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This conference was the result of an observation: the violent events that occurred between the end of the 1960s and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 have often been a focal point in the artistic practices in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The study of Irish art has privileged work based on the political situation in Northern Ireland during and after the Troubles. Recently, the Holden Gallery at Manchester Metropolitan University presented the exhibition Archiving Place and Time...

Written by an author who serves as Chief Executive Officer of POBAL, meaning ‘community’ in Irish, a non-governmental organisation for the Irish-speaking community in Northern Ireland, this book reflects the unique insights that such a role allows into language issues in contemporary Northern Ireland. Situated within the broader context of conflict resolution, the book explores the approach adopted to managing linguistic diversity in Northern Ireland against the socio-political background leading up to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and onto the present day. Following years of political strife, the agreement between staunch political opponents reflected a milestone in the North’s history, whereby a devolved Assembly was established, only to be suspended in 2002. It was a further 5 years before devolution was re-established through the St Andrew’s Agreement in 2007. Among the measures as part of the agreement was a commitment to enact an Irish language act which, at the present time, is still outstanding. As the author outlines, the linguistic situation in Northern Ireland reflects religious and political differences. The complexity of the situation, however, is further enhanced by the fact that English as the dominant language co-exists with not just one, but two minority languages whose minority status differs considerably, namely Irish and Ulster Scots. In the latter case, the author calls into question its status, suggesting that it may be more appropriately considered a dialect of English given that Ulster Scots is comprehensible to speakers of English. While an Irish language act was envisaged as part of the St Andrew’s Agreement, no similar arrangement was considered for Ulster Scots. Following on from an initial chapter which situates language policy in the context of conflict resolution, the chapters provide substantial insights into the factors surrounding the potential for an Irish language act in Northern Ireland, in relation to demographic, educational, media and political issues. Chapter 2, for

In this thoughtful and engaging book, Feargal Cochrane looks at Northern Ireland’s “Troubles” from the late 1960s to the present day. He explains why, a decade and a half after the peace process ended in political agreement in 1998, sectarian attitudes and violence continue to plague Northern Ireland today. Former members of the IRA now sit alongside their unionist adversaries in the Northern Ireland Assembly, but the region’s attitudes have been slow to change and recent years have even seen an upsurge in violence on both sides. In this book, Cochrane, who grew up a Catholic in Belfast in the ’70s and ’80s, explores how divisions between Catholics and Protestants became so entrenched, and reviews the thirty years of political violence in Northern Ireland—which killed over 3,500 people—leading up to the peace agreement. The book asks whether the peace process has actually delivered for the citizens of Northern Ireland, and what more needs to be done to enhance the current reluctant peace.

The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement1 was concluded following multi-party negotiations on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. It received 71 per cent approval in Northern Ireland and 95 per cent approval in the Republic of Ireland in the subsequent referenda held on Friday 22 May, the day after Ascension. To some, it must have seemed that the timing was singularly appropriate following 30 years of “The Troubles”, which were perceived as being between a “Catholic minority” and a “Protestant majority”. While there are some minority groups identified by their religious affiliation that do require rights relating only to their religion, such as the right to worship in community,2 to practise and profess their religion,3 to legal recognition as a church,4 to hold property5 and to determine its own membership,6 some minority groups identified by their religious affiliation are properly national or ethnic minorities–religion is merely one factor which distinguishes them from the other groups, including the majority, in the population. One example of the latter situation is to be seen in (Northern) Ireland where there is, in fact, untypically, a double minority: the Catholic-nationalist community is a minority in Northern Ireland, but the Protestant-unionist population is a minority in the island of Ireland as a whole.7 The territory of Northern Ireland is geographically separate from the rest of the United Kingdom. The recent peace agreement addresses a whole range of issues for Northern Ireland, but included are, on the one hand, rights for the populations based on their religious affiliation, their culture and their language and, on the other, rights with respect to their political participation up to the point of external self-determination. It is a holistic approach. Like any good minority rights agreement,8 it deals with both standards and their implementation and, like any good minority rights agreement, it is not a minority rights agreement but, rather, a peace settlement.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the sociolinguistic situation of the Irish language on the island of Ireland. Irish is a minority language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, yet the position of the language within these two political entities is vastly different. As a result of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act and the subsequent ratification of the Anglo Irish Treaty the ‘Irish Free State’ (Republic of Ireland) came in to being, leaving the six counties of Northern Ireland (Armagh, Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone) within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. From this point on, the revival of the language became the remit of the newly formed government within the 26-county Republic and was absent from the Unionist agenda in Northern Ireland. For these reasons, the chapter will provide an historical account of the Irish language up until 1920, when official partition took place, and will discuss the language situation from that point to the present day within the context of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland individually. In so doing, the chapter offers an in-depth account of the present situation of the Irish language.

