Gemma Carney and Ann Marie Gray are working with Bronagh Byrne (Centre for Children's Rights at Queen's University Belfast) and Stephanie Maguire on an ESRC-funded COVID-19 Rapid Response project analysing the representation of vulnerable groups in the media during the pandemic.

The first publication is Caged and Forgotten - a Research Update exploring older people's letters to the editors during lockdown. In addition, the team have produced a number of blog posts: How the pandemic is further alienating the disabled community and Human rights, age discrimination and a global pandemic. They are currently working with Age Platform Europe on a campaign to improve public understanding of what it means to be vulnerable during a pandemic.

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In a new ARK Feature - What now for Social CAre? - Ann Marie Gray outlines the key issues relating to social care that have been brought to the fore by the COVID pandemic. A clear picture has emerged of social care systems under significant pressure and a workforce struggling to cope. But many of these problems are not new; the pandemic has just brought to public attention serious problems resulting from years of under funding and political neglect.

A video highlighting the key points of the publication is also available.

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Gemma Carney is co-author of a new book 'Critical Questions for Ageing Societies', with Paul Nash (University of Southern California). This myth-busting and question-focused textbook tackles the fascinating and important social and policy issues posed by the challenges and opportunities of ageing. The book is published by Policy Press.

A virtual event to launch the book will take place on 1 October at 4pm. To register for this event, click here.

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In each of our newsletters throughout this year, we will highlight previous research or events that ARK has carried out since 2000, in order to mark our 20th anniversary.

Are children getting the opportunities to realise their right to play? was published in 2015. Written by Laura McQuade, Susan Kehoe and Lesley Emerson, this Research Update uses data from the 2013 Kids' Life and Times survey. It highlighted that play is an entitlement of childhood that is enshrined within Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

During the past 6 months, many of these issues have come to the fore, as COVID restrictions have had a major impact on children's opportunities to play or socialise with their friends.



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A batch of 960 documents, covering events related to Northern Ireland over the period 1986-88, have just been added to Conflict Archive on the INternet (CAIN) as part of an ongoing partnership with the National Archives of Ireland.

The newly released material covers a wide range of topics: the workings of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in its initial phase in relation to various political, legal and security matters; how the governments in Dublin and London sought to manage their relationship in the face of challenging issues such as the extradition of those suspected of terrorist offences or the high profile cases of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four; as well as the immediate aftermath of some major events of the Troubles, such as the Enniskillen Bomb in November 1987 and the aftermath of the killings in Gibraltar in March 1988.

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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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