Queen's Policy Engagement

QPol September Brexit Clinic
2018-09-20 12:30 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
The next QPol Brexit Clinic will take place on Thursday 20 September at 12.30pm in the Moot Court Room, Main Site Tower, Queen’s University.
To register, please click here.

Public Seminar: The Future of UK Borders after Brexit
2018-08-31 13:30 - 15:00 | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
The Centre for International Borders Research at Queen’s University Belfast is delighted to host Shanker Singham (Institute of Economic Affairs) and Tony Smith (Fortinus Global) for a public seminar on The Future of UK Borders after Brexit on Friday 31 August 2018 at 1.30pm.
To register, please click here.
The event will begin with opening comments from Dr Katy Hayward (Queen’s University Belfast) followed by a presentation from our two guests. There will be substantial time for a Question and Answer session.
A sandwich lunch will be provided at 1.00pm.
Time: 1pm lunch for 1.30pm start. The event will conclude by 3pm.
Date: Friday 31st August 2018
Venue: Moot Law Court, 2nd floor, Main Tower, Queen’s University Belfast
The speakers:
Shanker Singham is the Director of the International Trade and Competition Unit (ITCU) of the Institute of Economic Affairs. The ITCU is focused on providing advice to the UK government, industry and media on the Brexit negotiations, among other trade policy issues. As one of the world’s leading trade and competition lawyers, he has worked on the privatisation of the UK electricity market, the transition of the Soviet, Central and Eastern European economies and the apertura in Latin America. He has worked on the accession of Poland and Hungary to the EU, the WTO accessions of a number of countries, including China and Russia. https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Shanker-Singham-about.pdf
Tony Smith CBE is the former Director General of UK Border Force. Tony has the unique distinction of having served as Head of Borders in two different countries – Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2000 – 2003) and the UK Immigration Service (2005 – 2007). He played a significant role in the operational response to the terrorist attacks in North America on 9/11 and in the UK on 7/7. Since retiring from government service, Tony has provided strategic and operational advice to senior officials and Ministers on modern border management techniques and immigration reform programmes and strategies in Australia, Malaysia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. https://www.fortinusglobal.com/our-team/
Katy Hayward is Reader in Sociology and a Fellow of the Senator George Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security & Justice at Queen’s University. She has 20 years’ research experience on the impact of the EU on the Irish border and peace process, including as a partner on the current Canadian SSHRC-funded ‘Borders in Globalization’ programme. She is the author of over 130 publications, including the most recent report Brexit at the Border: voices from local communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland/Northern Ireland (2018).
Queen’s is pleased to acknowledge funding support from the ESRC UK in a Changing Europe initiative.

The Future of Environmental Governance in Northern Ireland
2018-07-23 09:45 - 16:00 | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
Queen’s University Belfast in Association with Nature Matters NI
Moot Court Room, School of Law, QUB, 23rd July 2018
This workshop will discuss environmental governance in Northern Ireland in the context of the challenges and opportunities posed by Brexit. The aim of the workshop will be to gather views on the proposed environmental governance arrangements as set out by UK Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Perspectives are sought from all interested stakeholders, including eNGOs, academics, policy and decision makers.
Each topic’s discussion will start with a short presentation to set the scene (5-10 min), then opening up to round table discussion among all participants. Key points will be teased out and summarized at the end of each session – including areas of agreement, differences of opinion and where matters are left unresolved.
Discussions will be under Chatham House Rules in order to facilitate open discussions, whereby no comments will be attributable to any individual.
Discussions will inform the development of a sectoral position on environmental governance options for NI and the specific Defra consultation on environmental governance and principles (closing date: 2nd August), as well as the broader QUB Environment and Brexit research agenda. A workshop report will be created and made available online.
To register, please click here.

QPol Public Lecture: ‘The People's Vote: Why we must have a public vote on Brexit
2018-07-19 16:00 - 17:00
The Rt Hon. the Lord Andrew Adonis will be coming to Queen’s University Belfast on Thursday 19 July to deliver a lecture as part of the Queen’s University QPol Policy Engagement lecture series. The lecture is entitled The People’s Vote: Why we must have a public vote on the final Brexit deal.
Lord Adonis is a politician and former journalist who held several key roles in government during the Labour party’s time in government. He joined the Financial Times in 1991, before moving to the Observer as a political columnist.
Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed Lord Adonis to work with the Number 10 Special Policy Unit as an adviser, before later becoming head of the unit. Lord Adonis held further roles in government, including Minister for State Education, Minister of State for Transport, before joining Gordon Brown’s cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport.
Lord Adonis was an important figure for the Labour party in trying to broker a deal with the Liberal Democrats after the 2010 election. He later published the book 5 Days in May: The Coalition and Beyond, describing the period from an insider perspective.
Appointed to chair the new National Infrastructure Commission in 2015, Lord Adonis resigned in late 2017 protesting the manner of the management of Brexit by HM Government and at the re-negotiation of the Virgin Trains East Coast rail franchise.
You can register for this lecture here.
You can follow the conversation on Twitter at @QUBEngagement and @QPolAtQueens

QPol Brexit Clinic June 2018
2018-06-27 12:30 - 14:00 | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
QPol Policy Engagement at Queen’s invites you to the latest in its series of ‘Brexit Clinics’ bringing together academic experts and stakeholders to discuss the issues facing the UK, to consider the particular challenges the process poses for Northern Ireland and to provide informed insights into the process.
Whatever your particular interest is in Brexit and the EU, come along to the next Clinic on Wednesday 27 June at 12.30pm. The Clinic, led by Professor David Phinnemore, will consist of introductory comments on the process by senior Queen’s academics Professor Dagmar Schiek, Dr Katy Hayward and Dr Viviane Gravey and will be followed by a Q+A session and discussion addressing issues raised by participants.
Places are limited so please register early here.

