Linguistic relativity and dialectical idiomatization: language ideologies and second language acquisition in the Irish language revival of Northern Ireland

A considerable number of Irish Catholics in West Belfast, originally native English speakers, have started learning the Irish language throughout the Northern Irish conflict in order to feel more Irish. Many of these have developed a strong conviction that the Irish language contains a different worldview from the one embodied in English. However, rather than constituting a plausible representation of relevant differences embodied in the languages themselves, this article puts forward the hypothesis that such a neo-Whorfian endorsement of linguistic relativity might rather be the product of dialectical idiomatization, following from the interplay of prevailing language ideologies and effects of second language acquisition.

Ethnonationalism and Attitudes Towards Gay and Lesbian Rights in Northern Ireland

Peer reviewed

Ethnonationalism and Attitudes Towards Gay and Lesbian Rights in Northern Ireland

Peer reviewed

The influence of religion and ethnonationalism on public attitudes towards amnesty : Northern Ireland as a case study

Peer reviewed

Shared education in Northern Ireland: school collaboration in divided societies

During the years of political violence in Northern Ireland many looked to schools to contribute to reconciliation. A variety of interventions were attempted throughout those years, but there was little evidence that any had produced systemic change. The peace process provided an opportunity for renewed efforts. This paper outlines the experience of a series of projects on 'shared education', or the establishment of collaborative networks of Protestant, Catholic and integrated schools in which teachers and pupils moved between schools to take classes and share experiences. The paper outlines the genesis of the idea and the research which helped inform the shape of the shared education project. The paper also outlines the corpus of research which has examined various aspects of shared education practice and lays out the emergent model which is helping to inform current government practice in Northern Ireland, and is being adopted in other jurisdictions. The paper concludes by looking at the prospects for real transformation of education in Northern Ireland.

Picking on vulnerable migrants: precarity and the mushroom industry in Northern Ireland

This article examines precarious employment in the context of the mushroom industry in Northern Ireland. Migrant workers engaged in mushroom picking were interviewed in the context of wider research investigating forced labour in Northern Ireland. The research found that, while the boundaries between exploitation and forced labour are complex and difficult to discern, there was some evidence of borderline forced labour, according to ILO definitions. However, workers found themselves on a ‘continuum of exploitation’, where initial engagement with the prospect of decent work was superseded by increasing endurance of exploitative practices, brought about by unequal power relationships with employers originating in immigration status. This is examined in the wider theoretical context of precarity, of which precarious employment comprises a part.

Territoriality and Migration in a Divided Society: Lay Theories of Citizenship and Place in Northern Ireland

The study of citizenship has increasingly focused on the ways in which spatialized understandings of the concept can be used to marginalise and exclude social groups: exclusive constructions of national boundaries, local neighbourhoods and public spaces can deny marginalised groups their social and political rights. Less attention has been paid to how constructions of place can accommodate different groups’ rights and promote peaceful coexistence. This is particularly important in locations where migration disrupts existing understandings (‘lay theories’) of the relationship between residency, identity and collective rights. The present research examines how spatialized understandings of citizenship shape perceptions of intergroup mixing in previously segregated areas of a post-conflict society. Critical Discursive Social Psychological (CDSP) analysis of 30 interviews with long-term residents and recent migrants to increasingly mixed areas of Belfast shows that, while all pa
rticipants acknowledged Northern Ireland’s territorialisation, different lay theories of citizenship underpin the possibility and desirability of intergroup coexistence. Long-term residents drew upon understandings of the negative citizenry of the outgroup to argue against the possibility of peaceful coexistence within their locale, while recent incomers gave evidence of their own experiences of good citizenship within the shared spaces of neighbourhood to demonstrate that this could and should be achieved. The implications of lay theories of citizenship for the study of residential migration and mixing are discussed

Nursing Home Care- Nursing Students as Carers discussing and addressing the negatives; a Northern Ireland Perspective

Abstract
The quality of nursing home care for some remains a significant cause of concern. This paper explores and discusses some of the significant critiques and limitations to nursing home care within the UK, particularly and including end of life care. The paper also explores some of the international literature by way of comparison.
Aim
To identify some of the characteristics contributing to the quality of holistic care within nursing homes
Methods
Two short narratives drawn from the experiences of nursing home care within Northern Ireland. The narrators (and co-authors to the paper) are first year student nurses who are also employed (part-time) as carers within nursing homes
Results
The paper identifies evidence of good nursing and care, together with evident quality in end of life care within nursing homes. The paper addresses the context of nursing home care and explores significant characteristics that reflect in the delivery of holistic care to nursing home residents, including the important role of a `culture’ of care, ongoing and specialist training( particularly and including within end of life care) and the important impact in the quality of nursing home leadership.
The paper concludes with some short recommendations to better develop practice within nursing homes

