THE JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No. 3
with information about the CENTRE FOR CROSS BORDER STUDIES (including 2007 annual report)
Spring 2008 - Year 9
£7/f10
JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
THE JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND
Cover photo: from ‘The Forest’ by Paul Seawright, first exhibited at Hasselblad Gallery/Museum of Fine Art, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2001 – courtesy of the artist.
The Centre for Cross Border Studies receives financial support from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation
1 ISBN: 978-1-906444-19-8 JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Peter Hain MP, launches the 2007 ‘Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland’. From left to right: Mr Andy Pollak, CCBS Director; Ms Mary Bunting, North/South Ministerial Council Joint Secretary; Dr Chris Gibson, CCBS Chairman; Mr Hain; Professor Ferdinand Von Prondzynski, President, Dublin City University. CONTENTS
A word from the Chairman 04 Chris Gibson
The Trade Unions and North-South Cooperation: Time for a Rethink? 08 Andy Pollak
Towards a new Tourism Brand for the Island of Ireland 26 Maureen Gaffney and Trevor Ringland
Lessons from an Institute for Cross-Border Cooperation on the 38 Franco-German Border Joachim Beck
SCoTENS: How Teacher Educators took the lead in 50 North-South Cooperation John Coolahan
Surveying the Sickbeds: Initial Steps towards Modelling 66 All-Island Hospital Accessibility Ronan Foley, Martin Charlton and Patricia Clarke
Tough Love: Local Cross-Border Cooperation faces the 80 Challenge of Sustainability Caroline Creamer, Neale Blair, Brendan O’Keefe, Chris Van Egeraat and John Driscoll
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR CROSS BORDER STUDIES 96
Extracts from the Centre’s 2006-2007 Financial Statements 128
Contact details 131
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A Word from the Chairman – Chris Gibson OBE
March 2008 July having taken place in an atmosphere of cordiality and pragmatism? Some 35 years ago I went to work in The Centre for Cross Border Studies has Dublin for a large and is continuing to play its part in British company and these moves towards good over the next two neighbourliness and cooperation for decades witnessed mutual benefit. Whether it is training the remarkable civil servants in cross-border changes which the cooperation, creating a website with Republic of Ireland information for cross-border commuters, underwent during that period. joining with the IBEC-CBI Joint Business Returning to work in Northern Ireland Council to provide cross-border for an Irish company in 1993, I have scholarships, or bringing the universities been privileged once again to on the island together to work on participate in and witness the development cooperation in Africa, the extraordinary changes of a society Centre is at the forefront of new ideas learning to live with itself and in the and innovative ways of doing things on changing world around it. a North-South basis. The plaudits for its work have continued to flow from the The past year has seen a great leap British and Irish Governments, and from forward in that ongoing change. Even Ministers of the new Executive. Its 12 short months ago, who would have appropriately-named A Note from the believed that in that period Ian Paisley Next Door Neighbours monthly and Martin McGuinness would sit down e-bulletin is now received by over in government together and within a 6,000 subscribers. few months would be getting on so famously that they would be dubbed For in many ways the neighbourly and the ‘chuckle brothers’? Or that First businesslike ethos of the past 10 Minister Ian Paisley would greet months had been anticipated by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin, and Centre. In the words emblazoned across then at the Battle of the Boyne site, its www.crossborder.ie website (one of with a warm handshake? Or that the three major websites it now runs), it is North/South Ministerial Council would about ‘generating real benefits through have resumed with 11 out of the 12 practical cross-border cooperation in sectoral meetings planned since last Ireland.’ In October 2007, launching a
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book of essays from the North/South Centre joined with the Joint Business and Cross-Border Public Sector Training Council of IBEC and CBI to launch an Programme – which the Centre expanded North-South scholarship organises along with Cooperation scheme to support eight undergraduates Ireland and the Chartered Institute for to do postgraduate study at a university Public Finance and Accountancy – the in the other jurisdiction. Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said: “Practical North-South Again under the auspices of Universities cooperation for mutual benefit is one of Ireland, it led a consortium of all nine the cornerstones of both the Belfast and Irish universities and four universities in St Andrews Agreements. In this context, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and what these young public servants are Mozambique in a successful application doing is truly pioneering. Here is the to the Irish Higher Education Authority pith and substance of what good and the Irish Government’s Irish Aid government is meant to be about. development cooperation agency to These essays all outline fresh new ideas, work with the African universities to clearly laid out, about how practical help build their research capacity in cross-border and all-island cooperation health, education, ICT and gender. This can make a real difference to improving is being launched by President Mary the lives of the people of Ireland and McAleese at the start of a high-level Northern Ireland.” workshop – bringing together presidents, vice-chancellors, heads of The Centre has broken new ground in research and other senior officials from several areas over the past year. It was all these universities – in Dublin City commissioned by the North/South University on 8 April. Ministerial Council to create – with technical assistance from the Northern In its Immigration Emigration Racism Ireland Department of Finance and and Sectarianism Schools Project, the Personnel’s web design team – a new Centre has touched on one of the website (www.crossbordermobility.info) burning issues of this and every other to help people who want to cross the European country: migration. Children border to live, work, study or retire with aged 9-14 in primary and lower everyday information about taxation, secondary schools in the border region social benefits, housing, education, have been brought together (with EU qualifications and other useful areas. Peace funding) to learn that since every This was launched in October by the family on the island has a migrant Northern Ireland First and Deputy First somewhere in their past or present, Ministers, Ian Paisley and Martin racism and prejudice against the McGuinness, and Irish Foreign Minister ‘newcomers’ who have come to enrich Dermot Ahern. our economies and societies in recent years are a form of self-hatred and Wearing its Universities Ireland hat, the self-harm.
