Discourses of equality in post-Agreement Northern Ireland

This article analyses the use of equality as a concept central to the implementation of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. The authors argue that, although equality legislation is succeeding in redressing previous discrimination in society, the discourses that have emerged around it have exacerbated competition and polarization between communities for two main reasons. Firstly, in " selling' the Agreement to their supporters, political elites have appropriated community-specific definitions of the concept, thus reinforcing rather than weakening group differences. Secondly, the practice of equality legislation involves the definitive categorization of individuals as members of particular groups. This article examines these processes and their effects through the analysis of the discourse of nationalist and Unionist Party elites and of individual Catholics and Protestants. This is done in order to capture the dynamics of change in political communication and identification rather than simply describing institutional alterations.

Delayed post-surgical development of dural arteriovenous fistula after cervical meningocele repair

A 34-year-old female patient presented with an intracranial subarachnoid hemorrhage and was found to have a dural arteriovenous fistula at the site of previous cervical meningocele repair. Subsequent occlusion was achieved with endovascular embolization. To our knowledge, the phenomenon of the development of a spinal dural fistula at the site of a meningocele repair has not been recorded before.

Influence of group size during the post-weaning period on the performance and behaviour of pigs

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of group size during the post-weaning period on the performance and behaviour of pigs. A total of 1280 pigs were allocated to one of five group sizes from weaning at 4 weeks of age until 10 weeks of age. The group sizes consisted of 10, 20, 30, 40 or 60 pigs, and groups were balanced for gender and weight. All pigs were housed at a constant space allowance and one 4-space dry feeder and drinker was provided per 10 animals. Group size did not significantly affect growth rate; however, the coefficient of variation for growth was greater in groups of 10 than in larger groups, and this reached significance (P