Our Lives in the North

The received wisdom is that life is less expensive in the North. But after a tumultuous few years featuring Brexit, the pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis, how has that hit the pockets of people in NI? And how does it all compare to the Republic?

From a tiny base, ethnic minorities in the North have been growing. The dominant narrative has been one of two communities, with people divided along nationalist and unionist lines. What’s it like to live in a society where you don’t fit into those boxes?

The North is experiencing a housing shortage, with rising rents, growing social housing waiting lists and housebuilding at a 60 year low. Should the North look to the housing crisis in the South as a lesson in what not to do?

One young man describes his experience of living in a community still controlled by paramilitaries.

The school system in the north is often labelled as segregated and divisive. Less than 8% of children go to integrated schools, where there is an intentional mix of children from a Catholic and Protestant background. Yet surveys show two thirds of people in the north are open to integrated education. Why has growth been slow?

The NHS in the North is ‘at crisis point’, with patients waiting for nearly half a million hospital appointments. Healthcare is a key part of the debate about the future of the island, but does the ‘free’ service in the North still exist?

In Our Lives in the North, Una Kelly looks behind the flags and the politics of Northern Ireland, to explore real life north of the border.