The Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey has been recording public attitudes to social and political issues since 1998. In its first year, participants were asked to identify their priorities for the newly-formed Northern Ireland Assembly. In this seminar, Katy Hayward and Ben Rosher (Queen’s University Belfast) used 25 years of data to assess how much progress has been made on these priorities and to identify key points of continuity and change in political attitudes, identities and expectations since then.

This seminar marked the launch of the findings of the 2022 Northern Ireland Life and Times survey as well as the launch of an ARK/Conflict Textiles exhibition in the McClay Library, Queen's University. The arpilleras reveal, via textile language, key issues on identity and society in Northern Ireland.