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Economic and Social
Research Council
March 4,
2003
Summary: The Economic and
Social Research Council organized a conference on devolution in
Northern Ireland. Research was presented showing that many people in
Ireland support devolution over other options. Another paper was
presented, arguing that a mixed member proportional system based on
instant runoff voting (the alternative vote) might be preferable to
choice voting.
Economic & Social Research
Council
Devolution remains popular despite problems with
Good Friday Agreement
March 4, 2003
New Research Devolution remains popular despite problems with Good
Friday Agreement -Devolution remains the most popular constitutional
option in Northern Ireland, despite the problems with the Belfast
agreement and growing suspicions between Protestants and Catholics,
according to new research published today. Dr Roger MacGinty, a
politics lecturer at the University of York, will present his
findings at a major conference on devolution in Northern Ireland in
Belfast today (Tuesday 4 March). The conference is being org-anised
by the Economic and Social Research Council, as part of its
Devolution Programme. The conference will also hear a call to
reconsider the voting system to encourage politicians to reach
across the sectarian divide by Robin Wilson of Democratic Dialogue
and Professor Rick Wilford of Queen's University Belfast. And Dr
Gillian Robinson, University of Ulster and director of ARK (the
Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive) will present data
showing that Northern Ireland Catholics and Protestants are less
optimistic about community relations than they were after the
paramilitary ceasefires of the mid 1990s and the 1998 Belfast
Agreement. "Public attitudes on devolution are surprisingly
positive," says Dr Mac Ginty. "There is general approval of the idea
despite uncertainty about whether services like health and education
have improved. Catholics are more positive than Protestants, and
both communities want the Northern Ireland Assembly to be given more
powers in the future." Using figures from the Northern Ireland Life
and Times survey, Dr Mac Ginty found that 40% of people felt that
devolution gave them more say, while only 8% said it gave them less
say. Across the community as a whole, 43% of people support
devolution, compared with 21% support for a united Ireland, 13% for
direct rule from Westminster and 10% favouring independence. "The
emphasis on either-or constitutional choices by Northern Ireland's
politicians misreads the public mood," he concludes. "More than any
oth-er option, the people of Northern Ireland want effective
devolved government." In a separate paper, Prof Wilford and Robin
Wilson will argue that the introduction of an alternative electoral
system, perhaps based on the alternative vote in single member
constituencies (with a proportionality top-up) rather than the
existing Single Transferable Vote would require political parties to
seek support outside their traditional support base, thus moderating
their identities. They also argue that Northern Ireland Assembly
members should not be required to register their communal
affiliation. And they suggest that the Executive should result from
a coalition agreement between political parties rather than having
its members automatically appointed. Robin Wilson says: "There is
no incentive in the current arrangements for Northern Ireland
politicians to think beyond issues of sovereignty and the question
of who exercises legitimate force. Until they are able to think and
act outside this box, political stability will still be an illusion
and the political system will drift from one crisis to the next. Our
constitutional proposals could go a long way to engender future
stability and to making the democratic institutions workable." Dr
Gillian Robinson's analysis based on data from the Northern Ireland
Life and Times survey will show that: The proportion of people
believing that relations between Catholics and Protestants are
"better now than five years ago" fell from 50 per cent in 1998 to 28
per cent in 2001. Pessimism is greater among Protestants than
Catholics. The proportion of Catholics believing that relations
will "be better in 5 years time" fell from 75 per cent in 1998 to 40
per cent in 2001; among Protestants, the proportion fell from 53 per
cent to 27 per cent in the same period. The proportion of
Protestants "who would prefer to live in a mixed religion
neighbourhood" fell from a 1996 peak of 81 per cent to 59 per cent
in 2001; among Catholics the proportions fell from 85 per cent in
1996 to 72 per cent in 2001. Dr Robinson says: "While initiatives
to promote cultural, religious and political pluralism are having
some positive impact at grassroots level, there are worrying
indications that Northern Ireland is in some respects becoming more
divided again. The proportion of people believing that relations
between Catholics and Protestants are deteriorating has been rising.
There has been a growth in cross-community tensions, hostility and
intimidation in recent years which reflects a polarised political
battlefield.- "People in Northern Ireland seem to be reflecting the
starkly drawn identities and incompatible constitutional demands
being presented by their political leaders. While it is still
important to emphasise that majorities of both Protestants and
Catholics still prefer mixed religion neighbourhoods and workplaces,
there is an increasing tendency to retreat into single identity
environments after the short-lived optimism of the mid-nineties."
### For further information on the conference, Devolution in
Northern Ireland: Records and Prospects please contact Peter Sharpe
at ESRC Devolution Programme, University of Birmingham on
121-414-2991 or email p.a.sharpe@bham.ac.uk. Dr Roger Mac Ginty can
be contacted at the University of York on 190-443-2644 or via email
at rm17@york.ac.uk. Robin Wilson can be contacted at Democratic
Dialogue on 289-022-0050 or email robin@democraticdialogue.org. Dr
Gillian Robinson can be contacted at ARK, the University of Ulster
on 287-137-5502 or email GM.Robinson@ulster.ac.uk. Or Iain Stewart
at the ESRC on 179-341-3032 NOTES TO EDITORS 1. The conference
Devolution in Northern Ireland: Records and Prospects will take
place at the Stormont Hotel, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast from
09.15 to 17.30 on Tuesday 4 March 2003. It is part of the Economic
and Social Research Council Devolution Programme. More details about
the programme are at www.devolution.ac.uk. 2. The full findings are
in the following papers: A breathing space for devolution? Public
attitudes to constitutional issues in a devolved Northern Ireland by
Roger Mac Ginty (Dept of Politics, University of York). Northern
Ireland: a route to stability? by Robin Wilson (Democratic Dialogue)
and Prof. Rick Wilford (Queen's University Belfast). Community
Relations in Northern Ireland: The Long View by Joanne Hughes,
Caitlin Donnelly, Gillian Robinson and Lizanne Dowds (University of
Ulster). This research is funded by the Office of the First
Minister/Office of the Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland.
Copies of the full research reports may be found
atwww.devolution.ac.uk. 3. Tables of results from the Northern
Ireland Life and Times survey are available online at
www.ark.ac.uk/nilt. 4. The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency
for research and postgraduate training relating to social and
economic issues. It provides independent, high-quality, relevant
research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC
invests more than £76 million every year in social science and at
any time is supporting some 2,000 researchers in academic
institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds
postgraduate training within the social sciences to nurture the
researchers of tomorrow. -More at http://www.esrc.ac.uk 5. REGARD
is the ESRC's database of research. It provides a key source of
information on ESRC social science research awards and all
associated publications and products. The website can be found at
http://www.regard.ac.uk. |
