Communities In Northern Ireland Research Articles

Urinary incontinence in Northern Ireland: a prevalence study.

To determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence in a Northern Ireland community drawn from four neighbouring geographical areas and to assess factors predisposing to the development of urinary incontinence. A three-page self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to 1050 women (age range 35-74 years), recruited randomly from a target population of 43 829 women. The main survey was preceded by a pilot survey. Respondents and those not responding were compared. The overall response rate was 65.6% (689/1050); there was no significant difference between respondents and those not responding. Two-hundred and thirty-one women (33.5%) reported incontinence 'sometimes' and 161 (23.4%) 'often'. Of those who had urinary incontinence, sanitary protection was required by 21.7% (85/392). This equates to 12.3% (85) of the total study population. Age (chi2=20.34; P<0.001) and parity (Mann-Whitney U-test, P< 0.001) were associated with urinary incontinence, with a higher proportion of women aged 45-54 years having urinary incontinence. The menopause and postnatal pelvic floor exercises were not associated with urinary incontinence. Overall 19.9% (78/392) of women with urinary incontinence had consulted their general practitioner. Of those who required sanitary protection, 40% (34/85) had consulted their doctor. Urinary incontinence is common; it is sufficiently severe to require sanitary protection in 12% of women aged 35-74 years in a Northern Ireland community.

State Violence, Northern Ireland 1969-1997

An account of the violations of human rights perpetrated against the Catholic community in Northern Ireland by the British State through the activities of its security force and the RUC. The author contends that Britain should acknowledge that it has acted unlawfully and immorally.

Mental Health Promotion in a Rural Context: Research and Realities from a Community‐Based Initiative in Northern Ireland

This paper describes the development of mental health promotion strategies for rural communities in Northern Ireland. The initial phase of a community‐based project targeting depression and suicide is examined. The paper brings together practitioner and research perspectives on an analysis of the factors that made this initiative possible and facilitated its development to date. The paper is written in two sections. Section one describes the process and practical experience of planning and implementing the initial phase of the project. Section two reports on the community needs assessment study. The research approach adopted is outlined and the implications of the findings are discussed.

Maintaining law and order in Northern Ireland

The Good Friday Agreement reached earlier this year and endorsed by the majority both north and south of the border in Ireland has put new light on the situation in Northern Ireland. Here, the Chief Constable of the RUC, Ronnie Flanagan, gives an outline of his view on the situation and, in particular what he sees as his and his officers’ task in the coming months and years. He argues that, as the policing of the province has a profound impact on everyone's lives, it is too important to leave to the police alone to tackle the problems they face. He urges all parts of the communities in Northern Ireland to take part and work with the RUC as much as possible. This will benefit all, whichever community they belong to. He is aware that changes are needed, in particular of the ethnic and gender composition of the Constabulary, but believes strongly that the attitudes of the police officers and their treatment of the different communities they serve should be fair and equal. Although it might prove to be a lengthy process to arrive at such a position, he hopes that one day it will not be an issue which gender or which community an officer comes from as long as he or she does a good job.

Northern Ireland: People of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic Vote Decisively in Favor of Peace Accord

Today, I met with ten women and men representing the WAVE Center in Northern Ireland, a support group for those who have been touched by the political violence of the past three decades. Each of these extraordinary individuals, representing both traditions in Northern Ireland, has suffered losing members of their families or being badly wounded themselves. I was inspired by their courage in rejecting violence and working for lasting peace in a land where people are not labeled by religion or national preference; inspired by their vision of a future marked by reconciliation and cooperation. And I will never forget their personal stories of sorrow and suffering, stories which are shared by many people of both communities in Northern Ireland. WAVE proves hatred can be overcome by hope, division can give way to unity, as victims of Northern Ireland's tragic past work together for a brighter future.

The two communities in Northern Ireland: deprivation and ill health.

The aim of this study was to examine differences in socio-economic standing and ill health between the two communities in Northern Ireland. This was a descriptive epidemiological study. Deaths from 1991 to 1995 inclusive were used to calculate standardized mortality rates (SMR, under 75 years) at small level using the 1991 Census population estimates. The standardized limiting long-term illness ratios (SIR) were based on the appropriate Census question. Regression models were tested with SMR and SIR as dependent variables and a wide range of socio-economic indicators, including income support and family credit uptake, as independent predictors. Northern Ireland is a very polarized society. More than 60 per cent of the population live in areas which have more than 80 per cent of one religion. Areas with a preponderance of Catholics tend to be more deprived. Unemployment rates, percentage renting, car availability, and education attainment are all worse in Catholic areas. However, there is considerable heterogeneity between areas with similar levels of religious affiliation and the overall pattern varies with the indicator chosen. SMRs rise stepwise with increasing percentage of Catholics. SIRs increase with increasing polarization of areas, but this is much more marked in those with a predominantly Catholic affiliation. Altogether 46.8 per cent of the variance in SMR and 77.9 per cent of that of SIRs could be explained by socio-economic variables alone. Denomination did not have any residual predictive value. Policy-makers should continue to periodically monitor for differences between the two communities including any differences in service accessibility and uptake. Efforts should be directed towards reducing the inequalities in health for all sections of the community.

