Addressing diversity and inclusion in the early years in conflict-affected societies: A case study of the Media Initiative for Children – Northern Ireland

This article reports on the development and systematic evaluation of an innovative early years programme aimed at encouraging young children to respect differences within a deeply-divided society that is emerging out of a prolonged period of violent conflict. The programme, the Media Initiative for Children – Northern Ireland, has been the product of a partnership between an US-based organisation (the Peace Initiatives Institute) and NIPPA – The Early Years Organisation and has been supported by academic research and the efforts of a range of voluntary and statutory organisations. It has attempted to encourage young children to value diversity and be more inclusive of those who are different to themselves through the use of short cartoons designed for and broadcast on television as well as specially-prepared curricular materials for use in pre-school settings. To date the programme has been delivered through 200 settings to approximately 3,500 pre-school children across Northern Ireland. This article describes how the programme was developed and implemented as well as the rigorous approach taken to evaluating its effects on young children’s attitudes and awareness. Key lessons from this are identified and discussed in relation to future work in this area.

Seasonal variations in nitrate reductase activity and internal N pools in intertidal brown algae are correlated with ambient nitrate concentrations.

Nitrogen metabolism was examined in the intertidal seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus, Fucus serratus, Fucus spiralis and Laminaria digitata in a temperate Irish sea lough. Internal NO3- storage, total N content and nitrate reductase activity (NRA) were most affected by ambient NO3-, with highest values in winter, when ambient NO3- was maximum, and declined with NO3- during summer. In all species, NRA was six times higher in winter than in summer, and was markedly higher in Fucus species (e.g. 256 ± 33 nmol NO3- min1 g1 in F. vesiculosus versus 55 ± 17 nmol NO3- min1 g1 in L. digitata). Temperature and light were less important factors for N metabolism, but influenced in situ photosynthesis and respiration rates. NO3- assimilating capacity (calculated from NRA) exceeded N demand (calculated from net photosynthesis rates and C : N ratios) by a factor of 0.7–50.0, yet seaweeds stored significant NO3- (up to 40–86 µmol g1). C : N ratio also increased with height in the intertidal zone (lowest in L. digitata and highest in F. spiralis), indicating that tidal emersion also significantly constrained N metabolism. These results suggest that, in contrast to the tight relationship between N and C metabolism in many microalgae, N and C metabolism could be uncoupled in marine macroalgae, which might be an important adaptation to the intertidal environment.

A Blueprint for Democratic Policing Anywhere in the World? Police Reform, Political Transition and Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland

This article provides an overview of the police reform process undertaken in Northern Ireland since 1999 as part of a broader program of conflict resolution. It considers the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Policing (ICP), which proposed a number of changes to policing structures and arrangements in Northern Ireland, and it assesses the degree to which these have been operationalized in the 8 years since the ICP published its report. It suggests that although the police reform process in Northern Ireland has been moderately successful and provides a number of international best practice lessons, the overall pace of change has been hindered by difficulties of implementation and, more fundamentally, by developments in the political sphere and civil society.