The ARK site contains a wealth of information on the key social and political issues in Northern Ireland. To mark LGBT History Month, here is a small selection of relevant ARK resources.

Historical documents
For papers related to the Jeffrey Dudgeon case at the European Court of Human Rights in October 1981, on the issue of Northern Ireland law on homosexuality, see PRONI Records on CAIN. Other items relating to this case can be accessed via a visit to PRONI.

Survey data

• The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey included modules on LGBT issues in 2012 and 2013, and in previous years.
• The Young Life and Times (YLT) survey of 16 year olds has explored sexual orientation and identity

Publications

• Public attitudes towards LGB equality, by Nicola Carr, Paula Devine, Siobhan McAlister, and Gail Neill (Research Update 106) uses data from the 2013 Life and Times Survey
• Queering the Family: Attitudes towards Lesbian and Gay Relationships and Families in Northern Ireland, by Siobhan McAlister, Nicola Carr and Gail Neill (Research Update 89) is based on data from the 2012 Life and Times Survey
• Attitudes towards Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People in Northern Ireland, by Neil Jarman (Research Update 66) is based on data from the 2005-2008 Life and Times Surveys.
• The Policy Brief Moving towards a Sexual Orientation Strategy for Northern Ireland, by Ann Marie Gray, Goretti Horgan and Amanda Leighton, is based on a round table event held by the ARK Policy Unit in 2013.

 

The fieldwork for the 2016 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT), Young Life and Times (YLT), and Kids' Life and Times (KLT) surveys is now complete. The results of the YLT and KLT surveys will be available online from 11 May 2017. The results of the NILT survey will be publicly available in mid-June.

Save the date! We are holding our annual seminar to launch the YLT and KLT survey results on 10 May 2017 (13.30-15.30) in the Canada Room at Queen's University Belfast. Full details will be available in the next ARK newsletter.  

ARK is now inviting Expressions of interest for the 2017 survey of 16 year olds (Young Life and Times) and the 2017 survey of 10/11 year olds (Kids' Life and Times). Fieldwork for both surveys will take place in the autumn of 2017. The costs for the inclusion of questions are normally calculated on a modular basis. However, specific requests can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

If you would like to discuss how to fund or commission some questions, please get in touch with Dirk Schubotz (Young Life and Times) or Katrina Lloyd (Kids' Life and Times)

Find out more  

From 15 February, we welcome Christine Wiezorek (Institute of Education, Justus Liebig University, Giessen) as a visiting Professor. Professor Wiezorek specialises in the pedagogy of youth. Her research has explored attitudes to migration, xenophobia and hate crime among young people, pedagogical interventions to tackle stereotyping, youth culture more generally, and the impact of parent-school relationships on young people's educational outcomes and attitudes.

Prof Wiezorek will be spending 7 weeks at the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen's University where she will be working with the ARK team, especially those involved in YLT and KLT, to explore options for international collaborations.  

If you're looking for the results of an election that took place in Northern Ireland since 1973, Northern Ireland Elections is the site to visit. The site is maintained by Nicholas Whyte, and contains information on local government, Assembly, Westminster and European elections.

Most recently, the site contains results of the Northern Ireland Assembly election held in May 2016. At that time, 108 MLAs were elected. In the forthcoming election on 2 March, only 90 MLAs will be elected. All results of the 2017 election will be available on the site as soon as possible.

Find out more