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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

An image showing a child in a thumbs up pose
A significant number of European Union laws and policies have a direct role in protecting and promoting children’s rights. What has the EU achieved in the area of cross-border…
Image by Jonathan Billinger and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons
The agri-food sector is a significant one for the economy and employment in Northern Ireland. For a number of reasons, the implications of the vote to leave the EU…
Blue and yellow pills: There may have to be a change to the marketing authorisation of medicinal products for human use once the UK leaves the EU
The Assembly Research and Information Service (RaISe) recently published a paper which provided an update on developments following the EU referendum on 23rd June. In this post, another in…

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 by Professor Glenn D Wilson, used under Creative Commons
Mutual recognition and co-operation underpin many EU law provisions. This article looks at some of the legislative options for one particular provision following Brexit; the European Arrest Warrant (EAW)….
After FDAC: A recent report on the outcomes of family drug and alcohol courts in England
The draft Programme for Government contains a commitment to running a pilot family drug and alcohol court in Northern Ireland. Such courts have been used in England for some…
The Flag of Europe (Image: Bob, under Creative Commons)
The past seven days have seen significant developments in relation to EU referendum related action in the courts at both local and UK level. This article provides an update…

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)

A blue and white image depicting a coronavirus
By Keara McKay & Thomas Procter This is a visualisation prepared and maintained by the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service (RaISe). It presents the spread of COVID-19…
This paper presents a brief demographic profile of Northern Ireland, updating a previous article on this subject in 2016. It shows emerging trends in the population, and comparisons with…
Travel distances to nearest GP Practice, March 2018
Please note: this article was edited on 11.2.20 with up-to-date GIS maps showing travel distances to GP practices for 2015 and 2020. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Day was established…