KESS Seminar - Enabling Society through Interaction
2018-06-20 13:30 - 15:00 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Prof Roger Austin (Ulster) and Prof Rhiannon Turner (QUB) – New evidence and new approaches for shared education
This presentation focuses on how new research evidence can be used to make shared education more sustainable and more accessible for more children. Shared education has been adopted as policy by the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. It is based on the hope that the sharing of resources and expertise between schools can improve community relations and raise educational outcomes (DE 2016). Most of the 300 schools currently involved in shared education projects (25% of the total number of schools) do so through the Shared Education Signature Programme. Children meet face to face and spend time together on joint curricular projects either in neutral venues or in each other’s schools.
The presentation considers new research evidence on a different approach to shared education – blended contact – a combination of online interaction and face to face work which can inform future policy development. It includes findings of a study with 28 primary schools in Northern Ireland with marked socio-economic and educational disadvantage, which suggest that blended contact has striking advantages, not just in terms of children’s better understanding of each other, but also in the skills of teachers with regard to use of ICT communication tools, such as Virtual Learning Environments and video-conferencing. Since the online element of the contact is already available in schools in Northern Ireland there would be no additional cost to schools or to government. Making better use of existing technology resources in schools for shared education has the added advantage that it helps teachers meet the new statutory requirements for the assessment of Using Information Communication Technology. This presentation explains how this kind of alignment, between two different policy areas in schools, is likely to make shared education more sustainable. Moreover, it explains that the use of online contact provides a better chance to include ALL schools, irrespective of their geographical location and in this sense makes shared education more accessible by more schools.
2.05pm – Mr David Coyles, Prof Brandon Hamber and Dr Adrian Grant (Ulster) – Hidden barriers and divisive architecture: the case of Belfast
The “peace-walls” are particularly symbolic of the role that architecture plays in separating residential communities and a comprehensive scholarship continues to assess their effects. This presentation outlines original findings from a three-year multi-disciplinary academic research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which extends this current understanding of physical and social division. It reveals new evidence of a distinct and important, yet largely unrecognised, body of divisive architecture; an extensive range of ‘hidden barriers’ embedded in various architectural forms across Belfast’s residential communities. The presentation draws on six distinctive case-study communities that have been subjected to the implementation of ‘hidden barriers’ during the comprehensive redevelopment of social-housing during the Troubles: all six communities fall within the top ten percentile of the most deprived electoral wards in Northern Ireland with comprehensive, evidence-based examples of less visible and undervalued forms of social and physical division. The case studies provide a rigorous and reliable evidence base drawn from qualitative fieldwork that includes architectural mapping, photography, community focus groups and in excess of 100 community interviews. This data is underpinned by new and extensive archival research and analysis of NINIS statistical data. The presentation explains how emerging findings from the research reveal complex and multi-layered impacts that these “hidden barriers” have on community relations and community regeneration policy aspirations that are central to the implementation of the Executive’s ‘Together: Building a United Community Strategy’. It concludes by outlining recommendations on how these issues could be addressed within current policy frameworks, presenting the case for the development of novel and bespoke approaches to issues of concern, with a focus on housing, tourist development, and infrastructural investment.
2.25pm – Discussion
2.55pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks

3.00pm – Networking and Refreshments

Human Rights in a Changing Europe – Colliding Spheres of Justice
2018-06-15 10:00 - 16:30 | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
Join key note speakers Dr. Evelyn Collins (NI Equality Commission, EQUINET) and Dr. Daniel Sarmiento (Universidad Complutense Madrid), in panels on “Equality and Social Justice” and “Human Rights versus Criminal Justice?”.
Using the image of colliding spheres, this day conference (10 am – 4.20 pm) at the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, invites debate on the state of human rights protection in Europe under the legal regimes of the European Union and the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
Registration now open.
To view the programme, click here.