The Republican Movement, 'Disappearing' and Framing the Past in Northern Ireland

Despite a rich body of research on the conflict and peace process in Northern Ireland, the ‘disappearances’ carried out by Republican armed groups have so far escaped scrutiny. In this article I examine how the Republican movement has framed the rationale behind ‘disappearing’ as a rational response to informing and as an example of historical continuity. In doing so, Republicans appear to attempt to confer legitimacy on their choice of target and normalize the use of the practice within a Republican framework. However, these rationales incorporate techniques of neutralization and attempts to contextualize the ‘disappearances’ in such a way as to distance the Irish Republican Army from agency. Such distancing speaks to a third, overarching rationale for ‘disappearing’: the avoidance of an embarrassment that has continued into the postconflict period. I consider why Republicans persist in claiming the ‘disappeared’ were legitimate targets, killed by a method for which there is historical precedent, when such framing left them open to criticism at a time when they were seeking to demonstrate that they had left violence behind. I conclude that Republican attempts to satisfy two audiences resulted in a gulf between their engagement in the process of recovering remains and their rhetoric surrounding this issue. In so doing, light is shed on some of the challenges the Republican movement faced in their transition away from violence. More broadly, the value of unpicking the framing of key actors in transitional processes is illuminated.

Shadow policing: the boundaries of community-based ‘policing’ in Northern Ireland

The intention of this article is to provide a structural and operational analysis of policing beyond the police in Northern Ireland. While the polity enjoys low levels of ‘officially’ recorded crime as part of its post-conflict status, little empirical analysis exists as to the epistemological roots of security production outside that of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The empirical evidence presented seeks to establish that beyond more prominent analyses related to paramilitary ‘policing’, the country is in fact replete with a substantial reservoir of legitimate civil society policing – the collective mass of which contributes to policing, community safety and quality of life issues. While such non-state policing at the level of locale was recognised by the Independent Commission for Policing, structured understandings have rarely permeated governmental or academic discourse beyond anecdotal contentions. Thus, the present argument provides an empirical assessment of the complex, non-state policing landscape beyond the formal state apparatus; examines definitions and structures of such community-based policing activities; and explores issues related to co-opting this non-state security ‘otherness’ into more formal relations with the state.

Policing, Terrorism and the Conundrum of 'Community': A Northern Ireland Perspective

The book chapter examines the conundrums and contradictions for PSNI in delivering their community policing agenda within a post-conflict environment which simultaneously demands the delivery of counter-terrorism policing in view of the current dissident terrorist threat.

Community policing in Northern Ireland: a resistance narrative

Policing in stable democratic societies is predominantly concerned with the implementation and practice of the globally accepted philosophy of community policing. However, the subtle complexities of Northern Ireland's transitional landscape present acute problems for the community policing concept, both as a vehicle for police reform and as a tool for increasing the co-production of security through improved community interaction with the police. This article will examine the current position of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and their Policing with the Community policy. Providing an overview of contextual and contemporary developments, it will assess the efficacy with which the PSNI have realised community policing, as espoused in Patten Recommendation 44. It concludes by determining the role and extent of community engagement with policing in Northern Ireland and the resistances and contestations to the implementation of the community policing in a post-conflict society.

Community Perspectives On Public Order Policing in Northern Ireland

In 2011 the Chief Constable of the PSNI commissioned a review of public order policing in Northern Ireland, following closely behind a review of public order policing in Britain undertaken by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) (2011). As part of the review, the PSNI decided to adopt a ‘twin-track’ approach, with an internal review of organisational practice, experiences and roles/responsibilities; and an independent external review of community experiences of public order policing across the country. The external strand to the review was publically tendered during the first half of 2012 and was awarded to a joint bid by the University of Ulster and the Institute for Conflict Research. The overall aim of the research was to inform the PSNI’s review of public order policing in the widest possible sense so that community experiences and attitudes may be considered by the PSNI as part of decisions taken about future changes in police strategy and tactics on public order issues, with full cognisance of their community impact. In regard to the specific objectives, the research was tasked with the following:

• Provide qualitative information on community experiences and attitudes to public order policing;
• Identify critical issues, dilemmas and debates resulting from public order policing as delivered by the PSNI – both in terms of communities directly and indirectly affected;
• Highlight issues for the PSNI consideration in terms of carrying out its task of maintaining public order while upholding the human rights of all; and
• Explore the above issues in respect of both the PSNI’s style and tactics, along with community attitudes and approaches.