Island of Ireland Contemporary History and Politics Network
University of Bath: Sophie Whiting, Jennifer Thomson
University of Bristol: Neil Matthews
Cardiff University: Thomas Leahy (PI), Huw Bennett, Jonathan Kirkup, Giada Lagana, Eleanor Williams
University of Exeter: Henry Jarrett
Project Summary
The community wants to inform new collaborative research and provide media expertise on two broad questions in contemporary politics and history on the island of Ireland:
-How have we got to this current political situation and why?
-Where might the current political situation go and why?
The Development Award will fund five meetings (seminars and sandpits), to bring together GW4 colleagues and discuss different themes around these two questions. The discussions will identify research gaps, collaborative research opportunities and potential public and political engagement opportunities. The community anticipate these discussions will generate journal articles and external funding applications, as well as contributing to different public engagement activities. In particular the community will create a website and a Twitter account to publicise the network; will contribute to the ESRC Festival of Social Science events; create podcasts; and engage with policymakers via select committee calls for evidence. The activities will raise the profile of the community, showcasing their expertise as being at the forefront of academic and public discussion on Northern Irish and Irish politics and putting them in a strong position when seeking external funding.