KESS Seminar - Social Welfare Issues Relating to Poverty
2018-06-06 13:30 - 15:00 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Dr Mark Simpson (Ulster) – Protecting dignity, fighting poverty and promoting social inclusion in devolved social security
The protection of human dignity and poverty reduction are core functions of social security. Changes to working age benefits since 2010 have reduced claimants’ incomes, putting more people at risk of poverty and arguably reducing the ability of the system to support a dignified standard of living. Human rights law has been used to challenge key policies and pressure has grown for a different approach in Scotland and Northern Ireland, resulting in Northern Ireland’s mitigations programme and the devolution of new powers to Scotland. The Scottish Government has given a commitment to develop a devolved system on the basis of a distinctive set of principles, notably respect for the dignity of claimants, and plans to reinstate statutory targets for the reduction of child poverty. The Northern Ireland Executive has a legal duty to publish a strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion. There are also proposals for enhanced protection of social and economic rights in both regions. These objectives could be undermined by benefit cuts. Limiting the child element of universal credit to two children per household is projected to increase child poverty and merits particularly close attention. Recent judicial reviews show senior judges are increasingly prepared to hold governments accountable for the impact of social security regulations on children’s rights. It is therefore likely that this change will be challenged in the courts. However, the devolved regions need not wait for legal action. The two-child limit works against Scottish policy on child poverty, while Northern Ireland’s larger average family size and higher rates of socio-economic disadvantage mean it will be among the most affected United Kingdom (UK) regions: parity in social security provision does not mean parity of living standards. Drawing on research for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the seminar examines how social security system can protect dignity. It then assesses the impact of recent reforms in the UK, with a focus on child-related benefits. Finally, it suggests that dignity and child poverty can help devolved administrations identify priority areas where limited resources can be targeted to improve social security at the regional level.
2.05pm – Dr Paul McKenzie (Ulster) – Mapping Fuel Poverty Across Northern Ireland
Fuel poverty is a significant issue across Europe and a particular problem within the UK and Ireland. Fuel poverty occurs when insufficient funds are available to pay for a warm and comfortable home. Households affected by fuel poverty are at risk of physical and mental health difficulties and are linked with excess winter mortality. While strategies exist to reduce fuel poverty, there is a pressing need to allocate assistance to those most in need. As fuel poverty is influenced by various socio-economic indicators, an area-based targeting approach was developed to identify households most at risk of fuel poverty.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to integrate variables that are key determinants of fuel poverty including temperature, the price of home heating oil, data on benefits (e.g. Disability Living Allowance) and deprivation. GIS enabled variables to be combined and weighted for each Census Output Area (COA) to create a fuel poverty risk score for every household in Northern Ireland.
This presentation highlights findings of research undertaken in relation to fuel poverty risk model, which received further funding from OFMDFM and the Department for Social Development (DSD) to liaise with local councils to determine the efficiency of the area-based model to identify those households most at risk. Questionnaires were conducted in partnership with 18 District Councils to identify the extent of fuel poverty within targeted COAs. The area-based approach proved very successful in identifying households at risk of fuel poverty.
The research found that the ability to combine, analyse and visualise many socio-economic datasets means that this technique is transferable to many other areas of application. This presentation explains that the approach enables planners and policy makers to visualise “at-risk” groups which in turn facilitates targeting of resources and assistance of those most in need. It also explains that the approach developed for fuel poverty has considerable potential for wider poverty mapping and research is currently underway at Ulster University on an area-based algorithm for mapping food poverty in Northern Ireland.
2.25pm – Discussion

2.55pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks

3.00pm – Networking and Refreshments

KESS Seminar - Business of Sport
2018-05-30 13:30 - 15:00 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Dr Damian Gallagher (Ulster), Dr Ann Pegoraro (Laurentian University, Canada), Prof Audrey Gilmore (Ulster) and Mr Ryan Bell (Ulster) – Government Policy & the Business of Sport in Northern Ireland.
The principal aim of this presentation is to highlight a current gap in the government policy of Northern Ireland in relation to the business of sport. It seeks to stimulate debate and aid understanding of how greater attention to this additional strategic priority at a local-domestic level has the potential to realise self-sustaining economic benefits – beyond the existing £867 million per annum that sport in Northern Ireland currently generates.
As government spending faces increasing pressures and monies to government departments are being reduced, it is imperative that greater attention is paid by sports teams and bodies to developing their own self-sustaining revenue streams. However, with limited resources, and much of the existing government funding dependent on fulfilling the 3 existing strategic priorities of Participation, Performance and Places, it is difficult to envisage how the local domestic sports teams and bodies in Northern Ireland will develop the alternative revenue streams that will help them become less reliant on government funding.
Social media (SM) provides opportunities that are crucial for the survival of many sports teams and bodies. SM use by sport organisations has been recognised to be largely driven by two key factors: the relatively inexpensive cost of SM when compared to traditional marketing tools and the ability to connect with millions of fans with ease. SM is a unique marketing communications tool that sport organisations can use to attempt to overcome the challenges related to budgets, media coverage, and fan interaction all while providing the means to increase the key revenues of match day and non-match day revenues and realising the activation needs of sponsors.
This presentation reports the findings of an investigation into the social media activities of football clubs within the Northern Irish Football League, highlighting the findings of a multimethod study that employed a netnography study, in-depth interviews with key sector informants and a wide ranging fan survey (n=1049). It provides support for growing calls that greater attention be paid to the strategic development of local domestic sports teams and bodies via the increased prioritisation of the business of sport at a policy level.
2.05pm – Discussion
2.35pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks
2.40pm – Networking and Refreshments

QPol Brexit Clinic May 2018
2018-05-30 12:15 - 15:45
QPol Policy Engagement at Queen’s invites you to the latest in its series of ‘Brexit Clinics’ bringing together academic experts and stakeholders to discuss the issues facing the UK, to consider the particular challenges the process poses for Northern Ireland and to provide informed insights into the process.
Whatever your particular interest is in Brexit and the EU, come along to the next Clinic on Wednesday 30 May at 12.15pm. The Clinic, led by Professor David Phinnemore, will consist of introductory comments on the process by senior Queen’s academics Dr Katy Hayward and Dr Viviane Gravey and will be followed by a Q+A session and discussion addressing issues raised by participants.
Places are limited so please register early here.

Queen’s Public Lecture: Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party
2018-05-24 11:00 - 12:30 | Whitla Hall, University Road, Belfast, Antrim, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
Queen’s University Belfast is delighted to annouce that the Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party will visit the university on Thursday 24 May ay 11am.
This special event will be hosted by Professor Richard English, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation and Engagement at Queen’s University.
Unfortunately all available tickets for this event have now been allocated. Those on the waiting list will be automatically allocated tickets, if they become available, on a first-come first-served basis.

