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The uncertainties of ‘political stability’
No full textIn January 2000, less than two years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the then Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, predicted that there could be a united Ireland by 2016 – the centenary of the symbolically important Easter Rising. For leading figures within Sinn Féin, a united Ireland was the only logical outcome of the peace process. This was in stark contrast to the interpretation of unionists who believed that a period of peace, stability, and reconciliation would only serve to strengthen Northern Ireland’s political union with Great Britain. A significant problem was that neither of these political protagonists was entirely confident about their own positions on the issue, drawing attention to a key issue confronting the consociational model devised under the terms of the Agreement: although it was framed in a manner to ensure longer-term stability, many of its signatories feared the political repercussions of such stability. This chapter examines the nature of this issue by analysing the contradictions at the heart of the strategic approaches to the peace process. It interrogates key statements from political actors advocating political stability but simultaneously draws attention to developments on the ground that work to generate instability
Monitoring mechanism: commentary on Articles 66-70 of the Istanbul Convention (for second edition of book)
No full textNorthern Ireland's uncertain stability
No full textThis introductory chapter sets the parameters of the debate presented within this volume: On the one hand, the experience of consociational power-sharing in Northern Ireland is located within the context of the wave of ‘post-conflict’, externally projected political solutions to domestic challenges to territorial integrity of the state; on the other hand, attention is given to some of the normative assumptions that have been taken for granted in the scholarship focussed on the practice of bringing peace to conflict-ridden, divided societies. While recognising limited opportunities for reforming political institutional arrangements, this chapter points to the unintended consequences of consociational power-sharing for political and societal processes in the province; showing how the logics of transactional rather than goal-oriented interactions have become locked into the institutional framework. Contrariwise, this chapter identifies signs of a deeper societal transformation – likely suggesting societal change and momentum towards a more liberal democracy – that may, if appropriately acknowledged, help address the question of Northern Ireland’s uncertain stability. The complex framework presented invites further debate on what is required to create a more transformative path out of conflict in Northern Ireland and elsewhere
The importance of teaching – policy on teaching and pedagogy 2010–2024
No full textThe period from the accession of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government up to the present has seen the policy interest in teaching which was already present under the previous Labour government (e.g. the National Strategies) continue, but move in different directions. From the coalition government's first policy white paper, not coincidentally called ‘the Importance of Teaching’, to the most recent developments relating to initial teacher education (ITE) and the Early Career Framework, the view that the quality of teaching is central to student outcomes has underpinned a lot of government education policy. This chapter provides an overview of these developments, looking at continuities and ruptures in policies related to teaching between the coalition and the succession of Conservative governments which followed it, and how these in many ways reflect inherent contradictions in Conservative education policy between free-market liberalism and conservative social policy. This chapter interrogates the extent to which such policies were, as often stated, evidence based. The lens of complexity theory is used to provide a framework for analysis of the changing policy landscape in relation to teaching over this period
Gα<sub>q </sub>signalling from endosomes: a new conundrum
No full textG-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of membrane receptors, and are involved in the transmission of a variety of extracellular stimuli such as hormones, neurotransmitters, light and odorants into intracellular responses. They regulate every aspect of physiology and, for this reason, about one third of all marketed drugs target these receptors. Classically, upon binding to their agonist, GPCRs are thought to activate G-proteins from the plasma membrane and to stop signalling by subsequent desensitisation and endocytosis. However, accumulating evidence indicates that, upon internalisation, some GPCRs can continue to activate G-proteins in endosomes. Importantly, this signalling from endomembranes mediates alternative cellular responses other than signalling at the plasma membrane. Endosomal G-protein signalling and its physiological relevance have been abundantly documented for Gαs- and Gαi-coupled receptors. Recently, some Gαq-coupled receptors have been reported to activate Gαq on endosomes and mediate important cellular processes. However, several questions relative to the series of cellular events required to translate endosomal Gαq activation into cellular responses remain unanswered and constitute a new conundrum. How are these responses in endosomes mediated in the quasi absence of the substrate for the canonical Gαq-activated effector? Is there another effector? Is there another substrate? If so, how does this alternative endosomal effector or substrate produce a downstream signal? This review aims to unravel and discuss these important questions, and proposes possible routes of investigation.<br/
Tree ring-width data Drumclay alder chronology
No full textThis data consists of the tree-ring measurements from alder timbers from Drumclay crannog, Co. Fermanagh. Between 2012 and 2013 an archaeological excavation was carried out which revealed almost 7 m of vertical archaeological stratigraphy. A large quantity of wood samples were retrieved from these waterlogged deposits. This data consists of the tree-ring measurements that were used to build an alder chronology for this early medieval site. Each file contains ring-width data from a sample or samples from archaeological contexts from Drumclay crannog. The contexts are signified as CXXXX while the samples appear as QXXXXXX. This data was collected and produced between 2017 and 2020 using a Nikon SMZ800 stereoscopic zoom microscope and TSAPWin software (Rinn 2003). Note that this data was conducted as part of a PhD entitled "Drumclay: a tree-ring dated narrative for an Irish crannog." This dataset record is connected to the corresponding e-thesis record here in Queen's Research Portal. The dataset is embargoed until 1 July 2027
Going with the flow: internal floor drains in Middle-Late Bronze Age roundhouses from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales suggest links with Orkney
No full textThis paper examines a unique group of Middle-Late Bronze Age dwellings discovered at Navidale (Scotland), Drumyochre (Scotland), Ballyprior Beg (Ireland), Mellteyrn Uchaf (Wales) and Arfryn (Wales) which date to c.1450-1050BC and feature engineered internal drainage systems, paved interiors, exterior courtyards/patios, and walls of solid stone or clay cores. Acknowledged by their respective excavators, their larger context and stylistic relationship to other contemporary sites has not yet been explored. Comparison with the Brae of Smerquoy in Orkney offers a possible explanation for the origin of their architecture, pointing to links with Orkney. Critical examination of the layout of the internal drains and their proximities to pits and shallow depressions in the dwellings, as well as reviews of the organic materials and artefactual assemblage, may indicate the drains were used to carry household waste generated from cooking, stone tool making, and repair. These dwellings were unique in each settlement context and produced the majority of pottery and animal bones, implying they likely served as a centralized social area for cooking, food preparation, socializing and/or eating. The presence of thoughtfully engineered and constructed dwellings with stone drains, paved floors, and paved intermural spaces attests to a more complex architectural tradition than has been previously identified during the Bronze Age in Northern Europe, disproving the idea that Bronze Age domestic architecture in Ireland and Northern Britain lacked diversification and complexity
The evolving nature of EU conditionality: from Copenhagen to ‘fundamentals first’
No full textConditionality is a central feature of the European Union’s merit-based enlargement process. The range of criteria that the EU uses to determine whether applicant states may be admitted has expanded and over time the EU has provided more detail on what is required of applicants. Accompanying this has been an increasing emphasis in accession negotiations on ensuring the fundamental values of the EU are being respected. It has been most recently reflected in a ‘new enlargement methodology’ and in the expansion of negative conditionality mechanisms into the accession process
Smith v Ministry of Defence [2013] UKSC 41. Judgecraft and lawfare: The Supreme Court in Smith and Al-Waheed
No full textThis chapter considers, and critiques, the cases of Smith v Ministry of Defence [2013] UKSC 41 and Al-Waheed v Ministry of Defence [2017] UKSC 2. It explains the respective rulings, how they relate to judgecraft and lawfare, and how the two cases are to be positioned amongst the Court’s caselaw canon