The distribution of income differs in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Historically, Northern Ireland has been marked by lower levels of income and lower income inequality. The Gini coefficient, a widely used measure of income inequality which increases as income becomes more dispersed, has averaged 0.29 in Northern Ireland and slightly more than this, at 0.31 in Ireland, between 2003 and 2019. Using harmonised microsimulation models for Ireland (SWITCH) and Northern Ireland (UKMOD), we simulate the Gini coefficient to be 0.26 in Northern Ireland and 0.28 in Ireland in 2019, although these point estimates are not statistically different from each other. Nevertheless, as seemingly similar income distributions can come about for different underlying reasons, we analyse the drivers of income inequality in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Previous research has identified marked differences in demographics, working patterns, wage levels and the tax-benefit system between Ireland and Northern Ireland. These factors are important determinants of income distribution and are likely to contribute differently to how income is distributed in the two jurisdictions. Using a decomposition technique (following Bargain and Callan (2010); Doorley et al. (2021) and Sologon et al. (2021)), this research identifies the drivers of income inequality in Ireland and Northern Ireland in the year 2019. We isolate the relative contributions of market income differences - attributable to demographics, labour market participation and wage levels - and the tax-benefit system to differences in income distribution in the two jurisdictions. We find that differences in inequality in market, or pre-tax and transfer income, are driven by two counteracting forces. On the one hand, the younger and more highly educated population of Ireland results in relatively lower income inequality as there are relatively fewer people with no earnings. On the other hand, the higher and more unequal wages paid to workers in Ireland result in relatively higher market income inequality, all else equal. We estimate that differences in the tax-benefit system also influence the distribution of income in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Irish tax system is more progressive and reduces income inequality more than the Northern Irish tax system. However, the level and coverage of means-tested benefits in Ireland is lower than that in Northern Ireland. Therefore the Irish means-tested benefit system is inequality-increasing compared to the Northern Irish means-tested benefit system. The combination of these two opposing effects results in similar overall levels of redistribution by the Irish and Northern Irish tax-benefit systems taken as a whole. This research sheds light on possible future developments in income inequality on the island of Ireland. Secular trends in population aging and upskilling are likely to affect the distribution of pre-tax and transfer income in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. The latter is likely to be particularly important in Northern Ireland, where baseline levels of education are lower. This research also finds that, if there is any convergence in the future between the tax-benefit systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland, in the context of increased economic co-operation on the island of Ireland, there may be a limited impact on income inequality due to opposing forces in the tax and benefit system. An understanding of these forces and their impact on income inequality - in isolation and together - can help to guide any such move towards future co-operation.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) had the immediate impact of drawing an external border of the EU on the island of Ireland. With this, two issues related to Northern Ireland came into sharp focus, both of which related to the absence of a physical border, along the border, on the island of Ireland. Firstly, there was the movement of British and Irish citizens within the UK and Ireland, within what is known as the Common Travel (CTA), ensuring, amongst other things, no physical restrictions on the movement of persons on the island of Ireland, amongst other related matters. Secondly, but equally as important, was the issue of a potential border having to be constructed on the island of Ireland between Ireland and Northern Ireland, in the name of preserving the integrity of the EU customs union and the EU internal market. This would have been, because, if Brexit was to mean Brexit, Northern Ireland would no longer be a part of such arrangements, and physical infrastructure, along the legal border, as an external frontier of the EU, would have to be put in place. Sense prevailed however, and a legal solution was found between the EU and the UK to ensure nothing of such a drastic nature occurred. The EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement (WA) that entered into force in February 2020 sealed the fate of Northern Ireland as regards the legal regime