planning

An aerial view of the Peace Bridge in Derry/Londonderry
This article explores the temporary planning measures introduced as a response to COVID-19 across the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI). Some of these measures have, and will, require…
An image of the Peace Bridge in Derry/Londonderry
This blog article examines the similarities and differences between the planning systems north and south of the border on the island of Ireland. It is based on a more…
Image of a planned urban landscape: Local development planning is now with local councils
The planning system has undergone much change recently, so what are the new structures and how has the balance of responsibility shifted between central and local government?…

Statistics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Figure 1: Map presenting time travel analysis in relation to the nearest type one emergency care department
Everything happens somewhere. How does the Northern Ireland Assembly’s in-house geographic information service help Members analyse and visualise complex data? Over 80% of data used by our public sector…