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The Centre’s other associated Minister, Pierre Mauroy (now organisations – the Standing Conference chairman of MOT) at an on Teacher Education North and South 850-delegate conference in (SCoTENS) and the International Centre Lille in November 2007 to for Local and Regional Development launch EUROMOT, an (ICLRD) – have also gone from strength ambitious pan-European to strength, organising three network of local authorities international conferences and stretching from Portugal to supporting 15 research projects Russia. The Centre has between them. been included as a technical expert in MOT’s application for Members of the Centre’s staff have EU INTERREG IV funding to develop been commissioned to do research in this network. areas as different as cross-border GP out of hours services, trade unions’ A leading official from EUREGIO (along involvement in North-South with the Spanish Secretary-General of cooperation, the cross-border exchange the Association of European Border of student teachers and cross-border Regions) will speak at a conference postgraduate flows. On 21 February the being organised by the Centre (along Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, launched a new with Cooperation Ireland) in Dundalk on book on cross border cooperation in the 12-13 June on lessons other European past decade – Crossing the Border: New border regions can learn from the Relationships between Northern Ireland North-South ‘Strand Two’ of the and the Republic of Ireland – three of Northern Irish peace process. whose 13 chapters had been contributed by CCBS or former CCBS There is a new Scottish dimension as staff members. Truly it can be said that well. On 15 May the Centre will join the Centre for Cross Border Studies has with the University of Stirling to never been busier. organise a conference in Belfast (to be opened by Minister of Finance and In addition, the Centre has started to Personnel, Peter Robinson) for senior develop a wider, European dimension. politicians, bankers, investment Visits were made to two of the most specialists, economists and others on important cross-border organisations in financial services in the ‘Celtic Rim’ the EU, the French government’s cross- countries: Scotland, Northern Ireland border co-operation agency Mission and Ireland. This is a development of a Opérationelle Transfrontalière (MOT) and highly-regarded series that the University the continent’s longest-established and of Stirling has been running for over 40 exemplary cross-border regional years in Scotland. network, the Gronau-based Dutch- German EUREGIO. Director Andy Pollak ******************************* spoke alongside former French Prime There are many people, including those
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in the Centre, who work diligently to the Irish Department of the improve relations between people on Environment, Heritage and Local this island. The Centre must thank those Government and the International Fund EU programmes, government agencies for Ireland. and other organisations which have funded its activities in the past year. We are also grateful for the various Once again the Special EU Programmes other organisations which have Body and its Peace Two (Extension) partnered the Centre over the past 12 programme and the Irish Department of months: notably the North/South Education and Science have been its Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat, the major funders. Financial support has Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, the also been forthcoming from the EU Chartered Institute of Public Finance and INTERREG programme and the Nuffield Accountancy (CIPFA), Cooperation Foundation. In addition, the Centre has Ireland, Mission Opérationelle once again been active bidding Transfrontalière, Armagh Observatory, competitively (and usually successfully) the nine universities, the nine colleges for research projects advertised on the of education and thirty other open market. Financial support for the institutional subscribers to SCoTENS, Centre’s associated organisations – and the institutions which make up the Universities Ireland, the Standing International Centre for Local and Conference on Teacher Education North Regional Development. and South (SCOTENS) and the International Centre for Local and We must also thank our advertisers in Regional Development (ICLRD) – has this Journal: Tourism Ireland, National come from the Northern Ireland Irish Bank, Weber Shandwick, Safefood, Departments of Education and InterTradeIreland, Cooperation Ireland, Employment and Learning, the Irish the Loughs Agency, FPM Chartered Department of Education and Science, Accountants, the Special EU the Irish Higher Education Authority, Programmes Body and the Institute for InterTradeIreland, the Northern Ireland Public Health in Ireland. Department for Regional Development,
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THE TRADE UNIONS AND NORTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: TIME FOR A RETHINK?
Andy Pollak
The trade union movement has a proud history of working for peace, social justice and against violence and sectarianism in extremely difficult circumstances during more than 30 years of civil conflict in Northern Ireland. Throughout the civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and sectarian assassinations of the 1970s and 1980s the unions played a crucial role as one of the elements in Northern Irish society that prevented it slipping into outright civil war. Workplaces were largely free from sectarian strife Andy Pollak even in the worst of these years. Union leaders and activists worked tirelessly to keep workplaces open during politically-motivated work stoppages, to prevent intimidation of workers by paramilitaries and to minimise the effect of polarising flags and emblems.
During the 1974 Ulster Workers Strike, Trade Unions’ Northern Ireland the unions bravely if unsuccessfully Committee brought together 10,000 attempted to lead a return to work people in a peace demonstration in the march to the Harland and Wolff centre of Belfast. shipyard. There were numerous trade union-led campaigns for peace and However, during the ‘peace process’ social stability: A Better Life for All; period of the nineties – culminating in Peace Train; Women Together; the the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Counteract and Trademark workplace Agreement in 1998 – there was little anti-sectarianism initiatives. As late as recognition of this key role by the British autumn 1993 a leading trade unionist, or Irish governments or the political Joe Bowers, led a protest march by parties. Successive Secretaries of State shipyard workers following the IRA’s for Northern Ireland paid fulsome but Shankill Road fish shop bombing which tokenistic compliments to the work of served to defuse a very dangerous the trade unions for peace. However situation, and the Irish Congress of they were rarely, if ever, consulted about
