New data protection regulations take effect on 25 May 2018. Keeping your personal data safe is important to us, and we have updated our Privacy Policy. You can find this on our website.

We really hope that you still want to stay in touch, and receive information about ARK-related newsletters, events and publications. If so, you don't need to do anything.

However, if you would prefer to be removed from our mailing list at any time, please email us.

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Around 580 documents from 1988 to 1990, have been added to CAIN as part of ongoing work with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

These provide a valuable insight into the workings of the Anglo-Irish Agreement after 1985, as well as an opportunity to view some of the discussions taking place around issues such as fair employment, the Irish language, and political and security matters.

In addition, the material begins to chart the period leading up to the Brooke/Mayhew talks of 1991-92.

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An event in Queen's University on 23rd May marked the launch of results from the 2017 Young Life and Times (YLT) survey of 16 year olds, and the 2017 Kids' Life and Times (KLT) survey of 10-11 year olds.


These surveys ask children and young people about their opinions on key issues that affect their lives, including Shared Education, volunteering, and policing. Tables of results, questionnaires, technical reports, publications and datasets are all now available on the YLT and KLT websites.  

On 13 June, the seminar Public attitudes to Armed Forces will launch the results of the 2017 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey. Professor Cherie Armour and Dr Bethany Waterhouse-Bradley (Ulster University) will report on on the first ever survey of public attitudes to armed forces veterans conducted in Northern Ireland.

The event will take place in Skainos Centre, Newtownards Road, Belfast on 13 June. Full details on the event, including booking information, are available on the Events section of the ARK website.

The 2017 NILT survey inluded questions on attitudes to armed forces, ageism, good relations, minority ethnic groups, community safety and perceptions of paramilitary activity, and Brexit. From 13 June, tables of results, questionnaires, technical reports and the dataset will be available on the Life and Times website.

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The rights of children and young people have been at the forefront of ARK's work since its inception, and our surveys have monitored children's and young people's views and experiences at crucial status passages in their lives. In 2003, Young Life and Times (YLT) started asking 16 year olds about their opinions on key policy issues. Kids' Life and Times began in 2008, and gives younger children an opportunity to express their views.

In this latest ARK Feature Addressing Children's Rights via ARK Surveys, Dirk Schubotz and Katrina Lloyd take a retrospective look at the data to explore the awareness of children and young people of their rights over time.

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On 4th and 5th June, Alistair Wilson and Katie Hunter, from the Intergenerational Mentoring Network at the University of Strathclyde will be visiting the ARK Ageing Programme. Two events will focus on the potential of intergenerational mentoring as an approach to improve educational attainment:

• On 4th June: What works in improving educational attainment? is a seminar at Queen's University. The speakers are Liam O'Hare (CESI, Queen's University), Alistair Wilson and Katie Hunter.
• 5th June: Intergenerational approaches to educational attainment is a workshop in Newtownards, co-hosted with Linking GenerationsNI.
  
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Our latest publications include

• 'The usual suspects'? Young people's experiences of police stop and search powers in Northern Ireland (Research Update 120), John Topping and Dirk Schubotz. This report is based on data from the 2017 Young Life and Times Survey of 16 year olds.
• Addressing Children's Rights via ARK Surveys, by Dirk Schubotz and Katrina Lloyd, explores the understanding and experience of children and young people of their rights.
• What Kids Think (Issue 10) is a comic based on data from 2017 Kids' Life and Times.

ARK produces a range of publications, including Research Updates and fact sheets. Most of these are available online. For a full list of publications, as well as links, visit our Publications page.

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ARK is a joint initiative between Queen's University and Ulster University, and began in 2000. Our mission is to make social science knowledge on Northern Ireland easily accessible to the widest possible audience. Most of our dissemination is via our website at www.ark.ac.uk, which is divided into four main areas:

• Surveys
• Conflict, Politics and Elections
• Policy, Research and Resources
• Outreach, Dissemination and Training - including publications and events

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