Devolution in Northern Ireland:
Record and Prospects
A one day conference of the ESRC research programme on
Devolution and Constitutional Change

4 March 2003, Stormont Hotel, Belfast

Of the 35 projects the ESRC is funding in the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme around 15 deal with Northern Ireland. In order to present some of the research underway and to feed research findings into policy debates the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme held a conference on the theme 'Devolution in Northern Ireland: Record and Prospects' on 4 March, 2003.

At a time when the future of devolution in Northern Ireland is uncertain this conference provided a major forum for debate among politicians, opinion formers and academics on what devolution has delivered (or failed to deliver) in Northern Ireland so far and on options and possibilities for the future.

The conference was held at the Stormont Hotel. Among the audience were representatives from politics and policy-making, the civil service, the media and the researchers involved in the Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme.

Four Policy Papers published by the ESRC Devolution and Constiutional Change Programme were launched at the conference. The papers deal with the record of devolution in Northern Ireland and the prospects for its successful relaunch.

The subjects of papers are:

The Review of Public Administration: Democracy beyond the Northern Ireland Assembly: The Review of Public Administration

Community relations: Community Relations in Northern Ireland: The Long View

Public attitudes to devolution: A Breathing Space for Devolution: Public Attitudes to Constitutional Issues in a Devolved Northern Ireland

Proposals for reform to the devolution settlement in Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland: A Route to Stability?

Click here to view a PDF file of the provisional conference programme