The political economy of a divided Ireland

For a peace process in Ireland to succeed it will require an active transition away from the underlying causes of conflict—not just the partition of the country, but the inequalities of opportunities and employment between the communities in Northern Ireland. This requires the restructuring of existing unequal arrangements. If this restructuring is not to be at the expense of the Protestant community, public intervention will be needed to ensure that opportunities for the Protestant community can be developed alongside the necessary catching-up of the previously disadvantaged community. Otherwise any type of future transition process risks grinding to a halt.

An evaluation of Threshold therapeutic communities in Northern Ireland

AbstractObjective: To measure the effects of providing a therapeutic community environment for patients suffering from severe mental illness.Method: 35 patients who remained in a therapeutic community environment for a minimum of 18 months were administered three instruments which measured psychiatric symptomatology (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale), intrapsychic and interpersonal functioning (Therapeutic Community Questionnaire) and overall psychiatric and psychological functioning (Global Assessment Scale). Assessments were carried out at zero and 18 months.Results: The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale revealed significant positive changes on the two items of blunted affect and un-cooperativeness while the global assessment scale revealed that patients significantly improved after 18 months.Conclusion: Patients who remained in a therapeutic community environment for 18 months demonstrated benefits on three particular variables. While no causative link can be proposed in this study, it does seem that this environment does improve the functioning of severely mentally ill patients.

The Contribution of Health Promotion to Community Children's Nursing

This article discusses the range of current thinking on health promotion with special reference to community children's nursing. The scene is set with the identification of a number of issues currently at the heart of the promotion of health in children and young people. Emphasis is placed on the unprecedented expansion of interest in the promotion of children's health in Northern Ireland. Current meanings attributed to health promotion are discussed and applied to the practice of community children's nursing. Some of the contentious elements of these definitions and meanings are debated. For example, the distinct meanings of health and well-being in children are discussed and the issue of whether health promotion should be aimed at individual children, their families, or their communities is pondered. Prevention, it is argued, is one particularly important component of the promotion of health in children in the community in Northern Ireland.

Sport and community relations in Northern Ireland

This paper sets out some of the policy implications of a study aimed at discovering the role played by organized sport in Northern Ireland's community structure. Information was obtained through a sample survey of 16 governing bodies of sport. It reports on three interrelated elements of the original investigation. The first sets out the overall demographics of sport in the Province, the second reviews governing bodies' responses to political circumstances and the third elicits responses concerning the relationship between sport and community relations. The results reveal that sport in Northern Ireland is bound up with aspects of political conflict. Evidence is presented which contests the belief that a considerable amount of cross-community development takes place through sport. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of these findings for policy development aimed at the ameliorating of community divisions.

The peace process in Ireland: new challenges for the geographical imagination

The prospects for the peaceful resolution of a conflict are conditioned by the spatial context. Some aspects of this spatial context are the product of human agency, and may therefore be amenable to social engineering. However, other aspects of the spatial context are fixed: if perceived to be part of the problem, they must be circumvented by other means. Irish nationalist claims to the territory of Northern Ireland are based on the fact that Ireland is a relatively small island, and is therefore perceived by nationalists as a ‘natural’ political unit. These demands are rejected by the unionist majority of people living within Northern Ireland, who claim they are British. The recent peace process in Ireland was initiated by Irish nationalists. Given the unwillingness of republicans within the nationalists movement to contemplate any solution which does not entail the incorporation of the whole of Northern Ireland into an all-Ireland state, the peace process is viewed by many unionists as a devious attempt to achieve nationalist objectives by an alternative route. However, the fact that people in both communities in Northern Ireland enjoyed the benefits of an uneasy peace for 15 months may have changed the context: peace, whithout prior conditions, is now perceived by many people to be an important goal in its own right. The challenge to geographers is to try to identify a new ‘post-nationalist’ spatial context which could povide an acceptable compromise for both communities in Northern Ireland. This will require imagination, but the will for peace is strong.

Networking by the Indian Business Community in Northern Ireland

The business success of Indian emigrants has attracted a great deal of popular attention in recent years. The number of systematic studies, however, is woe fully limited, and so is our understanding of the factors impinging upon the entrepreneurial manifestations of Indians abroad. This paper discusses an important aspect of the business behaviour of the Indian business community in the province of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.

