Victimisation and Attitudes Towards Former Political Prisoners in Northern Ireland

The release of ex-combatants and the mechanisms for their re-integration within society has become an increasingly controversial issue in peace settlements. Yet to date, the view of victims concerning such arrangements in post-conflict societies remains unexplored. Mindful of this omission and using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article investigates the relationship between victimisation and attitudes towards the treatment of former political prisoners. Based on the 2011 Northern Ireland Social and Political Attitudes Survey, the results suggest that individual victims—those who directly and/or indirectly experienced violent incidents—are notably less supportive of a punitive approach towards the treatment of former political prisoners than non-victims. Moreover, this is particularly the case when victims from within the Catholic community are considered. The Northern Ireland evidence suggests that victims can act as a positive and inclusive force in terms of the rehabilitation and re-integration of former combatants in societies emerging from conflict.

Victimhood and Attitudes towards Dealing with the Legacy of the Past: Northern Ireland as a Case Study

Research Highlights and Abstract: Using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article provides the first nationally representative and systematic study of victims' views on how to deal with the past; Focusing specifically on Northern Ireland, it both investigates and provides a comprehensive account of the marked divisions between the various religious groupings-Protestants, Catholics and the non-affiliated-in terms of a range of truth recovery mechanisms to deal with legacy of its violent past; It empirically investigates and validates two key predictors-perceptions of victimhood and general attitudes towards the past-in determining the source of these divisions It outlines the implications of our findings for other societies emerging from conflict. Truth recovery mechanisms have become a cornerstone of peacebuilding efforts in societies emerging from conflict. Yet, to date, the view of victims in post-conflict societies concerning such arrangements remains highly anecdotal and often second-hand in nature. Mindful of this omission and using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article investigates the views of victims towards a range of mechanisms to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland's violent past. Based on the 2011 Northern Ireland Social and Political Attitudes Survey, the results suggest some marked divisions in relation to this issue, with victims within the Catholic community being significantly more supportive of such initiatives than either Protestants or those with no religion. Moreover, while perceptions of victimhood emerge as the key predictor of attitudes among Protestants and the non-affiliated, general opinions on how to deal with the past are the key determinant of views among members of the Catholic community

The role of facilities manager in sustainable practice in the UK and Ireland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of facilities managers in sustainable practice. It also analyzes the change in facilities management (FM) in terms of sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach – This research adopted a combination of literature review and expert interviews. Empirical data were collected through in-depth interviews with 40 industrial experts in the UK and Ireland.

Findings – The analysis of interview results shows a sustainable movement in the context of FM. Facilities managers play important roles in sustainable practice, including integrating all sustainability considerations, linking strategic level with operational level, incorporating FM knowledge and experience into design, disseminating sustainable knowledge and educating people and encouraging sustainability through innovation.

Research limitations/implications – This research goes beyond the limitations of existing studies that are characterized by a lack of positioning facilities managers in sustainability.

Practical implications – Sustainable delivery represents a direction of FM development. This research describes what facilities managers can do and how they should do for sustainable delivery of FM, based on which improvements are made and benefits are maximized.

Originality/value – This research provides a deeper insight into the FM role in the sustainable agenda. The findings of this research help industrial practitioners and academic researchers to better understand sustainable FM.

The effect of multiple chronic conditions on self-rated health, disability and quality of life among the older populations of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: a comparison of two nationally representative cross-sectional surveys

Objectives: Multimorbidity is common in the older population, but the impact of combinations of chronic conditions on disability and quality of life (QoL) is not well known. This analysis explores the effect of specific combinations of chronic diseases on disability, QoL and self-rated health (SRH).

Design: We used data from two population representative cross-sectional studies, the Northern Ireland Health and Social Wellbeing Survey (NIHSWS) 2005 and the Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLAN) 2007 (conducted in the Republic of Ireland).

Setting: Randomly selected community-living participants were interviewed at home.

Participants: A total of 6159 participants aged 50 years and older were included in the analysis.