The Independent Commission on Referendums: who, what, why and how - Belfast Seminar
2018-04-26 13:00 - 15:00 | The Senate Room, Lanyon Building, QUB, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
In October the Constitution Unit launched an Independent Commission on Referendums, to review the role of referendums in British democracy and consider how their rules and practice could be improved. The Commission is meeting monthly, and intends to report in the summer of 2018. At this seminar the chair and members of the Commission will discuss their task, how they are setting about it, and the input they need from other experts and the public to ensure the Commission draws on the widest possible evidence base. They will make particular reference to recent Irish experience of referendums.
The speakers are:
Chair: Dr Paul Nolan, Independent researcher, author of Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Reports, a recent study of loyalist flag protest and member of Northern Ireland Policing Board
Ann Watt, Head of Electoral Commission, Northern Ireland
Sir Joe Pilling, Chair of the Independent Commission on Referendums
Dr Alan Renwick, Research Director for the Independent Commission on Referendums
The Rt Rev. the Lord Eames OM, member of the Independent Commission on Referendums, former Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland and crossbench peer in the House of Lords.
To register for this event, please click here.

Twenty Years after the Belfast Agreement 1998: A Young Person’s Guide to the Future
2018-04-25 14:30 - 17:00 | Moot Court Room, School of Law, Tower Building, Belfast, Antrim , BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
The Royal Irish Academy is organising a conversation about the main issues facing young people in Ireland twenty years after the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. A panel made up of young people from both sides of the border, along with a variety of other speakers, will discuss the challenges facing those born around the year 1998, as Ireland seeks to move on into a post peace process future.
Speakers include:

Dr Dirk Schubotz, School of Social Science, Education, and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast. Director Annual Young Life and Times (YLT) Survey.
Siobhán Fenton, writer and freelance journalist. She writes investigations and features on social justice issues, with a particular focus on gender and politics.
Koulla Yiasouma, NI Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY).
Bronagh Hinds, Senior Associate and co-founder of DemocraShe, an organisation for the advancement of women’s leadership in politics, civic society and peace-building.
Professor John Morison, MRIA, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast. Chair of the RIA Ethical, Political, Legal and Philosophical Studies Committee.

Full programme here
The RIA acknowledges and thanks Donegal Youth Service, which is funded by the Department of Children & Youth Affairs, the International Fund for Ireland through the Reactiv-8 Program, and the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast for their support and cooperation in organising this event.
To register, please click here.

KESS Seminar - Dealing with the past - key themes
2018-04-18 13:30 - 15:30 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
To register for this seminar, please click here.

1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Dr Cheryl Lawther, Prof Kieran McEvoy and Dr Lauren Dempster (QUB) – Voice, Agency and Blame: Victimhood and Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland
This presentation presents the preliminary findings of an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project entitled ‘Voice, Agency and Blame: Victimhood and the Imagined Community in Northern Ireland’. The project is based on qualitative interviews over 2016/17, with over 70 victims and survivors, lawyers, NGO activists, journalists and others. Asking questions concerning the three themes of voice, agency and blame, this project was designed to critically explore the construction and meaning of victimhood in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Drawing on the research findings and focusing on the five overlapping themes of (1) Victimhood, Innocence and Blame; (2) Victimhood, Agency and Imagining Legitimacy; (3) Victimhood, Agency and the Mobilization of Empathy; (4) Victimhood, Voice and Discomfort; and (5) Victimhood, Voice and (Political) Responsibility, this presentation discusses how competing interpretations of victimhood have mapped onto and influenced discussions on how best to deal with the legacy of the past.
2.05pm – Dr Lauren Dempster (QUB) – The ‘Disappeared,’ the ICLVR, and ‘dealing with the past’ in Northern Ireland
2014’s Stormont House Agreement (SHA) states that the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR) will build ‘on the precedent provided by the Independent Commission on the Location of Victims’ Remains’. This presentation explores how the Independent Commission for the Location of Victim Remains (ICLVR) mechanism works and why it provides a useful precedent for the development of the ICIR. It is based on findings from research which explored the response to the ‘disappearances’ that occurred during the conflict in Northern Ireland through a transitional justice lens. The presentation sets out finding that show the ICLVR has been relatively successful, and considers why this is the case. It also considers that, while the mechanism that facilitates information recovery is in itself instructive, further lessons can be learned from the response to the ‘disappearances’ and the ICLVR process for dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.
2.25pm – Prof Kieran McEvoy and Dr Anna Bryson (QUB) – Apologies, Abuses and Dealing with the past
Within the academic literature, the concept of apology is diversely theorised and almost always focused on the state. Despite widespread acceptance that apologies are key to dealing with past wrongs, in practice there has been relatively little detailed empirical assessment of the views of apologisers, victims or the general public. By exploring the perspectives of perpetrators, victims and the wider community, this presentation seeks to provide a roadmap for a more comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the role of apologies in dealing with the past. Taking the island of Ireland, as a case-study, it examines the relationship between apologies, abuses and dealing with the past in the context of harms associated with paramilitary violence, institutional child abuses and the recent economic crisis. Deliberation and debate on apologies by government, civil society and other actors. The presentation could help inform in various contexts, such as the Northern Ireland political conflict negotiations, child abuse by religious authorities inquiries and Irish banking crisis inquiries.
2.45pm – Discussion
3.15pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks
3.20pm – Networking and Refreshments

Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities with Mary Lou McDonald
2018-03-26 19:30 - 20:30 | Room PFC/0G/007, Peter Froggatt Centre, Queen's University, Belfast, Antrim, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
Mary Lou McDonald TD, President of Sinn Féin, will deliver an address entitled “Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities” at Queen’s University Belfast on Monday 26th March at 7.30pm. The event will take place in the Peter Froggatt Centre, Room PFC 0G/007.
The address will be followed by a question and answer session moderated by Professor Richard English CBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation and Engagement at Queen’s University.
To reserve your free ticket for this special event, please register here.