governing the absence of a physical border, along the border, between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The WA contained a specific Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (NI Protocol or NIP), which claimed to have the magic formula to ensure the pursued objective. The provisions of the NI Protocol, which is the focus of this chapter, makes up the substantial bulk of the applicable law that governs the special place of Northern Ireland within the EU legal order, for the near future. As a legal text, the NI Protocol is intricate and technical, and not designed to be read by a layman. What the NI Protocol does and does not do has been grossly misconstrued amongst various forms of commentary from political actors and the media alike. Accordingly, this chapter will focus solely on the legal aspects of the NI Protocol, and put it in appropriate legal context. With this in mind, clarification is necessary from the outset. The issues concerning Northern Ireland and EU law are numerous, and this chapter is not to serve as an endlessly exhaustive answer to the full range of legal issues arising from Brexit to Northern Ireland, and nor analyzing all the nuances of the NI Protocol. Nor does this chapter see every eventuality with regard to the matters that it does analyze. Rather, its aim is to position Brexit, and determine the legal aspects of the process and result of the NI Protocol, with the effect that it has had on Northern Ireland, with principle focus on the EU customs union, the free movement of goods, and the enforcement mechanisms. The analysis will not focus, unless otherwise stated, on prior drafts of the parties, or the so-called ‘backstop’ that was initially floated as a solution. Instead, the chapter will focus on the WA and NI Protocol that was ratified by the parties, which is currently in force. The chapter is structured as follows Section 2 examines the initial features of the WA and NI Protocol, taking into account the situation of Northern Ireland, and how its status ran into difficulties as regards the EU customs union. Section 3 analyzed the intricate position of the NI Protocol as regards trade in goods in the form of how the EU customs area is extended to Northern Ireland, and the implications this has on different types of trade in goods with Northern Ireland, as well as the type of regulatory alignment envisaged by the NI Protocol. Section 4 scrutinizes implementation, supervision, and enforcement mechanisms that are foreseen in the NI Protocol, and Section 5 looks at how the NI Protocol can eventually be replaced, or alternatively, seeing it being removed following a procedure involving the political establishment in Northern Ireland. Section 6 analyses the initial implementation of the NI Protocol, whilst Section 7, conclusively, draws some remarks about the future of Northern Ireland and the EU legal order.

In December 2010, the Family Planning Association, the Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform and Alliance for Choice made a joint request to the monitoring committee of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to conduct an inquiry into access to abortion in Northern Ireland under the Convention’s Optional Protocol. The request was motivated by several factors, namely, repeated concerns expressed by the CEDAW Committee to the UK about potential non-compliance due to the restrictive and unclear lawful access to abortion in Northern Ireland; evidence of systematic violation of rights guaranteed under CEDAW in the jurisdiction; as well as continuing delay by the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in publishing court-ordered guidance to women and clinicians in Northern Ireland on the availability and provision of termination of pregnancy services. The full submission of evidence supporting the request for the inquiry is over 100 pages in length and the bulk of the document is dedicated to describing and evidencing the systematic violation of CEDAW articles 2 (prohibition of discrimination), 5 (discriminatory social and cultural patterns), 10 (education), 12 (health), 14 (rural women) and 16 (family life), which prevail more broadly in the jurisdiction due to the restrictive social, cultural and legal context of access to abortion. The full submission documents:• The direct violation of CEDAW article 2, due to the existence of criminal sanctions for medical procedures required only by women.• The continuing article 5 violation caused by the UK government’s deference to discriminatory social and cultural attitudes surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland, as well as the associated problems of the cost and emotional burden of travelling to another jurisdiction to procure an abortion.• Article 10 concerns refer to the level of school discretion permitted in Relationships and Sexuality Education uniquely in Northern Ireland and not in the rest of the UK. • Non-compliance with article 12’s guarantee of non-discrimination in healthcare is detailed at some length, most notably, in terms of poor provision of abortion aftercare. • Extensive discussion is also given to procedural requirements of article 12 and the failure of the state to ensure that appropriate judicial, administrative and legislative measures were available to women entitled to a lawful abortion within the jurisdiction.