Contributor:

Professor Graham Walker

Talk title:

Northern Ireland: the first example of UK devolution

Talk Synopsis:

This talk explores the practical outworking of the Government of Ireland Act (1920), focussing on the experience of the new devolved administration in Belfast and its relationship with Westminster. It looks at the arrangements that were put in place to deal with welfare and security costs in Northern Ireland and the development of a ‘step by step’ policy of alignment with the rest of the UK in areas such as welfare benefits. It describes the effect of discrimination on community relations and politics in Northern Ireland and some of the changes brought about by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. And it concludes by suggesting that London’s ‘devolve and forget’ approach to Stormont finds its echo in current relationships with Scotland and Wales and that there remains much in Northern Ireland’s experience of devolution that has ‘great significance for students of UK politics today.’

Short Biography:

Graham Walker is Professor of Political History at Queen's University Belfast.

Further Reading:

Northern Ireland 1921 - 2001: Political Power and Social Classes – Paul Bew, Peter Gibbon & Henry Patterson