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key political or economic decisions Despite more than10 years of close affecting Northern Ireland. This was a collaboration between the unions and legacy of the years when Margaret the Irish Government as part of an Thatcher was in power (1979-1990), extraordinarily successful experiment in when the unions in Britain were treated social partnership, the ICTU was unable as ‘the enemy within’ by successive to secure representation as of right on Conservative governments, and this the boards and other governing ideological stance inevitably spilled over instruments of the six North/South into the Northern Ireland Office. Implementation Bodies, even though many of these were in economic and This changed somewhat with the arrival related areas (trade and business of a Labour Government in 1997. development, tourism, inland However the influential Northern Ireland waterways, food safety). Secretary up to the 2007 return of devolution, Peter Hain, while paying the The only two trade unionists appointed usual lip service to the vital role of the were the then president of the ICTU, unions, was actually more business- Inez McCormack, who was invited by oriented. Groups like the Confederation the Irish Government to sit on the board of British Industry and the NI Business of the Trade and Business Development Alliance found an open door at Board (later to become Stormont Castle, while trade union InterTradeIreland); and Anne Speed, an leaders found it took them many official of SIPTU and a Sinn Fein months to obtain an audience. member, who was asked by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams to be that party’s Union involvement in North-South nominee on the Food Safety Promotion cooperation Board (later Safefood). They were not appointed as ICTU or trade union It is not a cliché to say that the 1998 representatives, so there was no formal Belfast/Good Friday Agreement changed requirement for them to report back to everything in Northern Ireland: it led to Congress or to their unions. old enemies sitting down in government together and eventually to those Union leaders – with some justification – bitterest of antagonists, Sinn Fein and say that this is because the British and the DUP, agreeing to share power. Some Irish governments saw these bodies as might say it was the ultimate largely political when they emerged experiment in partnership. However its from the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, impact on the trade union movement with their boards made up of appears to have been relatively minimal. government and party political nominees. However one senior trade The unions have certainly played little unionist says the unions were also partly role in the implementation of the North- to blame: ‘Unions had full access to the South ‘Strand Two’ of that Agreement. Taoiseach, Irish government ministers
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and heads of government departments The Committee was relatively active in in negotiating partnership agreements, the two years (1999-2001) of Inez which were a social partnership model McCormack’s presidency. June 2001 for the rest of the world – and yet when seems to have been a particularly busy it came to setting up all-island structures time: in that month it organised an with important economic and social anti-racism conference in Armagh; the consequences, the same Irish first of a series of conferences under the government, with the right to nominate banner of the Participation and Practice people to North/South bodies, ignored of Rights project (see p.19) in Louth, the unions.’ The suspicion is that a trade and a North-South Health Services union movement dominated by Conference in Dublin. Its Action Plan of Southern leaders simply did not that year outlined a number of priority understand the importance of the Good issues: workplace related rights, Friday Agreement and its economic and social rights and broader implementation, and missed their human rights. chance to become involved. The North-South Health Services ICTU involvement in North-South Conference was a major event. It cooperation has hardly increased since outlined an ambitious and wide-ranging 1998. Neither the ICTU nor its Northern North-South health programme, Ireland Committee has ever met the including ‘mapping’ research, the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC), construction of a ‘what needs to be which oversees the six North/South done’ model, and building a partnership Bodies and the six areas for North-South model. The N-S Health Services Ministerial co-operation on behalf of the Partnership which came out of this Irish Government and the Northern conference organised three more Ireland devolved administration. conferences in 2004: on Ethnic Catering in Hospitals; Employing People with The ICTU does have its own North/South Disabilities in the Health Services in Committee, set up during the Ireland North and South, and Reducing presidency of the Northern regional Health Inequalities. The Irish Minister for secretary of UNISON, Inez McCormack, Health, Mary Harney, has recently in 1999, to respond to initiatives under pledged three years funding worth the North-South ‘Strand Two’ of the s187,000 to the Partnership. Belfast Agreement. In 2001 its membership was a high-powered one, This N-S Health Services Partnership and including, along with Inez McCormack, the Participation and Practice of Rights vice-president Joe O’Toole, general project have proved to be the most secretary Peter Cassells, future successful and durable of the initiatives presidents Peter McLoone, Brendan undertaken by the ICTU’s North/South Mackin and Patricia McKeown, and Committee in its early years. In the three more Executive Council members. absence of any evaluation documents it
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is difficult to know if any of the other An example of its lack of involvement issues outlined in the Action Plan were with a key issue was the absence of ever acted upon. trade union speakers at major annual conferences on all-island infrastructural What is apparent is that with the investment (estimated to be worth s 100 suspension of the Northern Ireland and billion over the next decade) in the past North/South institutions in 2002, the three years, although ICTU requested to N/S Committee appeared to ‘fall into be heard on several occasions. This is abeyance’ (in the words of one of its despite the motion passed at the members). Northern union leaders summer 2007 ICTU annual conference blame a lack of interest by their committing the organisation to the Southern counterparts for this. ‘There’s development of an all-island economy in a different mindset among general general and an all-island infrastructure secretaries in Dublin – they would in particular. Clearly neither government wonder what Northern Ireland or nor business consider the unions a key North-South cooperation had to do with player in this vital North-South area. their partnership negotiations,’ says one Northerner. A Southerner said the Trade unionism appears to be one of the general secretaries of the big unions few areas for cooperation where the were far too busy to take on North- East-West dimension is as advanced – or South activities as well. even more advanced – than the North- South dimension. The ICTU along with A leading Northerner said that, unlike the TUC, the Scottish TUC and the community and voluntary organisations, Welsh TUC set up a Council of the Isles which used EU funding to continue and in 2001. This last met in Dublin in even sometimes to expand their cross- November 2007, was attended by senior border activities, the trade union officials from all four confederations movement did not have a thought-out (including the President and General strategy for sustaining their work in this Secretary of the TUC), and its agenda new era. could have provided a model for an equivalent North/South body. Agenda Under the next Northern ICTU items included: mechanisms for working president, Brendan Mackin of the Belfast with government; social partnership Trades Council (2003-2005), the agreements and experiences; the EU North/South Committee was resurrected Treaty and Charter of Fundamental briefly. However by 2007 it was Rights; union-led learning; migrant generally considered by trade unionists workers and agency workers; proposed interviewed by this writer to be an border controls between Britain and inactive body, with no strategic agenda Ireland; the trafficking of women and and no thought-out demands on exploitation of children. government and the employers in both jurisdictions.