• The particular toll on rural women of the restrictive access to abortion is detailed, especially because of the additional difficulties of guaranteeing patient confidentiality for women seeking medical advice in rural areas on their entitlement to an abortion.• The uneven physical and mental health consequences of the restrictive abortion regime, that are borne by women but not men, are detailed in order to demonstrate discrimination in marriage and family relations. Four years after the request for an inquiry, much remains unchanged: the court-ordered guidance has not yet been issued; the rights violations documented in the request for an inquiry continue; and the CEDAW Committee continues to express concern about the UK’s CEDAW non-compliance due to restrictive and unclear access to abortion in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, important developments are taking place on the ground in Northern Ireland, with genuine prospect for catalyzing legal and social change in the jurisdiction. The Northern Ireland Department of Justice has initiated consultation on amending the law to permit abortion in cases fatal feotal abnormality and to seek views on doing so in cases of sexual crime; the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has issued legal proceedings in the High Court against the Department of Justice, seeking a change in the law so that women and girls in Northern Ireland have the choice of accessing a termination of pregnancy in circumstances of serious malformation of the foetus, rape or incest; meanwhile, the Amnesty International Belfast Office has launched its ‘My Body, My Rights’ campaign to work with pro-choice organisations for liberalization of access to abortion in the jurisdiction. Our reason for disseminating the submission of evidence now, four years after the initial request for an inquiry, is due to this changed local context and the importance of recent developments. The submission is the most detailed, comprehensive and robustly evidenced documentation of the legal, political and social context of access to abortion in Northern Ireland, as well as the material, emotional and political consequences of the restrictive abortion regime. We hope that it will make a valuable contribution to these efforts for change and that it will help to keep the ongoing toll of the current restrictive regime on the lives of women in Northern Ireland at the centre of this debate. Abstract written by: Judith Cross, Dr Ann Marie Gray, Dr Catherine O’Rourke, Dr Audrey Simpson.

While providing an extensive foundational basis, previous scholarship on the Troubles in Northern Ireland has tended to focus largely on the historical, socio-cultural, and political aspects underlying the conflict, with minimal attention paid to examining the relationship between urban conflict, the built environment, and symbolic spaces and landscapes. This thesis examines the Bogside neighborhood in Derry – a symbolic epicenter of the conflict – as a site of inquiry into the relationship between contested spatial history and symbolic urban practice. The first chapter situates two defining events of the conflict – the Battle of the Bogside (1969) and Bloody Sunday (1972) – within the broader context of political and urban upheaval that defined Derry during the mid-1960s to mid-1970s in order to elucidate the precarious nature of everyday urban spaces during the period. The second chapter traces the integral role of this spatial history in shaping the more symbolic tactics that have largely come to define the conflict in Derry from the early 1980s up to the present day. Focusing on the city’s iconic political murals along with a broader matrix of ephemeral objects and practices, this chapter illustrates how many of the same urban spaces upended during the early years of the conflict would again become battlegrounds in a new war of political images and ephemera. The conclusion of this thesis draws from on-site experiences in the Bogside in an effort to frame this narrative of contested urban space with an eye toward the future. While the years since the Good Friday Agreement have seen the peace process tentatively move towards diffusing sectarian tensions in Derry and throughout Northern Ireland, the impacts of the Troubles remain both deeply embedded and symbolically present in the everyday spaces of the Bogside, where collective memory of the conflict and a lasting legacy of political murals and ephemeral tactics continue to shape the urban landscape. As such, understanding the spatial history and symbolic landscape in Derry remains vital not only to the city itself moving forward, but also to more fully understanding the impacts of violent conflict, systemic inequality, and sustained precarity in contemporary cities.