About Mary Lou McDonald
Mary Lou McDonald became President of Sinn Féin in February this year and is TD for the Dublin Central constituency. She is also the party’s spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform.
Ms McDonald was MEP for Dublin from 2004 until 2009 and during her time in the European Parliament, she was a prominent member of the Employment/Social Affairs and Civil Liberties Committees.

Running Order
7.15pm Guests arrive: tea and coffee served
7.30pm Welcome by Professor Richard English
7.40pm Address by Mary Lou McDonald TD
8.00pm Question and Answer Session
8.25pm Closing Remarks by Professor Richard English

KESS Seminar - Parents/Mothers and Children
2018-03-21 13:30 - 16:00 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Dr Mark McGovern (QUB), Dr Giampiero Marra (University College London), Dr Rosalba Radice (University of London) and Dr Slawa Rokicki (University College Dublin) – Breastfeeding Promotion as an Economic Investment
Not only are rates of breastfeeding low in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK, but there are substantial inequalities with mothers living in the least deprived wards twice as likely to breastfeed as those living in the most deprived wards. Previous evidence demonstrates that children who are breastfed are healthier and have better educational outcomes, however it is important to assess whether these benefits persist into adulthood. This presentation demonstrates the impact of being breastfed as a child on adult economic and cognitive outcomes. Using data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a nationally representative sample of British infants born in one week in 1958, it shows that cohort members who were breastfed for a month or more (compared to not being breastfed) score substantially higher on memory tests at age 50, and their household income is 8 percentage points higher: therefore, differential rates of breastfeeding by parental socioeconomic status perpetuates intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. The presentation discusses how increasing rates of breastfeeding in Northern Ireland provides a low-cost means of investing in the futures of mothers and children and improving inequalities, and illustrates why breastfeeding promotion strategies are likely to have substantial economic benefits in the long-run.
2.05pm – Mr Iain McGowan (QUB), Dr Lucy Thompson and Prof Phil Wilson (University of Aberdeen) – Mellow Parenting: Caring for vulnerable mothers
Pregnancy and childbirth are traditionally recognised as life events that are to be cherished and celebrated. However, recent official reports of deaths by suicide, including a recent report of the Confidential Enquiry on Maternal and Child Health have raised awareness of the potential dangers of mental health problems to mothers during pregnancy and in the first year after giving birth. The long-term impact of maternal ill-health has negative impacts on the emotional, social, educational and physical development of the child. A number of programmes are in existence to support mothers, however these have been criticised for being too expensive, too narrow in focus and not effective. Mellow Parenting, as an intervention, has been delivered in both the Southern & South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust. The Public Health Agency has funded these programmes. This presentation focuses on the role that the Mellow Parenting intervention has on the emotional and mental well-being of vulnerable mothers. To contextualise, it draws on data from a recent systematic review, highlighting the findings from local evaluations of the programme. The presentation aims to help inform social, health, mental health and other polices that are relevant to mental health in this group of people
2.25pm – Discussion
2.55pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks
3.00pm – Networking and Refreshments
Tea/coffee is provided following presentations and discussion. Free parking is available to all. Kindly allow time to pass through Assembly Security upon entry to Parliament Buildings; and ensure that you specify your special needs (for example, wheelchair accessibility) when registering. The Assembly is committed to fulfilling its equality-related roles and responsibilities and will take reasonable efforts to meet requests relating to them.
To view the programme, please refer to: https://kess.org.uk/series-7
If you wish to reserve your place at a seminar, please register at: https://kess.org.uk/register

A Duty to be Beautiful
2018-03-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Old Staff Common Room, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
With Heather Widdows, John Ferguson Professor of Global Ethics, University of Birmingham.
The beauty ideal is changing, it is becoming more important and, in so doing, it is being transforming into an ethical ideal. Yet the extent to which beauty defines our identities, constructs the self, structures daily practices, creates meaning and against which individuals are valued (or not) is not well recognised.
This talk will explore beauty as an ethical ideal, a shared value framework against which individuals judge themselves and others. This framework sets aspirational standards that we are required to work towards. Meeting, or striving to meet, such standards has the character of a (moral) duty, where failure to confirm is a moral vice, engendering shame and disgust, whilst being beautiful is seen as a sign of virtue. Praise, blame and reward are apportioned in accordance with the norms of beauty. Understanding the ethical nature of the ideal changes the power of what it means when we say “I let myself go!” or “I’ve been good and stuck to my diet”. It also makes sense of other features of beauty, such as why we ‘choose’ to engage in painful or harmful practices, like waxing and cosmetic surgery, and why criticisms about appearance can be so damaging.

Voices and views of 20th Century Belfast
2018-03-14 19:00 - 21:00
This talk explores aspects of 20th Century Belfast through the voices and visions of people outside the mainstream or struggling to survive in a challenging urban environment.
Our speakers will recover the voices of immigrant groups negotiating the polarities of a bifurcated society, including those of Belfast’s Jewish, Italian and Chinese communities, and review the contrasting images created by those who sought to expose the realities of poverty in the city through photography and others who offered escapism to the working classes through the mass medium of cinema.
‘Voices and Views of Belfast’ is hosted by the Institute of Irish Studies and Centre for Public History at Queen’s University and showcases the exciting new research on the city’s hidden histories by four of our early career researchers.

