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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

A car involved in a road traffic collision being towed (Image: Pixabay)
It is difficult to grasp the full extent of what is portrayed by road traffic collision statistics. Each statistic represents a human being and, in the case of those…
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…

Transport

A photograph showing a flood under a railway bridge flood in Holywood
The condition and quality of transport infrastructure is critical to the economic and social wellbeing of Northern Ireland (NI). There can be huge costs where transport infrastructure fails or…
An image of the centre of Belfast with buses whizzing past COVID-19 signs
In March 2020, the lockdown imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a collapse in the use of all modes of transportation in Northern Ireland (NI). At the…
An image showing a street charger in Belfast
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,…

Water

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…
Strangford Lough from Scrabo Hill (Image: Colin Park under Creative Commons)
As the Prime Minister prepares to trigger Article 50, this blog post looks at the potential consequences for environmental standards here in Northern Ireland….
Rathlin Island, one of 57 SACs in Northern Ireland (Image: Colin Park under Creative Commons Licence)
How might leaving the European Union impact on environmental policy, funding and legislation in Northern Ireland?…