Social and behavioural predictors of women's cancer screening practices in Northern Ireland

The aim of this study was to describe the extent of cancer screening practices among women resident in Northern Ireland and to identify the social and behavioural characteristics associated with these practices. The study involved a survey of adults resident in the community in Northern Ireland. Contact was made with a sample of 1162 residents who were asked to complete a questionnaire about preventive health practices and attitudes. This produced a response rate of 65.1 per cent. Of these, 391 were women who were asked questions about breast self-examination (BSE), attendance for cervical screening, and certain social and behavioural factors. Approximately 28 per cent of the women performed BSE regularly, a further 28 per cent performed it occasionally, and the remainder rarely or not at all. Almost 20 per cent of the women had had a smear test once, 48 per cent several times, and the rest never. Performance of BSE and attendance for smear tests and BSE was more common among those women aged 35-54 years, who were married, worked outside the home, and whose religion was Church of Ireland (Anglican). The most frequent reason given for not performing BSE was fear of finding a lump and ignorance of the procedure. The most frequent reason given for non-attendance for a smear test was that it was not thought necessary at their age. Public health strategies designed to promote cancer screening need to consider the value of directing their campaigns at those who are most reluctant to perform these practices.

Progressive or regressive? The Anglo‐Irish Agreement as a dynamic in the Northern Ireland Polity

Abstract This article seeks to compare unionist and nationalist attitudes to the Anglo‐Irish Agreement (AIA), in an effort to determine whether the Agreement has had a positive or negative impact upon the Northern Ireland community. It will be argued that viewed through narrow criteria the Agreement has achieved some success, but that its longer‐term objectives of securing peace and inter‐communal toleration are no closer to being realised today than they were in November 1985. A central theme within the text is that institutional frameworks such as the AIA are often unable to maintain their original strategic objectives due to the essentially reactive nature of government.

A lost opportunity: education and community in Northern Ireland 1947‐1960

(1992). A lost opportunity: education and community in Northern Ireland 1947‐1960. History of Education: Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 71-82.

Diversity, division and the middle ground in Northern Ireland

Abstract The Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland are highly differentiated internally. Many see in these internal differences the hope for an expanded political middle ground. The potential for middle ground politics has, however, been overstated. Intracommunal differences are counterbalanced by forces making for intracommunal cohesion and intercommunal division. Strengthening the middle ground will require more radical measures than have yet been attempted.

Bridging the Religious Divide: Mobilizing for Reconciliation in Northern Ireland

This article examines three ecumenical reconciliation communities in Northern Ireland, a society marked more generally by sharp conflict between Protestants and Catholics. Participant observation during the summer of 1987 revealed that members of these communities share demographic characteristics (age, education, occupation) with other moderates in Northern Ireland. Groups differ in their definitions of and strategies for reconciliation, with charismatics demonstrating links to the international charismatic movement and others sharing characteristics of the radical evangelical movement in the U.S. Comparisons with Christian peace and reconciliation groups in Europe, South Africa, and Central America suggest the need for further comparative research on reconciliation movements.

Discrimination and Equality of Opportunity—Northern Irish Lessons

There was once a time when major social legislation was usually preceded by a broadly representative commission of inquiry, which conducted careful investigations, presented the arguments on all sides and made balanced recommendations. Some time before the present Government, the blue books began to be replaced by glossy products in which image-makers market government ideology with a highly selective use of facts. These modern products are still curiously called 'White Papers' to distinguish them from the 'Green' or consultative variety. The Report of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (SACHR) on Fair Employment in Northern Ireland, in its blue covers, is a refreshing return to the Victorian values of objective social inquiry and of seeking a consensus for reform. The SACHR, broadly representative of the Protestant and Catholic communities and (at the time of this Report) including academic experts such as Dr J. C. McCrudden of Lincoln College, Oxford was set up under section 20 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 to advise government on the adequacy and effectiveness of the law in preventing discrimination on the ground of religious belief or political opinion. The present review of the legislation was begun in January 1985 and published in October 1987 after an impressive programme of research and consultation. The SACHR commissioned the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) to examine the extent and nature of the differences between the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland, to investigate policies and practices at the workplace, and to research the perceptions and views of the people in Northern Ireland on matters such as inequality and discrimination.2 These showed that, despite ten years of anti-discrimination legislation (in the form of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976 (FEA 1976)), there were still massive inequalities between the

Social Identity and the Northern Ireland Conflict

A series of experimental studies examined various identity polarities (Catholic/Protestant, Irish/British, and nationalist/unionist) relevant to the majority and minority communities in Northern Ireland. Subjects allocated themselves to one group within a polarity and awarded points on a series of matrices to anonymous others identified solely on the basis of group membership. Results suggested that the Catholic and nationalist identities had a similar impact for minority group members over time, whereas the Protestant and unionist identities had a differential impact for majority group members over time. This latter effect was related to the context implied by the identity label. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with political activists suggested some continuities with the experimental data. Political activists from minority group parties adhered to a single identity label, but offered competing meanings for that label. By contrast, activists from majority group parties adhered to competing identity labels which could be related to different contexts for that group. The paper emphasizes the dynamic nature of identity and argues for an eclectic use of theory and method in the analysis of social conflict.

Working Class Community in Northern Ireland.

Working Class Community in Northern Ireland.