KESS Seminar - Using Technology in Social Care
2018-03-14 13:30 - 15:20 | Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX, United Kingdom
1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome and Opening Remarks
1.45pm – Prof Shailey Minocha and Dr Ana-Despina Tudor (OU) – Role of digital health wearables in the well-being and quality of life of older people and carers

The number of adults aged 65 and over has increased by 2% across Europe in the past 15 years, and in Northern Ireland by 22% between 2003-2013. The proportion of the population in this age group is projected to increase by 63% to just under 0.5 million by 2033 – which will be a quarter of the population in Northern Ireland. Given Northern Ireland’s Active Ageing Strategy (2015-2021), there is an increasing focus on encouraging physical activity as we get older to preserve mobility and motor skills, and to enjoy the benefits of living longer and to minimise health problems associated with ageing. Over the last two years, we have been investigating the role of wearable activity tracking technologies in self-monitoring of activity by people aged over 55. Example technologies include activity trackers from Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung, and smart watches. Typically, these devices record steps walked, sleep patterns, calories expended and heart rate.
Based on empirical investigations, this presentation describes the benefits of activity monitors for people aged over 55 for self-monitoring of physical activity, for adopting healthy lifestyles, and for increasing or maintaining physical activity as a way to avoid high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and other medical conditions associated with weight or lower physical activity. It outlines the role of activity trackers in post-operative monitoring of mobility during rehabilitation, in caring, and for possible use of the data for diagnosis and medical interventions. It then discusses the challenges for adoption of these technologies, given currently, off-the-shelf devices are designed and calibrated for use by physically fit (typically young active people) with unrealistic fitness targets for the older generation.

2.05pm – Dr Hannah R. Marston (OU), Dr Shannon Freeman (University of Northern British Columbia, Canada), Dr Rebecca Genoe (University of Regina, Canada), Dr Cory Kulcyzki (University of Regina, Canada) and Dr Charles Musselwhite (Swansea University) – The Cohesiveness of Technology in Later Life: Findings from the Technology In Later Life (TILL) Project

Statistics show Northern Ireland (NI) ageing population (65+ years) has increased between 1974 (11.2%) to 2014 (15.5%). Estimated projections suggest this will reach 24.7% by 2039. Currently, 35,500 people are aged 85+ years, 12,200 (90-99 years) and it is estimated there are 280 centenarians (NISRA, 2016). The use and deployment of technology can assist in social connectedness reducing isolation, online shopping/bills, information acquisition, physical activity and maintaining intergenerational relationships. Between 2014/15, 69% of adults (60-69 years) had access to the Internet, unlike 40% of adults aged 70+ years; moreover, 82% of adults 60+ years owned a mobile phone. Understanding how technology can play an integral role in the lives of older adults has demonstrated the positive perceptions and behaviour to independent living. Literature, focusing on adults aged >70 years living in rural and urban areas, relating to technology use, behaviour and perception is limited.
This presentation concerns the international, multi-centred Technology In Later Life (TILL) study derived from the paucity of literature and studies focusing on technology use and behaviour by adults aged >70 years, employed a multi-methods approach. Its findings suggest participants were open to using and accessing different types of digital devices and technologies to enhance wellbeing and social connectedness which included sharing information with family members, communicating with grand/children living long distance and communicating news via the community. Its recommendations propose reducing privacy issues; while providing practical approaches and insights to technology use by older adults. The presentation adds to the paucity of work in the area of technology use in later life and could inform NI policy makers, health/NHS, communities, families and support networks, helping them to understand the barriers and enablers to technology use in later life. It also highlights that further work is needed to explore perceptual and behavioural concepts across these groups, to ensure ageing populations are confident in integrating technology into their lives.

2.25pm – Dr Verina Waights (OU), Prof Panos Bamidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) and Ms Rosa Almeida (Fundacion Intras, Spain) – Technologies for care – the imperative for upskilling carers
Ageing populations, coupled with increasing retirement ages and lower ratios of workers to retirees, are negatively impacting health and social care. Currently, 11.8% of Northern Ireland (NI) residents are carers, but it is predicted that by 2025 the number of people aged over 65 will increase by 42%, with the number of people aged over 80 doubling by 2027. These projections place increasing demands on carers, especially when considered within the ‘changing ethos of health care in NI’ towards a self-management model. Carers increasingly use the internet to find health information, yet worldwide a significant number of people lack health literacy skills and/or digital skills. The EU-funded DISCOVER project involved over 650 carers, care workers and stakeholders in co-designing and co-producing an online learning platform to enhance carers’ and care workers’ health literacy, digital skills and caring skills. Engaging with DISCOVER also enabled carers to share concerns and supportive practices with other carers to help reduce social isolation. This presentation draws on research undertaken for this project and makes recommendations highlighting to policy makers, health care professionals, care agencies and technologists how the lives of carers, care workers and care–recipients could be enhanced in terms of improving their quality of life and reducing their social isolation.
2.45pm – Discussion

3.15pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks

3.20pm – Networking and Refreshments
Tea/coffee is provided following presentations and discussion. Free parking is available to all. Kindly allow time to pass through Assembly Security upon entry to Parliament Buildings; and ensure that you specify your special needs (for example, wheelchair accessibility) when registering. The Assembly is committed to fulfilling its equality-related roles and responsibilities and will take reasonable efforts to meet requests relating to them.
To view the programme, please refer to: https://kess.org.uk/series-7/
If you wish to reserve your place at a seminar, please register at: https://kess.org.uk/register/

