The ARK team will be taking a break over the next two weeks, and returning on 3rd January. In the meantime, we hope that you all have a very happy, safe and peaceful Christmas season.  

Almost 250 documents relating to 1999 and earlier years have been added to the CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) website as part of ongoing work involving the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and Ulster University.

The new material, which until now has not been accessible to the public online, provides insight into key events and developments of this period. It includes:

• The changing nature of politics in Northern Ireland at the end of the 1990s
• The negotiations aimed at establishing the new political bodies and institutions envisaged under the Good Friday Agreement / Belfast Agreement which had been signed in April 1998
• The parading issue and in particular events surrounding Drumcree in the summer of 1998

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In the 25 years since devolution passed to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, key differences have emerged in the way that the UK's four systems are grappling with how to meet the growing need for care within the context of stretched budgets and a shrinking workforce.

In this talk, Professor Catherine Needham (University of Birmingham, School of Social Policy) will present findings from a new book Social Care in the UK's Four Nations - between two paradigms to explore differences between jurisdictions, and what impact the differences are having. Drawing on extensive interviews with national and local policy makers across the UK, the research raises vital questions about the role of 'standardisation' and 'differentiation' as approaches to solving the social care crisis.

The event will take place on Wednesday 31 January 2024, 3pm to 4.30pm, in The Lab (6th Floor) Mac Theatre,10 Exchange Street West, Belfast, BT1 2NJ. Refreshments will be served from 2.30. The event is free, but places must be booked in advance - please click here.

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Understanding What, Why and How: A Gender Budgeting Training Pilot Evaluation Report focuses on the impact of gender budget training with participants from civil society organisations in Northern Ireland. Working with partners in the NI Women's Budget Group, researchers at Ulster University delivered the first training course on gender budgeting in Northern Ireland. Baseline and endline surveys were conducted to obtain quantitative data about the impact of the training on participants' knowledge and understanding of gender budgeting and how it works. Qualitative data was also collected. A working paper on the impact of the training is available.

This work is part of a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust - Tackling Gender Inequalities and Promoting Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: the Role of Gender Budgeting.

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ARK is Northern Ireland's social policy hub. Established in 2000 by researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, its primary goal is to increase the accessibility and use of academic data and research. Most of our dissemination is via our website at www.ark.ac.uk, which is divided into five main areas:

• Surveys
• Projects
• Resources
• Publications
• Events

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