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The contrasting record of business of George Quigley’s Belfast-Dublin Corridor project. This low level of North-South activity and representation on North/South With the birth of the inter-governmental bodies is in striking contrast to business. trade and business development body, The Joint Business Council of the Irish InterTradeIreland, in 1999, the Joint Confederation of Irish Industry (CII) – Business Council changed tack. It later the Irish Business and Employers concentrated more on six North-South Confederation (IBEC) – and the sectors central to the international Northern Ireland branch of the competitiveness of the island: transport, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) energy, waste management, telecoms, was formed in 1991. It was given a business-education linkages and labour boost by a speech from Sir George mobility. Again, the Council’s lobbying Quigley of the CBI in February 1992 in and campaigning has had clear results. which he proposed the mould-breaking Among these are the upgrading of the development of a Belfast-Dublin Belfast-Dublin road, the Irish Economic Corridor. A follow-up Government’s decision to spend £400 consultants study made a number of million on infrastructure within Northern recommendations, including improving Ireland, and the opening of an all-island transport infrastructure and wholesale electricity market. telecommunications, enhancing university-business linkages, assisting The contrast between the levels of food and drink companies, and activity of the Joint Business Council and attracting key sub-supply firms to the the ICTU in the field of North-South economic corridor. cooperation can be illustrated most starkly by comparing how much EU Since then the Joint Business Council funding they have each received for this has done considerable work, funded work: the bulk of North-South largely by the International Fund for cooperation work has been funded Ireland and the EU’s INTERREG cross- through the EU’s Peace and INTERREG border cooperation programme. In the programmes, plus the International Fund 1990s, this allowed the Council to bring for Ireland (part-funded by the EU). The together 6,000 company representatives authoritative source for North-South and from both jurisdictions in a series of cross-border funding information is the more than 300 meetings. This led to Centre for Cross Border Studies website significant new SME and multinational www.borderireland.info. According to corporation links being formed, new this, the Joint Business Council has products being introduced and new administered 12 EU grants amounting business developed. Most importantly, it to s 5.14 million since 1991. helped to lead to the doubling of North- South trade between 1993 and 2000, In contrast the ICTU has administered which was one of the original objectives three grants – on literacy training, a
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border area youth network study and like the Irish National Teachers training for engineering and Organisation (INTO) and the Irish Bank maintenance workers – worth Officials Association (IBOA) (and SIPTU, s400,000.1 SIPTU’s Irish Trade Union whose Northern membership has Trust was granted another s 640,000 in declined dramatically in recent years). the same period. s 582,000 of this went to the Belfast-based City Bridges project, However leading members of these all- whose work in training trade unionists island unions accept that they have in peace and reconciliation, equality, moved apart in recent decades as the disability, anti-bullying and ‘good trade union cultures of the two Irish relations’ is a rare example of cross- jurisdictions – based around social border trade union-led good practice in partnership in the South and around the these areas. more adversarial ethos of British unions in the North – have diverged. In the Some structural and ideological words of one leading Northern activist: issues ‘Unions see themselves psychologically as Irish or Northern Irish – the border is At this point, it might be instructive to invisible because they don’t want to digress from North-South cooperation know about the jurisdiction on the other itself to ask how the structures and side of it. On the other hand employers cultures of the trade union movement in don’t recognise the border because they the two Irish jurisdictions affect their want to grow in an all-island fashion attitudes to this issue. The ICTU is a and see the border as a barrier to this. body with an all-island identity and It’s a very different way of looking at structure on the surface which is in fact the world.’ made up of three distinct elements. Two of these organise in one jurisdiction only This divergence was symbolised at the and the third is all-island only in a very 1989 Special Delegate Conference on limited way. whether the unions should withdraw from the first National Agreement in the The first element – representing over South, the Programme for National 70% of unionised workers on the island Recovery. The motion to withdraw was – are Southern-based unions with no narrowly defeated, with Northern Northern membership. The second – a delegates voting overwhelmingly to mixture of indigenous Northern Ireland withdraw from a National Agreement unions and British-based unions – that did not affect them. As Tim organise in the North only. The third and Hastings, Brian Sheehan and Padraig smallest element are the all-island Yeates write in their recent study of the unions: British-based unions like UNITE Irish social partnership process: (incorporating the former ATGWU) which organise in both jurisdictions, and The debate exposed a growing a few genuinely all-island Irish unions divergence in outlook and strategies
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Current ICTU president Ms Patricia McKeown addresses the 2005 ICTU conference, with seated, from left to right, Mr Paul Sweeney, Mr Liam Berney, Ms Paula Carey, Mr Peter McLoone, Mr Brendan Mackin, Mr David Begg, Mr Joel Flynn. between North and and South. When In practice, even the few genuinely all- Goretti Horgan of the Derry Trades island unions such as IBOA and INTO Council denounced the PNR and said have to treat the two jurisdictions ‘the Irish working class haven’t created differently. Despite its 5,400 members in the economic crisis. We should not pay Northern Ireland, the IBOA is still seen for it’, she was heckled by Southern as an ‘an elite, Southern union – the delegates. The debate showed that difficulty is feeling part and parcel of the differences between unions North and Northern Ireland trade union South were, in some ways, bigger than movement’, says one Southern IBOA between unions and employers in official. An INTO Northern official cites the Republic.2 mobility of teachers’ pensions as an example of different jurisdictional This was the last Special Delegate attitudes: ‘There is an over-supply of Conference on a National Agreement teachers in the North and some would where delegates from Northern Ireland like to go South. The INTO could use its were allowed to vote on social clout to get something done on partnership agreements in the Republic. transferability of superannuation benefits and pensions. But few Lip service continues to be paid to the Southern teachers go north, so it’s not ICTU being an all-island body, but in fact an issue there, with the result that the unions are very protective of their own union wouldn’t focus on such a North- Northern and Southern ‘patches’: there South issue.’ is an understanding that Southern unions won’t organise in the North and At the same time the minimal role of Northern unions – many of them British- Irish trade unionism in North-South co- based – won’t organise in the South. operation cannot be considered in
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isolation from a wider ideological debate The second has been followed in the in the international trade union North, based on the British experience. movement. This is a time of This has been influenced notably by the globalisation when unions everywhere legacy of Margaret Thatcher’s strongly are on the defensive, as anti-union US anti-union policies in the 1980s and multinationals drive economic growth in early 1990s, marked by disputes like the successful economies like the Republic miners strikes which were ruinous to the of Ireland, and those same unions involved. This has left an multinationals move to Eastern Europe adversarial ‘class war’ ethos which has and Asia in search of cheap labour. meant that unions in Northern Ireland – Trade unions in Ireland – as elsewhere – already on the defensive because of the are losing their ‘density’, meaning that rapid decline of heavily unionised their members make up a smaller industries like shipbuilding, engineering proportion of the workforce both in and textiles – have steered clear of any individual firms and in national close relationship with government or economies. In the Republic of Ireland employers. They have denounced the the workforce has doubled over the past Strategic Investment Board (and refused decade, but trade union membership to sit on its advisory board), despite the has only risen slightly in a situation fact that it will play a key role in the where there is no legal recognition of infrastructural planning of Northern the right to join a union. Ireland (and with the National Development Finance Agency in the There are two main responses to this South, the island as a whole) over the international situation. The first, which coming decades, because it is based on has been adopted in the Republic, is to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). To the work with the Government, the Northern unions that means one thing: employers and other social partners to the privatisation of jobs and services. build Scandinavian-style partnership The UNISON leadership, for example, is structures, in the first place through proud of its successful campaign to multi-annual National Agreements to reverse the outsourcing of catering guarantee industrial peace and wage and cleaning in public health and moderation in the expectation of education services. increased investment and thus employment. This structure has been The contrast to the Republic is striking. extended since it was initiated 20 years In the words of one leading Southern ago to include partnership discussions trade unionist: ‘Unions here were on a wide range of issues affecting involved with PPPs from the start working people – from taxation to through National Agreements. We got health services, childcare and public unions recognised in outsourced transport – and to bring in other companies, we got people the right to partners such as the farmers and the be redeployed. There is no point in community and voluntary sectors. standing on principle or having Saturday
