Democracy & Government

Who runs Northern Ireland? Taking stock of gender and power in Northern Ireland
Reading Time: 4 minutes The late feminist writer Kate Millet observed society in the late 1960s and concluded that almost all positions of power were occupied by men, a state of affairs she referred to as ‘patriarchy’ – the

EU exit regulations and Northern Ireland
Reading Time: 4 minutes 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 Exercise of Functions) Bill 2018. A

A brief overview of the Northern Ireland Assembly Library
Reading Time: 5 minutes 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 Library The Library, like the Assembly

European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Back in the Commons
Reading Time: 3 minutes The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill returns to the House of Commons this week. MPs will consider the Bill in a Committee of the whole House. The Bill repeals the European Communities Act 1972 and is of

General election 2017: A detailed look at the result in Northern Ireland
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Westminster general election of 8 June 2017 resulted in a ‘hung parliament’, with the Conservatives as the largest party but without an overall majority. The result was: Conservative (318), Labour (262), SNP (35), Liberal

Transferred votes in the March 2017 Assembly Election
Reading Time: 2 minutes Transferred votes are an extremely important part of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. In the 2017 Assembly Election, only 18 MLAs had a sufficient number of first preference votes to meet the quota and

The representation of women in public life: where does Northern Ireland stand (now)?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the context of International Women’s Day and following the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 2 March, we have updated a previous article on the representation of women in public life.

The Northern Ireland Assembly and the School Curriculum
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Assembly Education Service engaged with more than 80,000 young people during the last mandate. The aim of this work is to inform young people about the work of the Assembly and encourage them to