The CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) website is a vital source of information and material on 'the Troubles' and politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present.

One event highlighted in CAIN is the last general election held for the Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont. The 24th February 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of this election.

On the 9th December 1968, Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland Prime Minister, made a television appeal which became known as the 'Ulster stands at the Crossroads' speech. The Ulster Unionist Party's manifesto was also entitled 'Ulster at the Crossroads'.



The result of the election turned out to a crossroads for unionism. Although the Unionist Party received 48.2 per cent of the vote, this was split between Pro-O'Neill candidates (27.6%) and Anti-O'Neill candidates (20.6%). O'Neill eventually resigned on 28th April 1969 to be replaced by James Chichester-Clark.

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This new project will look at the potential of gender budgeting to enhance equality analysis in Northern Ireland. This will involve empirical research with a range of stakeholders in Northern Ireland, use economic modelling to help determine the impact of gender budgeting and draw on lessons from international experiences.

Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation, the project is a collaboration between ARK, the Ulster Business School and the NI Women's Budget Group. We are currently recruiting a researcher for this work (deadline 22 February 2019). For more details see https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BQB900/research-associate

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In 2017, we launched our first Reel Life Data Project, which asked people to make a film based on some of our survey data on LGB issues. Two of these films are available on our website.

We are very pleased to be running the project again this year, focusing on attitudes to different communities living in Northern Ireland ('good relations').

The challenge is to present relevant statistics from the Life and Times survey in an interesting way. It doesn't have to be a documentary - the more creative the better! And remember, you can use your smart phone to make a film - you don't need any sophisticated equipment. Films must be a maximum of 3 minutes long.

If you're up for this challenge, please send us a completed film outline form by 15 March. You can find this form, as well as full details about the project on our website.

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Surveys are a useful way of recording public attitudes to a range of social policy and other issues. However, there is often confusion about some of the terms used in survey research. Therefore, we are publishing a series of short methodological papers as part of our ARK Features series, using examples from our three surveys (Northern Ireland Life & Times, Young Life & Times, and Kids' Life & Times).

Two papers have been published so far:

• Surveys and polls: How does the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey differ from opinion polls?, by Gillian Robinson
• How do cross-sectional surveys differ from longitudinal surveys?, by Paula Devine and Katrina Lloyd

ARK produces a range of publications in different formats for public, policy and academic audiences. For a full list of our publications, visit the Publications section of our website.

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This one-day event will present key findings of an ESRC-funded study which explores public attitudes in Northern Ireland to abortion. This project also compares the experiences of women here who take abortion pills obtained via the internet with those of women in Scotland who take the same pills via the NHS.

In the morning session, speakers will report on research findings. In the afternoon session, a panel of policy makers will respond to the research findings.

The event will be held on Friday 8th March at Belfast Campus of Ulster University, York Street from 10 am to 3pm. Tea/coffee will be available at 9.30. The event is free. Places are limited, and must be booked in advance via Eventbrite.

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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