A considerable knowledge gap exists in relation to the presence and even existence of seagrass within Northern Ireland’s waters. Peer-reviewed publications on the historical ecology of seagrass are scarce and a collated timeline of references directly focusing on Northern Irish seagrasses does not exist. Recognising abiotic and biotic induced environmental change within key marine features such as seagrass is vital when attempting to measure the biodiversity and carbon sequestration services they provide. The research undertaken during this study identified three distinct periods within the archival records, which could be matched to the ecological history of seagrass in Northern Ireland. The first period (extensive and dense seagrass meadows from 1790 to 1880) was characterised by extensive seagrass meadows which were dense and healthy. The second period (degradation from 1880 to 1940) saw the beginnings of decline in seagrass from the 1790s, initially from anthropogenic influences and later from the seagrass wasting disease) and the final period (signs of recovery from 1940 to present day) showed small amounts of local regrowth of seagrass but at far reduced densities compared to the historical baseline described. These three defined periods all delivered varying degrees of anthropogenic stressors which determined the conservational health of seagrass in Northern Ireland. Seagrass habitats have become integral components in future-proofing the coastal marine environment against the effects of climate change and its associated impacts. Therefore, it is envisaged that the historical baseline that this manuscript provides will greatly benefit habitat managers in protecting, repairing, and restoring lost seagrass meadows.

This chapter provides an analysis of Civil Service document as an example of revivalist Scots. The analysis comprises orthography, lexis and morpho-syntax. Although it contextualises Northern Ireland document within current language- planning initiatives arising from European Charter and Belfast Agreement of 1998, it shows some of difficulties which revivalism faces with formal, institutional texts where concepts which have only ever been formalised in standard English are not part of dialect's repartee. Particularly striking features include refunctionlisation of lexical items and de-intellectualisation or deabstraction of concepts into dynamic and often metaphoric concepts.Keywords: Civil Service prose, Dialect, Spelling, Refunctionalisation, Relexification, Revival, Ullans, Scots.It was almost certainly case that sustained outpouring of highquality literature in from fourteenth century to present day, is major factor in recognition of as language in Scotland in European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.2 A further reason may have been very extensive amount of vocabulary still in legal, religious and educational use and codified in two massive historical dictionaries. The Charter also recognised in Northern Ireland, except that, there, it was designated Ulster Scots.The Charter provides large number of actions which national governments can take to protect and promote historical, regional or minority languages. There are two levels of protection - to qualifying languages, all signatories must apply lower level (as specified in Part II). Signatories may further declare that qualifying language or languages will benefit from higher level of protection (Part III), which lists range of actions, from which states must agree to undertake at least thirty-five. and Ulster Scots each received Part II status in Charter, as have Cornish and Manx. Gaelic, Irish and Welsh each received Part III status. Part II provisions are of general nature and set out broad areas of principle that underpin thrust of Charter. Of objectives and principles which UK Government through its devolved administrations in Edinburgh and Belfast undertook to fulfil, O Riagain (2001: 47-8) identifies following as of particular relevance to Northern Ireland:In respect of respect of regional or minority languages, within territories in which such languages are used and according to situation of each language, Parties shall have their policies, legislation and practice on following objectives and principles:* recognition of regional or minority languages as an expression of cultural wealth;3* need for resolute action to promote regional or minority languages in order to safeguard them;* facilitation and/or encouragement of use of regional or minority languages, in speech and writing, in public and private life;* provision of appropriate forms and means for teaching and study of regional or minority languages at all appropriate stages;* provision of appropriate types of transnational exchanges, in fields covered by Charter, for regional or minority languages used in identical or similar form in two or more States.Donall O Riagain, one of European Charter's authors, has expressed view that, for minority languages and development of shared society in Northern Ireland, Charter is a godsend. is not concession to anyone. It is application of European standards to all - standards of language rights, of human rights [...] an excellent basis for developing language policy (O Riagain 2001: 54).No doubt under pressure from Irish-language lobby, but also from activists eager for parity of esteem with Irish, Northern Ireland Executive took its obligations seriously, quickly establishing Interdepartmental Charter Implementation Group4 and compilation of guidelines for use of Ulster Scots, with an emphasis on the facilitation and/or encouragement [. …