Eight
2018-03-13 19:30 - 2018-03-15 21:30
EIGHT, by Ella Hickson, is directed by Rachel Coffey and produced in association with Queen’s University Drama.
We invite you to meet a snapshot of our generation from the noughties to now – a student, a cheater, a teenager, a parent, a socialite, a high flier, a rebel and a homosexual.
Whose story do you want to hear? Has the past informed the present? Have things really changed?
YOU decide. EIGHT people, ONE audience, SIX chances. Welcome to #ChaosTheoryTheatre

More human than human: the ethics of new intelligent life
2018-03-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Old Staff Common Room, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
With David Lawrence of Newcastle University.
In the future, we may truly make our own match – creating, or causing to be created, beings that could be considered persons just like us. Whether through gene editing, synthetic biology, or even artificial intelligence, we need to think seriously about how to treat these lifeforms. This talk will consider how future beings — intelligent androids, synthezoids, even alternate-substrate sentiences – might fit alongside the ‘baseline’ human and ask whether these alternate beings ought to be considered different to us, and why this may or may not matter in terms of a notion of ‘human community’. The film Blade Runner, concerned in large part with humanity and its key synthezoid antagonist Roy Batty, offers a frame for this discussion.
Organised by the NI Ethics Forum.

Debating urban violence in Rio
2018-03-12 20:00 - 22:00
A Belfast Brazilian CineClub film night.
This film night, organised by Belfast Brazilian CineClub, will present a selection of short digital documentaries related to urban violence in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, focusing particularly on social and cultural responses to it. Dr Tori Holmes, Lecturer in Brazilian Studies at Queen’s University, will introduce the programme and there will be time for discussion and debate after the films.

Homeward Bound - Imagine Belfast Festival Evet
2018-03-12 15:00 - 16:00
Homeward Bound is a 30 minute play which tells the true story of Lesley and her husband Seth Goodburn.
At 49 years old, Seth was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer following a short history of feeling unwell. He died just 33 days after diagnosis. This is a play, written by playwright Brian Daniels, to give people, especially health and social care professionals, the opportunity to reflect on the importance of compassionate person and family-centred care at the end of life and to help individuals to understand how little things mean a lot to the person who is dying and to their family.
The play draws its content from a series of letters written by Lesley before and after Seth’s untimely death. She articulates the journey from the first signs of his illness, through diagnosis, care and treatment and after his death at their local NHS Hospital. The play will be followed by a discussion with the actors and Lesley Goodburn. Organised by the NI Ethics Forum.
NB. Please note that the time on this event has changed from the previously published programme.

BrexitLawNI Newry Townhall Meeting Now Cancelled
2018-02-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Canal Court Hotel, Merchants Quay, Newry, Down, BT35 8HF, United Kingdom
BrexitLawNI will be hosting a Townhall Meeting in Newry. The purpose of this meeting is to share the findings of our research – specifically, how Brexit will likely impact YOU – and to hear first hand, from people living in the area, about how Brexit has impacted you, what your concerns are, and how these concerns can be addressed.
The findings from these meetings will be included in reports currently being drafted by the BrexitLawNI team. These reports will be distributed as widely as possible, with a particular focus on engagement with those involved in the Brexit process.
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided and all are welcome to attend!

Human Rights in an Age of Trump and Brexit
2018-02-22 17:00 - 18:30
To what extent do the politics of Brexit and of President Trump affect human rights? Polarized debates about UK, European, and US politics and society have seen different anxieties expressed, and rival futures advocated.
In this public discussion, two of the world’s leading thinkers consider the continuities, complexities, and transformations involved in what some have seen as a new era of western politics.
Join Queen’s University and the British Academy on Thursday, 22 February 2018 at 5pm for the latest in our Global Challenge Debates with speakers Professor Chris McCrudden FBA, Professor of Human Rights and Equality Law at Queen’s University Belfast, and Onora O’Neill FBA, Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve, University of Cambridge.
Doors open 4.30pm. There is no need to register. Seats will be issued on a first come, first served basis.
Refreshments will be served following the debate in the Ground Floor Reception of the Main Site Tower (School of Law).
This event is organised in partnership between Queen’s University Belfast and the British Academy.

QPol Brexit Clinic February 2018
2018-02-20 12:15 - 13:45 | The Senate Room, Lanyon Building, QUB, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
QPol Policy Engagement at Queen’s invites you to the latest in its series of ‘Brexit Clinics’ bringing together academic experts and stakeholders to discuss the issues facing the UK, to consider the particular challenges the process poses for Northern Ireland and to provide informed insights into the process.
Whatever your particular interest is in Brexit and the EU, come along to the next Clinic on Tuesday 20 February at 12.15pm. The Clinic, led by Professor David Phinnemore, will consist of introductory comments on the process by senior Queen’s academics, followed by a Q+A session and discussion addressing issues raised by participants.
To this end, participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance by emailing qpol@qub.ac.uk
Places are limited so please register early by clicking here.

2018 Eaton Lecture
2018-02-16 09:45 - 11:00
Queen’s University Belfast is pleased to invite you to attend the 2018 Eaton Lecture. It will take place on Friday 16 February, 9.45-11am, in The South Dining Hall, on the main Queen’s University Lanyon site. The Guest speaker will be The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, who will address ‘Sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’.