Outcome measures: Chronic conditions were classified as cardiovascular disease, chronic pain,diabetes or respiratory disease. Interaction terms estimated by logistic regression were used to examine the effects of multiple chronic conditions on disability, SRH and QoL.

Results: Each chronic condition group was correlated with each of the others after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Those from Northern Ireland were more likely to report a limitation in daily activities (45%) compared to those from the Republic of Ireland (21%). Each condition had an independent effect on disability, SRH and QoL, and those with multiple chronic conditions reported the worst outcomes. However, there were no statistically significant positive interactions between chronic condition groups with respect to any outcome.

Conclusions: Chronic conditions affect individuals largely independent of each other with respect to their effect on disability, SRH and QoL. However, a significant proportion of the population aged 50 years and over across the island of Ireland lives with multimorbidity,and this group is at the highest risk of disability, poor SRH and poor QoL.

Quantitative Analysis of Fault and Fracture Systems and their Impact on Groundwater Flow in Irish Bedrock Aquifers

Fault and fracture systems are the most important store and pathway for groundwater in Ireland’s bedrock aquifers, either directly as conductive flow structures, or indirectly as the locus for the development of dolomitised limestone and karst. This article presents the preliminary results of a study involving the quantitative analysis of fault and fracture systems in the broad range of Irish bedrock types and a consideration of their impact on groundwater flow. The principal aims of the project are to develop generic conceptual models for different fault/fracture systems in different lithologies and at different depths, and to link them to observed groundwater behaviour. Here we briefly describe the geometrical characteristics of the main post-Devonian fault/fracture systems controlling groundwater flow from field observations at outcrops, quarries and mines. The structures range from Lower Carboniferous normal faults through to Variscan-related faults and veins, with the most recent structures including Tertiary strike-slip faults and ubiquitous uplift-related joint systems. The geometrical characteristics of different fault/fracture systems combined with observations of groundwater behaviour in both quarry and mine localities, can be linked to general flow and transport conceptualisations of Irish fractured bedrock. Most importantly they also provide a basis for relating groundwater flow to particular fault/fracture systems and their expression with depth and within different lithological sequences, as well as their regional variability.

Fathers and Parenting

The aim of this chapter is to present a contextual and empirical account of men as fathers in Ireland along with an analysis of recent, relevant developments in policies and laws. Much of parenting of a child occurs in the home. Consequently, how couples inhabit the home greatly influences how their children experience childhood and, in many ways, the story of fatherhood in Ireland is the product of the on-going changes in the domestic sphere. Whether men are driving these changes, embracing or resisting them will provide the substance of much of this chapter. Section one presents basic demographic figures and trends based on census data to answer the questions: who are the fathers, what type of families do the live in and how involved are they in childcare? Section two presents recent research on contemporary fatherhood, both international and, where possible, national. Section three explores the policies and legal measures that affect fathers, their duties and their rights in the home and at work. Section four will discuss the historical legacy of fatherhood that is particular to Ireland. The final section will draw together these threads and ask what might be the future of fatherhood in Ireland, its challenges and possible successes.

Tales Out of School – The ‘Hidden Curriculum’ in National Schools in the North of Ireland During the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

The paper addresses the possibility of the existence of a ‘hidden curriculum’ in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century National Schools by comparing working practices evident from an analysis of a sample of schools from two case study areas in the north of Ireland – Derry City and the rural area of Boho/Derrygonnelly in western County Fermanagh. The relationship between the placement of the school buildings and variations in their external appearances are examined in respect to their relationships with different churches. The possible significance of this relationship is scrutinised given that the primary aim of the National School system was joint secular education in a religiously divided society. Both the external and internal architecture of the buildings are also examined for the purposes of reconstructing aspects of the intentions and practices that governed their use. In particular, the relationship between allocated space and the categories of age and gender are studied by means of an access analysis of the floor plans of a representative sample of primary schools from both case study areas. Information derived from oral history accounts, archived material from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and school registers is used to supplement the findings obtained from the architectural analyses.