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has recently decided to embark on an international partnership with the developing cancer programs on the Island of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) in an attempt to further improve the quality and range of cancer services available for patients. This Transatlantic Partnership called the All Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium offers exciting opportunities in cancer treatment, education and research as the cancer-caring communities from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland prepare to join with the U.S. NCI in this major endeavor. The inaugural event of the partnership will be the NCI All Ireland Cancer Conference to be held in Belfast, October 3-6, 1999. (See www.allirelandcancer.com, for information on the conference.) Cancer is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity on the Island of Ireland. There are approximately 28,000 new cases and approximately 11,000 deaths from cancer each year. Therefore, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have among the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the Western World. In recent years there has been a major restructuring of cancer services in both parts of the Island. This is the result of several government reports such as the Campbell Report in Northern Ireland and the National Strategy Document for Cancer in the Republic of Ireland. The National Strategy Document proposes that cancer treatment services should be centered around primary care services, regional services, supra-regional centers and a national coordinating structure whereby the supra-regional centers deliver specialist surgery, medical and radiation oncology, rehabilitation and specialist palliative care. Three supra-regional cancer centers are being established in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway and a National Cancer Forum, which has served as a multidisciplinary advisory board to the Government, has pushed the development and implementation of this plan. This has already resulted in a major expansion in the number of medical oncologists practicing in Ireland but further development is required to facilitate multidisciplinary care, to establish programs of education and training and to harness the scientific talent available to engage in the international effort against cancer. In Northern Ireland the Chief Medical Officer commissioned a report entitled "Cancer Services-Investing for the Future" whose key recommendations were that Northern Ireland should have one cancer center in Belfast and four smaller cancer units. This report also recommended the implementation of a multidisciplinary approach to cancer diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. As in the Republic, all the recommendations of the Report have been accepted and the planning and implementation of this plan are now well under way. Therefore, development of services for cancer patients is a top priority for both governments on the Island and, given the process of cancer service development, it is timely to bring international expertise such as the NCI on board as partners in this effort. The decision by the NCI to develop an agreement for cancer research and service development in Ireland is a major boost for those involved in cancer care and research and will, no doubt, help speed the process of redevelopment. There have already been several visits from senior NCI personnel to Ireland including Dr. Klausner, the Director of the NCI, to determine the potential impact of this agreement and to identify the most productive areas of interaction between the NCI and the Irish Cancer Community. As a result of these visits, the NCI has decided to focus on several areas of strategic importance whose objectives will be to enhance clinical services, improve patient care, promote North South collaboration and cement strategic Ireland-U.S. collaboration in cancer research and development. The agreement will build on existing informal links in U.S.-Irish scientific, medical education and training and also promote clinical trials and cancer epidemiology programs. Major components of the NCI Ireland Agreement will include some of the following: EDUCATION AND EXCHANGE OF SCHOLARS: Education will form one of the major platforms of this agreement through the support of educational programs for medical, nursing and scientific staff. These will include the exchange of scholars, including Ph.D., M.D. and nursing students. Particular emphasis will be given to the exchange of medical and nursing trainees focused on clinical research. This will have an immediate clinical impact and will naturally extend the support that has already been given to the training of medical and scientific trainees from the Island of Ireland. Further exchanges would include Ph.D. students, laboratory-based M.D.s in training, clinical visiting professors and investigators from the U.S. wishing to extend their studies in Ireland. CLINICAL TRIALS: Another major area for partnership will be the enhancement of a clinical trials infrastructure and clinical trial development. Modernization of cancer care requires that delivery of care should be in the context of evidence-based medicine. This requires a vigorous and contemporary clinical trials infrastructure which would center around the clinical trials infrastructure already established at the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre and the Irish Clinical Oncology Research Group (ICORG) in the Republic of Ireland. The NCI has already commissioned the development of a new Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) which seeks as its goal to set international standards in the clinical trials process, and it has already committed significant resources to its implementation. The outcome of this element of partnership will be that clinical trials performed in Irish institutions will immediately be compatible for collation, analysis and presentation with studies performed in the U.S. Moreover, this system will allow participating centers to immediately conform to international standards. This proposal therefore permits participating institutions in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to quickly achieve data management standards of the highest quality. TELECONFERENCING: Teleconferencing capabilities are already established in both the NCI and in Ireland and indeed limited teleconferencing linkages have already been established between the partners. Further investment in this infrastructure will be vital to the success of major elements of this partnership. It will facilitate clinical trial development, education programs, patient services development and exchange of clinical and scientific ideas. Communication