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marches. Unions need to talk to agreement for regular meetings reached government and business to find out during Paul Murphy’s period as Northern where PPPs are going and how we can Ireland Secretary (2002-2005) has been best maximise our influence over this discussed with the Deputy First Minister, process. We have to put aside the ‘isms’ Martin McGuinness, but as yet there is and be pragmatic.’ However in the no agreement to continue this South PPPs have been largely used to arrangement with the Executive. design, finance and build major infrastructural projects – there has not It will be a considerable challenge for yet been the threat to jobs caused by the Northern Ireland Committee to build the outsourcing of elements in the bridges to the largest party in the public health and education services Executive, the DUP, which has a which has taken place in the North. traditional suspicion of bodies with the word ‘Irish’ in their title, but which Union leaders have so far been largely nevertheless receives a large working ignored by the new Northern Ireland class vote. However it has to be done. Executive, which took a notably pro- This task is not helped by a relative lack business line in its October 2007 of resources and staff for research, Programme for Government and draft preparing position papers and lobbying. budget, following successful lobbying by EU funding opportunities which might the Northern Ireland Business Alliance assist here do not appear to have been and the Confederation of British explored in any comprehensive way. Industry. Similarly, with the changes in semi-state agency board membership The trade union movement in Northern rules in recent years, the unions are Ireland is overwhelmingly dominated by almost completely unrepresented on public sector unions, due to the public bodies, unlike business (and in dramatic decline in manufacturing over striking contrast to the unions in the past 30 years and the equally the Republic). dramatic rise in public sector employment. This has led to a ‘profit is Some union leaders are critical of the evil’ attitude among some union leaders way Northern Ireland unions do their which does not make collaboration with business in this regard. Tribute is paid to the Executive’s strategy to grow the the way they led the successful private sector to counter N.Ireland’s campaign against water charges. excessive reliance on the public sector However it appears that since the an easy one. This again is in stark restoration of the Northern Ireland contrast to the Republic, where even the Executive in May 2007, there has been large public sector unions realise the no exploration of any formal mechanism importance of private business as the for the ICTU’s Northern Ireland driver of a successful, export-driven Committee to have discussions with the economy in a globalised world. Executive. The continuation of a bilateral
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A number of trade union leaders point However belated, there is evidence that to the ease with which business in the the trade union leadership has now North (traditionally largely unionist) woken up to the importance of the espoused the concept of an all-island North-South dimension to the island’s economy as long ago as the early 1990s economies and the people who work in as an example of the kind of them. Factors cited for this include: the pragmatism often lacking from union realisation that all-island infrastructure discussions on the economy. Business will be a key element in the next phase realises that Northern Ireland is now of Ireland’s economic development; merely one more region in a globalised concerns expressed that with no economy – and the Republic of Ireland common rules on union recognition or is its closest and most accessible foreign collective bargaining, moves towards an market in that world economy. all-island economy could result in the undermining of workers rights, wages A good example of pragmatism by both and conditions; the appointment of an business and unions in a cross-border energetic assistant general secretary context was the award last year of an with responsibility for the North, Peter s11.5 million contract to Wright Bunting, who has the rare distinction of Brothers of Ballymena, a firm with an having been a leading trade unionist in overwhelmingly unionist workforce, to both Irish jurisdictions; and the renewed supply buses to Bus Eireann, following interest of key figures in the movement strong lobbying by the ICTU. such as Jack O’Connor, president of SIPTU, who will be the next ICTU president in 2009. Some cross-border issues facing the trade unions Of particular interest to the unions should be Brian Cowen’s 2005 Island of Ireland economy issues announcement that, when taken together, government spending on Several senior officials in both Belfast infrastructure in Northern Ireland and and Dublin consulted by this researcher the Republic of Ireland could amount to were optimistic that the motion passed s100 billion over the next 10 years. The at the summer 2007 ICTU biennial Comprehensive Study on the All-Island conference in Bundoran on the all-island Economy, commissioned by the British economy3 would herald a new and Irish governments and published by seriousness among the trade union InterTradeIreland in October 2006, leadership on this issue. ‘They’ve outlined the benefits all-island co- realised that if IBEC and the CBI are operation on infrastructure would bring: involved – if capitalism thinks it’s a good more efficient planning; more efficient, idea – then we’d better be in there too,’ joined-up delivery of services; better said one union leader. value for money; more balanced regional development; addressing
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border effects; economies of scale in workers has been a feature of the Celtic public investments, and better deals Tiger economy, with examples ranging from financial markets. From a union from the under-payment of Turkish standpoint, such massive investments workers by the Gama construction would also create many thousands of company to Irish Ferries laying off its new jobs. whole workforce and outsourcing their jobs to Eastern European agency One area of obvious interest to trade workers. Several trade unionists have unions in this context is the importance suggested that a joint TUC-ICTU of public procurement policy as a campaign to protect the rights of mechanism for maintaining employment migrant and other agency workers rights and standards, including wage would be a perfect vehicle for North- levels. Last year the then ICTU president, South-East-West collaborative action. Peter McLoone, followed SIPTU president Jack O’Connor and ICTU Human rights and equality issues assistant general secretary Peter Bunting in calling for the establishment of an all- A number of trade unions, notably island Public Procurement Task Force, UNISON, have played a prominent role which would tackle public spending on in keeping equality and human rights social exclusion alongside economic high up the political agenda in Northern development. The two Departments of Ireland. However the considerable work Finance in Dublin and Belfast organised in this vital area on a North-South basis the first North-South Public Procurement is much less well-known. The main Conference last year, and these are example is the Participation and Practice expected to become a biennial event. of Rights (PPR) Project. This started in 2001 when a group – including the There is a downside to this. Wages and Combat Poverty Agency, the conditions are different on both sides of Committee on the Administration of the border. Aer Lingus’s controversial Justice, the Community Foundation of announcement in June 2007 that it was Northern Ireland and the ICTU – came moving part of its operation from together at the instigation of ICTU Shannon to Belfast’s International president Inez McCormack to organise a Airport, and would be recruiting pilots North-South conference entitled with less favourable wages and ‘Participation and the Practice of Rights: conditions to their Republic of Ireland Insider/Outsider – Changing colleagues, seems to have concentrated Relationships.’ The conference was many minds – in the trade union attended by local community, human movement as well as outside – about rights and equality activists from across what an all-island economy might the island, and was followed by regional actually mean in future. follow-up meetings in Galway, Dublin, Derry and Belfast and a number of other The exploitation of foreign migrant all-island and international seminars.
