Northern Ireland: how can power-sharing be revived? - The State of the Constitution: Constitution Unit Conference 2022

The Constitution Unit

Northern Ireland finds itself again without a functioning Executive or Assembly. All mainstream voices agree that the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement offers the only viable framework for politics in Northern Ireland in the coming years, but the risk of breakdown is severe. How can Northern Ireland’s power-sharing arrangements be restored in the coming months? How far are solutions to be found in changes to the Protocol or to the 1998 Agreement? And what role should the government in London play in seeking a healthy outcome?

Speakers

Julian Smith MP – Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Dr Mary Murphy – Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork
Dr Clare Rice – Research Associate, Department of Politics, University of Liverpool
Alan Whysall – Honorary Senior Research Associate at the Constitution Unit and former civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office

Chair: Professor Alan Renwick – Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit, UCL