The Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series (KESS) is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, formally partnering a legislative arm of government – the Northern Ireland Assembly – with academia. Aiming to encourage debate and improve understanding, KESS provides a forum to present and disseminate research findings in a straightforward format, making those findings easily accessible to decision-makers. Seminars are free to attend. To register email raise@niassembly.gov.uk

Agenda

1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome

1.35pm – Assembly Committee Chair – Opening Remarks 

1.45pm – Prof John Garry (QUB) – The EU referendum Vote in Northern Ireland: Implications for our understanding of citizens’ political views and behaviour

Politics in Northern Ireland is typically dominated by the ethno-national divide between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists. The EU referendum presented an opportunity for a major political issue to cross-cut this division, with variation in both communities on the issue of EU membership. In this presentation I use data from a large scale representative survey conducted at the time of the referendum (number of respondents = 4,000) to investigate the following questions: What kind of citizens participated in the referendum and what kind of citizens abstained? What is the demographic profile of ‘Remain’ voters and ‘Leave’ voters?

I investigate the relationship between vote behaviour and age, gender, social class, and education. What is the attitudinal profile of ‘Remain’ voters and ‘Leave’ voters? I investigate the relationship between vote behaviour and positions on the nationalist-unionist issue area, on economic left-right matters and on socio-moral (conservative versus liberal) issues. The data used is from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council on which I am the Principal Investigator.
Overall, the presentation provides a strong evidence-based discussion of who voted in the referendum, how they voted and how their voting relates to demographic and attitudinal characteristics. The presentation discusses the implications of the findings for our understanding of contemporary Northern Ireland politics and the use of referendums to address political issues.

2.05pm – Dr Graham Brownlow (QUB) – Opportunity Brexit? Institutional Economic Implications for Northern Ireland

The vote for Brexit has created a situation where economic policy, to a certain extent, is developing faster than textbook theory. Northern Ireland’s economic predicament is a combination of UK-wide processes, more intense forms of UK-wide problems and processes unique to the region. The speed, sequence and ‘architecture’ of regional economic policy-making, as well as its content, requires consideration if Brexit is to provide an economic opportunity. Designing appropriate economic policy responses requires considering not just the policies to be pursued, but also the design of the organisations needed to implement policies.

2.25pm – Dr Lee McGowan and Dr Viviane Gravey (QUB) – EU Policy Competences after Brexit: Issues for Northern Ireland

Many aspects of public policy in Northern Ireland involved an EU dimension, being shaped in Brussels and implemented locally. The return of devolved government to Northern Ireland opened up new possibilities for engagement with the EU, provided access to specific funds and gave Northern Ireland a presence in Brussels. What does Brexit mean for Northern Ireland? Following Brexit (former) EU competences will become the responsibility of the devolved administrations but are they ready to develop, fund and administer these aspects of public policy?  This presentation focuses on two policy areas, namely agriculture and the environment. Both have played a significant role in Northern Ireland in terms of funding (through, for example, the Single Farm Payment) and legislation (Habitats Directive; Waste Directives). As the UK government prepares its negotiation strategies, there are many questions to raise over the EU impact on both and the future shape of a Northern Irish agricultural policy and which areas of EU environmental legislation to keep or abandon.

2.45pm – Discussion

3.05pm – Comfort Break

3.10pm – Dr Katy Hayward (QUB) – The Implications of Brexit for the Irish Border: Challenges and Options

A key conundrum facing policymakers is how to realise a central ambition of the Brexit campaign (i.e. hardening the UK’s borders with the EU) without damaging the benefits currently ensured by the UK’s ‘soft’ borders with Ireland. This presentation will focus on the Irish border as the locus of this challenge – one which has particular implications for the cohesion of the UK and political stability within NI. It will first identify the likely fracture points and, indeed, yield points in cross-border cooperation on the island. It will then outline different options for managing the UK/Ireland border flows and governance in the potential context of the UK’s exit from the EU.

3.30pm – Prof David Phinnemore (QUB) – Northern Ireland and Brexit: Limits and Opportunities for a New Relationship with the EU

The prospect of Brexit begs questions of what new relationship the UK can and should seek to establish with the EU and how Northern Ireland can and should position itself in that relationship. Given the remain vote and post-Brexit the challenges posed not least by its geographical location, what if any options are there for a bespoke status for Northern Ireland? The presentation reviews established and more recent options against the backdrop of established principles underpinning the nature and content of the relationships the EU has established with European neighbours, as well as bespoke arrangements established for specific regions within partner and member states.

3.50pm – Discussion

4.10pm – RaISe Closing Remarks

4.15pm – Networking and Refreshments