between sites will be essential to the success of this partnership. TUMOR REGISTRIES: Another area for major collaboration and partnership will be in the use of the Cancer Tumor Registries in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The monitoring of improvements in cancer care can only be undertaken with a reliable tumor registry that tracks population-based cancer incidence and mortality. These data are now available in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and both Governments recognize their importance. The NCI proposes to assist both Tumor Registries by developing a common database that can assist in consultation, informatic tools and quality control. Consolidation of the Registries, North and South, will improve the overall quality of data collection and provide information on a genetically stable population. This therefore will act as a major tool for epidemiological investigations and programs focused on screening and prevention. DEVELOPMENTS IN CANCER CLINICAL SERVICES: The NCI Ireland partnership also proposes to assist the further development of clinical service programs on the Island of Ireland. These will include the improvement and standardization of Radiation Oncology practice and the development of a consolidated Radiation Oncology program for research. There are a limited number of radiation facilities on the Island of Ireland and there are significant needs in terms of linking practice elements and the implementation of uniform standards of practice. Assistance in standardizing and driving the development of clinical services will also extend to elements of medical and surgical oncology practice as well as palliative care. The development of palliative care services is already at an advanced stage on the Island of Ireland and is one that the NCI will carefully evaluate in terms of its own developing programs. THE NCI ALL IRELAND CANCER CONFERENCE: An important event to highlight the commencement of this special relationship will be the NCI All Ireland Cancer Conference to be held in Belfast October 3-6, 1999. This Conference will address clinical, laboratory, epidemiological and political issues that are pertinent to the care of cancer patients. It will highlight important work by Irish, American and European scientists with further input from well-known international academic and biotechnology investigators from across the world. These international experts will not only be asked to speak on their areas of expertise but also to comment on clinical and scientific programs that may help improve North and South interaction and Transatlantic collaboration. Finally, it is hoped that the Conference will be a marker of a very special interaction on the Island of Ireland focused on the overall development of cancer services for patients. It will also signal the start of an important partnership between the NCI and those involved in cancer care and research in Ireland. This tripartite cooperative agreement is a most exciting venture and it will hopefully be an example of how an effort focused on a human problem common to all societies can generate a spirit of cooperation and help to eliminate strife.

Criminal Justice in Transition: The Northern Ireland ContextA.‐M. McAlinden and C. Dwyer (Eds.). Oxford: Hart (2015) 386pp. £49.50hb ISBN 978–1849465779

The History Bubble

The article analyzes Brexit as a factor influencing the Good Friday Agreement and the transformation of the peace process in Northern Ireland, as well as the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is argued that Brexit poses a threat to the security of Ireland and the EU, since it undermines the foundations of the peace process in Northern Ireland and creates the likelihood that the border will be closed on the island of Ireland again. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was based on the fact that both signatory states are members of the EU, and many of its provisions will not be implemented after Brexit. It has been proven that after Brexit, the most controversial issue was the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which became the external border of the EU. The border, which was heavily militarized during the conflict, became virtually invisible after its settlement, and people and goods freely cross it. This became possible largely because both Ireland and the UK were part of the EU single market, a common set of rules that ensures the free movement of goods, services, people and finances within the bloc.It is argued that the new relationship between the EU and the UK, which was agreed during 2020 and implemented from January 2021, resulted in an attempt to resolve the complex border issue, which was carried out in the Northern Ireland Protocol. The arrangements of the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to which Northern Ireland, but not the rest of the UK, remains within the framework of the EU single market for goods, make it possible to maintain an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The establishment of an open border was a key aspect of the Northern Ireland peace process and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland. It is shown that the Northern Ireland Protocol creates a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. Mainly to address the concerns of the DUP unionists about the Northern Ireland Protocol, in 2022-2023, the EU and the UK agreed on revised mechanisms for its operation – the Windsor Framework, which entered into force on March 24, 2023. The DUP refused to accept the Framework Program as meeting their interests until early 2024. Further adjustments to its work have not been agreed upon and the formation of a new Northern Ireland executive has not begun. It is proved that Brexit is becoming a new and significant factor in the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. Brexit has put the issue of the unification of Ireland at the top of the political agenda of both parts of Ireland. The majority of Northern Irish residents voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 UK referendum. Unification would give Northern Ireland, where both British and Irish citizens live, full EU citizenship.