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The PPR project was then funded by the ranging from the right to health and US-based charity, the Atlantic housing, to suicide, mental health, Philanthropies, to conduct a feasibility disadvantage in North Belfast and study into ways of developing a rights- ‘making rights work.’ based approach to a range of issues at local community level, in this case in Northern Ireland is well ahead of the areas of north inner-city Dublin and Republic in the area of equality Belfast (published in 2004). The project legislation. Section 75 of the 1998 aimed to bring academics, lawyers and Northern Ireland Act is one of the first international experts together with examples internationally of legislating activists and ‘ordinary’ people from local for ‘positive duties’ by public bodies to communities in a process of shared promote equality of opportunity across learning – local communities learned nine equality standards (including what the international rights standards gender, race, religion, political opinion, are that governments are supposed to disability, age and sexual orientation) implement, and academics and lawyers and ‘good relations between persons of learned the reality of the absence of this different religious belief, political opinion implementation at local level. The 2004 or racial group’. It has been said that study showed that local people are the Northern Ireland equality duty is often unable to access the services ‘unique and pioneering’ and that in the they have a right to because they have future ‘the unified yet multi-faceted been denied access to participation in approach to mainstreaming equality that decision-making, and outlined a model is underpinned by Section 75 will prove of how to build local capacity so that to have greater effectiveness than many access to services could be monitored contemporary approaches operating and denial of such access could around the globe.’4 There is no be challenged. equivalent of Section 75 in the Republic’s law. Several trade unionists This led to the building of a coalition of suggested that the ICTU should mount groups working on social justice issues a campaign for a common Section 75 with a particular focus on North Inner for the island. City Dublin and North Belfast. It uses a human rights based approach, turning Sometimes the obvious needs to be needs into rights; demanding re-stated: trade union recognition is accountability from government; another area where Northern Ireland is empowering and ensuring the far ahead of the Republic. Despite 20 participation of local people; and years of partnership in the Republic of focussing on the inclusion and Ireland, there is still no statutory involvement of particularly vulnerable obligation on firms to recognise the groups. As part of this, the PPR project right of trade unions to organise has organised a range of cross-border workers, although union leaders hearings, seminars, reports and DVDs, understand that any change in the law
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here would have to conform with the already in work), to receiving FÁS Irish Constitution. That right has existed funding for the ICTU’s Centres for the in Northern Ireland for many years Unemployed. under United Kingdom law. This is a basic human right for working people In contrast, while in Northern Ireland that could be the subject of an all-island there is an ICTU representative on the campaign by the ICTU as part of moves overall Skills Expert Group (although, towards an ‘island of Ireland’ economy. this group is still in pilot form and does not do any forecasting work), there are Training and skills issues no union representatives on the 25 Sector Skills Councils which cover the Training is another area cited by several skills and productivity needs of their trade unionists as suitable for cross- individual sectors. Similarly there are no border co-operation and mutual official union representatives on the learning, and where unions could play a province’s six Workplace Development leading role. The vital role of training for Forums (one of which, in the North a future knowledge economy is West, is cross-border) which, according highlighted in the Fifth Report of the to Department for Employment and Expert Group on Future Skills Needs Learning (DEL) officials, are ‘employer (2007) in the Republic, which forecasts led’ and are ‘about meeting the training that by 2020 an additional 500,000 and development needs of local people will need to be upskilled by at employers.’ DEL has recommended that least one level in that jurisdiction’s they should include union National Framework of Qualifications, representatives but has no power to and nearly 50% of the workforce will enforce this recommendation. have to have qualifications of at least degree or Higher Certificate (Higher On the other hand union involvement National Diploma in NI) level. The in workplace learning – particularly in upskilling and reskilling challenge in essential literacy and numeracy skills and Northern Ireland will be equal to, if not ICT skills – is more advanced in greater, than this. Northern Ireland. The statutory Union Learning scheme, funded by DEL, has In line with the social partnership ethos paid for 200 union activists to train as in the Republic, the unions play a Union Learning Representatives prominent role in the Republic’s state throughout the public and private sector training authority FÁS – from so as to help their fellow workers representation on the board (this is become involved in lifelong learning, currently chaired by a trade unionist), and to run classes in the workplace for through membership of national workers who attend them on a paid advisory committees (e.g. on release basis. apprenticeship) and monitoring the One Step Up programme (upskilling people
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The partnership process Clearly, 20 years on, the lessons Northern Ireland can learn from social The great success of the social partnership in the South – which is now partnership process in fuelling the Celtic starting to look frail in the face of Tiger economy in the Republic is well- worsening economic conditions (despite known at home and internationally. As the current long-term National the former ICTU General Secretary Peter Agreement Towards 2016) – are Cassells has said: ‘It [i.e. the Celtic Tiger relatively limited. But are there some economy] is hard to explain to outsiders. lessons nevertheless? If you try to explain it as just social partnership, it doesn’t add up. If you A number of Southern trade unionists look at all the ingredients – the tax interested in North-South cooperation changes, Europe, inward investment, who were interviewed by this writer public service change, and the young, thought there were. One of the leading educated population – they were there trade union architects of the Southern before and it didn’t work. What social partnership process said the trade union partnership did was make all those movement in the North had ‘huge ingredients work by bringing them integrity and credibility’ based on its all together.’5 work for peace and against sectarianism, but this had not been Social partnership in the South was capitalised on in its dealings with born out of a deep economic and fiscal government. He stressed that having all- crisis in the late 1980s which brought Ireland unions wasn’t important: ’What the Irish state to the brink of matters is that trade unions in the North bankruptcy. It brought out the most should have a forum that they can buy pragmatic tendencies in the Irish trade into to allow them to make an union movement, which realised that economic contribution to Northern National Agreements were the only way Ireland and to an all-island economy – a to move towards the economic kind of partnership approach.’ This man prosperity that would bring down a suggests that the ICTU’s Northern crippling unemployment rate and avoid Ireland Committee should approach the the kind of anti-union and anti-worker Northern Ireland Executive with the policies being espoused by Margeret ‘concept’ of a social partnership Thatcher’s government in Britain. mechanism for Northern Ireland (to parallel the political partnership The strength of partnership, says one mechanism that is the Executive), and Southern writer on trade union affairs, an eminent person or group of people was that it ‘allowed the partners to (à la Patten or Hayes) should then be work out where the economy is asked to further develop it. going. It’s a system of constant discussion, analysis, negotiation and A second noted that talks would be prioritising solutions’.6 starting on the post-2010 phase of
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Towards 2016 in early 2008. This would issues such as housing, health services, be an opportunity for the ICTU to put childcare, transport, and skills training one or two North-South demands on alongside the traditional IR issues of the table, with the assurance that the wages and conditions. Irish Government would be favourable to such an intervention. This trade It was suggested that the North’s unionist suggested that the ICTU’s Economic Development Forum – North/South Committee could serve as a envisaged when it was set up in the forum – through cross-border seminars 1990s as an equivalent mechanism for and meetings – to allow Southern trade bringing the social partners together to unionists to speak to Northern trade plan the economy - could still become a unionists about their experience of similar vehicle for kick-starting the partnership in terms of the future process of economic and social economic and social development of transformation in Northern Ireland. the island. Andy Pollak is Director of the Centre A number of interviewees said there for Cross Border Studies, and a was a role for an National Economic and former Education and Religious Social Council (NESC)-type body in Affairs correspondent and Belfast Northern Ireland, to allow the unions, reporter with the Irish Times. employers and government to engage in discussions about the future economic and social shape of N. Ireland without REFERENCES committing their organisations to formal agreements; to provide a source of 1. www.borderireland.info/orgs unimpeachable research and expertise in /orgdetail.php?orgref=1186 (ICTU); the matters being discussed; and to www.borderireland.info/orgs/orgdet build trust between the social partners. ail.php?orgref=504 (Joint Business Southern trade unionists were Council) unanimous in their praise for the role of the NESC in laying the groundwork for 2. Tim Hastings, Brian Sheehan and 20 years of successful social partnership Padraig Yeates (2007): Saving the in the Republic. As a focussed and non- Future: How Social Partnership adversarial ‘think tank’ – backed by shaped Ireland’s Economic Success. hugely supportive senior civil servants Dublin: Blackhall and highly-skilled researchers – it had been able to raise potential problems for 3. The conference motion passed by constructive discussion between the the 2007 conference reads: social partners, and often to resolve them before the partners got into This Conference considers that formal negotiations. It was also able to circumstances on the island are widen those discussions to include appropriate for the establishment of
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an economic strategy which can of corporation profits tax guarantee high levels of prosperity, for the whole island and quality of life and equality of examining convergence opportunity for all the island of issues in relation to revenue; Ireland. Conference calls on the • The sharing of resources, Executive Council to campaign for planning and expertise to the following: ensure the best quality • Implementing the planned public services given the s100 billion investment resources available. strategy for the whole island in the coming decade with 4. P. Chaney and T.Rees (2004): The the twin aims of creating Northern Ireland Section 75 Duty: one of the most modern and An International Perspective. Paper high productivity economic presented to the Section 75 Equality zones in the world today Duty – An Operational Review and eradicating absolute and Conference. Belfast, 2004. relative poverty in both jurisdictions; 5. Saving the Future, p.75 • Implementing the all-Ireland energy strategy agreed 6. Interview with Padraig Yeates, between the two September 2007 Governments with the emphasis on serving the needs of the people rather than some unreal model of private competition; • Co-ordination of industrial policy between the two jurisdictions, especially attracting and optimally distributing high-value Foreign Direct Investment and promoting high levels of R & D investment by both domestic and foreign investors. This co-ordination should be aimed at maximising employment in manufacturing industry and continuously raising the skill levels of the workforce; • Negotiating a common level
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JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
TOWARDS A NEW TOURISM BRAND FOR THE ISLAND OF IRELAND
Maureen Gaffney and Trevor Ringland
The island of Ireland faces enormous competition in its efforts to attract tourists to its shores. It is competing against 200 other country or island destinations, each with something to sell to potential visitors. Tourism Ireland, the body charged with promoting Ireland on an all-island basis to Maureen Gaffney Trevor Ringland customers abroad1, has to ensure that it too can stand out from the crowd. For that reason, in June 2007 it began a comprehensive review of its Ireland tourism brand2. The brand was created in 1996, with reviews in 2001 and 2004 to reflect the changing nature of the island, and for the past decade has been used in all overseas marketing communications. What Tourism Ireland hoped to discover from its most recent comprehensive review in conjunction with key stakeholders was whether there needed to be adjustments or changes to the brand in light of the changing dynamics within Ireland, both North and South.
