Who is Better Off – the Irish, the Northern Irish, or the British?: A regional economic comparison Introduction Northern Ireland is one of the two economically weakest regions of the UK, alongside the North East of England. By contrast, the Republic of Ireland has one of the most dynamic economies in the European Union. […]
Discussion about a ‘border poll’ arises on social media every day, usually on multiple occasions. It is almost as frequent in mainstream media. The constitutional future of Northern Ireland has become a common talking point. If it seems likely that a referendum on the future of Northern Ireland will take place at some point in
Who is better off – those in Northern Ireland, Ireland or Great Britain? Read More »
The latest Belfast Telegraph Top 100 most profitable Northern Ireland companies report provides a snapshot of what is happening within our economy. It illustrates both how far our economy has changed, but also the ways in which it has not. In some sectors, such as energy, it is in with the new, but not yet
Northern Ireland’s economy is a mix of the old and the new Read More »
Farming – on life support (The Gosling Report) Introduction The financial crisis in farming has persisted for many years. This has a severe negative impact on rural life, which is increasingly becoming marginalised despite the slow improvement in Northern Ireland’s wider economy. It is essential that Northern Ireland does more to support its rural life
Isolation and loneliness can be emotionally devastating for older adults. They are also a trigger for high levels of demand on health services, including on GPs and A&E. Reducing loneliness can cut costs for the NHS, as well as improve the quality of life for the people involved. Loneliness has a negative health impact
It is great to have government again, and many of the ministerial statements made so far have been very positive. One example is new Economy Minister Conor Murphy recognising how central comprehensive childcare provision is to female participation in the workforce, raising productivity and reducing economic inactivity. Similar comments were made by the incoming First
Many years ago I interviewed the late Frank Dobson, then health secretary for England, about his plans for reforming the NHS. ‘It’s like turning round a giant super-tanker’, he said, using an analogy that applies in practice to pretty well all public service reform. Tony Blair, in his initial years as Prime Minister, believed he
The cost of living crisis has hit Northern Ireland very severely, with costs rising much faster than incomes. In fact, incomes last year increased more slowly in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK — reflecting our greater dependence on the public sector (where pay has been held down by British government
Housing policy in Northern Ireland is a mess. It is most evident in the social housing waiting list sitting at over 44,000 households, while we build less than a thousand social housing units a year. But it is equally a mess when it comes to the private rental sector. Policy, it seems to me,
The latest series of Holywell Conversations podcasts began with reflections on the Good Friday Agreement, amidst fears that Northern Ireland’s devolution was over, and that series has now completed at a time when government has actually resumed. Over the series’ 18 episodes two themes have been examined – the challenges holding back reconciliation within our
Derry has been campaigning for a full sized university campus for the last 60 years. The city still holds a grievance over the Lockwood report from 1965, which chose Coleraine for the location of the new university, rather than Derry’s existing Magee College, then a Presbyterian theological college. I once interviewed Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, the
The widely opposed Legacy Bill is now enacted as the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, 2023. But it remains widely hated and the Irish government has launched inter-state proceedings against the UK administration. This is a clear and strong sign of how bad relations are between the two governments that are co-guarantors of