About the speaker:
The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell was invested as Ontario’s 29th Lieutenant Governor on September 23, 2014. Her eclectic public service career has spanned provincial, federal, and international borders, and has transcended disciplinary and sectoral lines.
Ms. Dowdeswell began her professional career as a teacher and university lecturer. After serving as the Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth for the Government of Saskatchewan, she held increasingly senior positions in the Canadian public service, most notably as head of the Atmospheric Environment Service. Throughout this period, she managed several public inquiries and royal commissions.
Her international negotiating experiences prefaced her election in 1992 as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Upon returning to Canada in 1998, she established an international consulting practice and became the founding President and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Immediately prior to her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Ms. Dowdeswell was the President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies. She has also served on numerous boards of corporate and non-profit organizations.
Ms. Dowdeswell was born in Northern Ireland and immigrated to rural Saskatchewan with her parents in 1947. She earned a Bachelor of Science in home economics and teaching certificate from the University of Saskatchewan (1966) and a Master of Science in behavioural sciences from Utah State University (1972). An Officer of the Order of Canada, Ms. Dowdeswell holds 11 honorary degrees.
In the 2018 Eaton Lecture Ms Dowdeswell will emphasize the imperative of sustainability and its three interrelated components: inclusive economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion. She is currently focused on drawing attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for encouraging people to think globally while acting locally.

About the Eaton Lecture Series:
The Eaton Lecture Series at Queen’s was established in 1994 and is intended to cement connections between the University and Canada, by bringing eminent Canadians to Queen’s. The Eaton Foundation was set up by the family of Timothy Eaton, a native of Ballymena who, upon emigrating to Canada in the nineteenth century, founded the T. Eaton & Co. Limited (Toronto) chain of department stores.

To register to attend please click here.

The Implications of Brexit for Migrant Workers: What to watch out for
2018-02-13 09:30 - 15:30
The Implications of Brexit for Migrant Workers: What to watch out for” takes place on 13th February from 9.30am-3.30pm, in The Junction, Dungannon and will address the concerns of migrant communities in Northern Ireland. It is held in partnership with STEP, the Stronger Together Network and the Equality Coalition and will look at the disproportionate impact that Brexit is going to have on migrant workers from the EU and beyond.
The exact implications of Brexit are difficult to determine: precise government policy is yet to be decided in many areas and the positions and proposals set out to date can be subject to change. This event is interested in hearing how Brexit is already impacting on migrant worker communities in Northern Ireland and will share information as to what is known of governments’ intentions to date as well as being a listening exercise on current experiences, views and concerns on the implications for migrants in the future.

EMU, New Economic Governance & Social Justice Research Seminar
2018-01-26 13:00 - 16:30 | The Senate Room, Lanyon Building, QUB, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
This interdisciplinary research seminar addresses whether the legal frame of Economic and Monetary Union is in irreconcilable tension with the EU’s renewed social agenda, also questioning whether the recently proclaimed European Pillar of Social Rights is sufficient to revive the EU’s original socio-economic model in the face of ongoing global economic distortions.
Speakers include Prof Ulla Neergaard (Professor of Law at University of Copenhagen), , Dr Bart Vanhercke (OSE – European Social Observatory) and Prof Fabian Amtenbrink (Professor of Law, University of Rotterdam and convenor of EURO-CEFG).
To register, please click here.

Programme
1pm-1.30pm Welcome lunch
1.30pm-1.40pm Introduction by Prof. Dagmar Schiek, Queen’s University Belfast
1.40pm-2.40pm Session 1

The impact of eurozone reforms on the EU social dimension – Prof. Ulla Neergaard, University of Copenhagen
Macroeconomic supervision and social policy concerns in the EU: A view from Portugal – Martinho Lucas Pires, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Discussant: Prof. Dagmar Schiek, Queen’s University Belfast

2.40pm-3.25pm Session 2

Socialising the EMU through the European Semester – Dr. Bart Vanhercke, OSE-European Social Observatory
Discussant: Dr. Sara Clavero, Queen’s University Belfast

3.25pm-4.25pm Session 3

New Economic Governance and the EMU – A critical legal analysis – Prof. Fabian Amtenbrink, Erasmus University of Rotterdam
Rethinking policy-making in the EMU: Institutional social responsibility and the Fiscal Reform Act – Matteo Laruffa, LUISS Guido Carli University (Rome)
Discussant: Dr. Dieter Pesendorfer, Queen’s University Belfast

4.25pm-4.30 pm Close

NERI Seminar BELFAST: Bordering on Brexit: Local communities' views and the response so far
2018-01-25 15:30 - 16:45
Dr Katy Hayward is a political sociologist with a particular focus on conflict/post-conflict transitions. Her research is actively interdisciplinary, traversing fields of border studies, conflict studies, European studies, and Irish studies. This means that she is particularly well-placed to speak to the implications of Brexit for the island of Ireland, and Northern Ireland in particular. Indeed, she has written and presented widely on this matter, and has given evidence before parliamentary committees in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. She is one of the leading political sociologists of the island of Ireland (e.g. co-ed. Dynamics of Political Change in Ireland , 2017), with a high profile in relation to European integration (e.g. co-ed. The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland , 2010), political violence (e.g. co-ed. Nationalism and Organised Violence , 2013), and the application of discourse analysis (e.g. co-ed. Political Discourse of Peace and Conflict , 2009).

Abstract:
This paper presents the findings from the ‘Bordering on Brexit study’ led by Dr Hayward on behalf of the Irish Central Border Area Network, which gathered the views of those on both sides of the border regarding Brexit. The paper considers the degree to which these perspectives have been taken into account in the approach taken to Brexit by policymakers at local and national levels. It looks in particular at the Joint Report agreed by the EU and UK negotiators on 8th December and assesses whether it constitutes firm reassurance on Ireland/Northern Ireland issues, especially for those living and working in the border region.
