The 2022 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey recorded the attitudes of 1,405 people living across Northern Ireland to key social issues, including political attitudes and identity, palliative care, criminal justice system, and good relations. Results from all questions, as well as the questionnaire, dataset, technical report and publications are now available on the NILT website.

The video and slides from the NILT launch event are now available on the ARK website

Find out more  

We are pleased to announce that the much-awaited Joint 2023 YLT (Young Life and Times Survey) and KLT (Kids' Life and Times Survey) Results Launch will take place on the 5th of September. The event is scheduled to occur from 16:00 to 17:30 and will be held at the prestigious Canada Room/Council Chambers located at Queen's University Belfast. Please click here to register

Find out more  

A Policy Brief on Assessing Demand for Integrated Education in Northern Ireland is now available. There is a a complex education system in Northern Ireland, and a variety of methods are currently used to assess demand. The Policy Brief provides recommendations for better assessment of demand, as well as highlighting the need to involved children and young people.

Find out more  

A new report by Julie Harris, Ann Marie Gray and Rosie Cowan looks at the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic and related public health measures on people who use drugs in Northern Ireland, their families and service providers. Funded by the Northern Ireland Alcohol and Drug Alliance (NIADA), the project included surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with service providers, clients, and their families. The project team also provide recommendations for future policy and service delivery. The executive summary and full report are available on the ARK website.

Find out more  

Following the success of Critical Questions for Ageing Societies, Gemma Carney represented ARK and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California (USC) from April to May 2023. During the visit, Gemma highlighted the work of the ARK Ageing programme, and the Dementia in the Minds of Characters and Readers project. This visit marks the first step towards building a strategic alliance between QUB and USC.

Gerontology students from USC will be coming to QUB for a summer school in July 26-30 2023.  

Gemma Carney teamed up with Trish McTighe and Shonagh Hill, Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University Belfast to host a symposium entitled Critical Domesticities Symposium: Retro & Hetero with the Housewife of the Year (1968-1995) on May 26-27, 2023.  

Men's Health Week 2023 took place from 12 June to 18 June. In 2020, ARK was commissioned by the Men's Health Forum in Ireland to undertake the Men's Health in Numbers project. The aim was to collate key statistics on men's health on the island of Ireland. The outputs of the report include Men's Health in Numbers: Trends on the Island of Ireland, Northern Ireland Men's Health Report Card 2021, and the Irish Men's Health Report Card. Further details, including links to the reports can be found on the Men's Health in Numbers project page.

Find out more  

We welcome Emily Roberts to ARK for her six-week placement. As a 2nd year Health and Social Care Policy student at Ulster University, she aspires to pursue a career in policy and research, focusing on secondary education in Northern Ireland. She's keen to explore how education responds and deals with contemporary issues facing young people. We hope Emily's placement at ARK provides the opportunity to expand her knowledge and understanding of the research field.  

Subscribe to ARK, the social policy hub in Northern Ireland, on YouTube (@ARKNIinfo) for valuable insights and updates on the latest developments in the field. Join our community and be a part of the conversation shaping social policies for a better future!  

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

Find out more