ARK HOSTS 'IS THE UK STRONGER OR WEAKER AFTER 20 YEARS OF DEVOLUTION' SEMINAR 
20 February 2020
The first of a series of events to mark the 20th anniversary of ARK – a seminar entitled 'Is the UK stronger or weaker after 20 years of devolution' – recently took place at Riddel Hall at Queen’s (19 February).
ARK is Northern Ireland’s social policy hub and a joint project between Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, established in 2000. Its primary goal is to increase the accessibility and use of academic data and research.
The guest speakers were Professor Sir John Curtice, from the University of Strathclyde, and Dr Katy Hayward, from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s. The event was chaired by BBC Ireland Correspondent, Emma Vardy.
The introduction of devolution across the UK has been far from a smooth process. During the seminar, Professor Curtice discussed how the constitutional preferences and sense of national identity of people living in Great Britain have evolved since the advent of devolution in 1999.
He also considered if the last 20 years had witnessed a strengthening or a weakening of the foundations upon which the devolution settlement now rests.
Dr Hayward explored the changing patterns of devolution and identity in Northern Ireland during this period.
The ARK team is based across the campuses of Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast.
ARK provides robust and independent evidence, which forms the basis for critical policy debate and informed policy making. Researchers, policymakers, journalists, community and other voluntary groups, schoolchildren and their teachers are all users of ARK.
Professor Curtice writes for What UK Thinks – a non-partisan website providing information on UK attitudes to the EU before and since the EU Referendum.
Dr Hayward has over twenty years’ research experience on the impact of the EU on the Irish border and peace process. She is an Eisenhower Fellow (2019) and a Fellow in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen's.
For more information on ARK, please visit: https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/
Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty at Queen's Communications Office on telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 3259.
Pictured above are (L-R): Dr Paula Devine, Co-Director of ARK and Queen’s University Belfast; Professor Paul Carmichael, Ulster University; Dr Katy Hayward, Queen’s University Belfast; Professor Sir John Curtice, University of Strathclyde; Emma Vardy, Chair and BBC Ireland Correspondent; Professor Richard English, Queen’s University Belfast; and Professor Ann Marie Gray, Co-Director of ARK and Ulster University.
Back to Main News
Top of Page