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A blog from the Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service

Infrastructure Blog Archive

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

Energy

Image of wind farm in front of a setting sun
There was considerable growth in the development of renewable electricity over the previous Northern Ireland Assembly mandate. Changes to renewable electricity support may impact the ability to achieve similar levels…

Infrastructure

An image showing Silent Valley (left) and Ben Crom (right) reservoirs, Mourne Mountains, County Down
Reservoir safety is changing in order to better protect people in Northern Ireland. This article gives an overview of a recent Research and Information Service paper about the Reservoirs…
An image showing the Port of Larne
Transport links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) have entered the spotlight in recent months. The realities of the UK leaving the European Union…
When the UK Government became the world’s first major economy to legislate for a ‘net zero’ target for carbon emissions by 2050, it acknowledged it would not succeed unless…

Transport

Aerial view of the newly constructed A8; officially opened in December 2015 this dualling scheme cost £133m
As the Northern Ireland (NI) Executive seeks to grow the local economy during the forthcoming mandate, the quality and capacity of NI’s transport infrastructure will be a major factor….
A cyclist making use of one of Belfast City Centre’s cycle lanes passes one of the Belfast Bikes scheme docking stations
Cycling is one of our most popular leisure pursuits but can it move from being a hobby to an everyday transport mode and, importantly, replace car journeys? Large groups…

Water

Mullygarry, Fermanagh; after thirty-five consecutive days of rain in 2009, the water levels on Lough Erne rose to 158ft above sea level, the highest since records began in 1956 (image Dean Molyneaux, under Creative Commons).
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…