We were appointed to an eight-person holding up its brand and marketing Expert Group which was asked to assist strategy to acute examination by in the brand re-evaluation. The group professionals who had no reason to be consisted of local and international less than brutally honest in their business people as well as marketing assessment. The outcome, we hope, is a and brand professionals not involved in fresh perspective on how the brand was the tourism industry. The authors of this performing. article are respectively a clinical psychologist and a lawyer by It also meant that the tourism profession.The creation of the Expert professionals had to explain the implicit Group, with no vested interest in assumptions which feature in their daily tourism, was an innovative step by lives. That can be a very creative process Tourism Ireland. The organisation was and can give a fresh input into how the
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world outside tourism operates and We must stress that our input was only views the work of organisations like one part of a review which was Tourism Ireland. We certainly found it an comprehensive and ground-breaking. engaging and interesting process, in The review involved Tourism Ireland at which we learned much about the board, management and overseas office industry from marketing to delivery levels, the Northern Ireland Tourism of product. Board, Fáilte Ireland, the Tourism Marketing Partnership, other ‘island of The other members of the Expert Group Ireland’ agencies, industry groups in covered a range of disciplines. It was Dublin, Galway and Belfast, hospitality chaired by David Nichols, a man with industry workers, and opinion formers in international experience in marketing the media, commerce and arts and and brand consultancy who has written culture sectors. widely and authoritatively on the subject. Professor David Carson from the ‘People, Place and Culture’ University of Ulster is president of the Academy of Marketing UK, the foremost In the original branding exercise, representative body of marketing promotional campaigns were built academics in the UK and Ireland, and around the three pillars of ‘people, place has wide experience of middle and and culture’. These were recognised as senior management training in the the factors which differentiated Ireland service industry. Mark Thompson is a from other tourism destinations. And member of the Chartered Society of they were factors which had served the Designers and has worked with some of island well. In 2006 some 8.7m tourists Northern Ireland’s biggest advertising visited Ireland, contributing £2.9bn and communications groups; he is also (s 3.9bn) to the economy of the island3. chair of the Ulster-Scots Agency. John It might seem strange in such Fanning worked in market research in circumstances to start tinkering with a London for seven years before returning brand that obviously works. However to Ireland to join McConnell Advertising Tourism Ireland felt that a decade after and was subsequently appointed its the original concept was agreed, a managing director and chairman. Ciaran review was timely and that it would be O Gaora is managing director of a easier to conduct at a time when Dublin-based brand consultancy and has tourism was on the increase. This is in worked across a wide range of sectors contrast to most strategic reviews, including culture, tourism, science, which are undertaken at times of crisis retail, health and government. Regine when a sharp change of direction is a Reinhardt is a Berlin-born journalist and necessity rather than an option. art historian, educated in Germany, the US and Ireland, who has worked in the In its research and discussions with Irish tourism industry. She is a frequent stakeholders Tourism Ireland found a visitor to the island. variety of responses to the current
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brand. Hospitality industry workers4 – mattered most – the people who visited those delivering services on the front Ireland. People in four markets – Great line – found the brand served the Britain, USA, France and Germany – industry well. That was a view shared by were questioned about their Irish people as well as immigrants expectations of Ireland both before and working in the industry. However those after visiting the island. In areas like charged with taking a more strategic beautiful scenery, friendly welcoming view of tourism found that the brand, people, exploration of history and while providing a sound base for culture, relaxed pace of life, lively cities Tourism Ireland’s promotion activities, and range of activities, more than 90% was missing opportunities to further of those questioned felt that Ireland enhance the appeal of Ireland as a lived up to or exceeded their tourism destination. The professional expectations. As an audit of how the tourism bodies as well as the Expert brand has performed this research was Group and opinion formers were encouraging. Yet it still showed the roughly of one mind on this. validity of the expert view that we need to tighten our focus and sharpen up our They reasoned that the current brand tourism offering. This was ground- and its associated promotional breaking research by Tourism Ireland, campaigns did not offer compelling which had never previously questioned enough reasons to visit the island of holidaymakers in this precise manner Ireland. There was a feeling that the before and after their trips to Ireland on image of the island being portrayed was their expectations and how those too traditional, even a little twee. The expectations were met or not. dynamism of Ireland of today was somehow missing. Not enough was Other research, drilling down to the core made of the urban environments on the image of Ireland as a holiday island and the element of ‘place’ was destination, involved workshops with too dominant as compared to ‘people’ industry professionals in Galway, Dublin and ‘culture’. The recommendation was and Belfast6; interviews with opinion for a refreshing of the brand to enhance formers in the travel industry, social its vibrancy and to more accurately commentators, and those who influence reflect modern Ireland. Irish public life and culture; and research in key target markets. But while it is always easy to pick fault with existing strategies, finding ways of The diversity message enhancing them is more difficult. Tourism Ireland did not rely on purely Our Expert Group consisted of subjective feelings in its review of the individuals from both parts of the island, brand. It also conducted research5 to see the Republic and Northern Ireland. One whether the subjective views expressed of the key themes to emerge from our would be validated by the people who discussions and engagement was the
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Bloody Foreland, Co Donegal – an example of the superb landscape of the Irish border region diversity that exists in Ireland. This is a part of the island. That is a mistake and key offering which it was felt was is, in effect, airbrushing out an integral perhaps overlooked somewhat in the part of the island. With the resurrection past. Part of the reason for that is of a power-sharing administration in obvious given the troubled recent Northern Ireland, and with political history of Northern Ireland. Some relationships throughout the island and people, indeed, might argue that it was between Ireland and the UK at an the inability of people in Northern unprecedented level of harmony, the Ireland to cope with their diversity which strong message to emerge from the lay at the root of decades of violence. Expert Group was that we need to take The net result was that the true diversity a realistic look at the Northern Ireland of Ireland, especially in its people and tourism offering. culture, was not a key message in the promotion of the island. We felt this Culturally it is the most diverse region of was a missed opportunity. the island, with its flourishing Irish, Scots-Irish and British traditions and During the Group’s deliberations, the allegiances. Making those traditions and pride of Northerners in their part of the allegiances more visible in the island was very apparent. It is easy, promotion of the island of Ireland given the sensitivities around so many overseas lays down a challenge to those issues in Northern Ireland, to attempt to involved in the various cultures to make tip-toe around these issues and to them more attractive to visitors. An present a rather bland picture of that example quoted by Northern members
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of the Expert Group was the that part of the island by those who live transformation in attitudes to the there took some of their colleagues by Apprentice Boys parades in Londonderry. surprise. In the words of one member, Once these parades had a negative it was ‘positive patriotism’. image but now, through hard work on the ground in the city, they hold One of the exercises undertaken by the potential as a tourist attraction and an Expert Group was for each individual to income generator for the area. write a postcard on their holiday in Ireland. This proved to be a very creative While the changed political climate and and revealing exercise. Traditionally the absence of violence now makes it tourists have thought only of the easier to promote Northern Ireland as a products or services they were offered tourism destination within an all-island on holiday, but now the emphasis is context, it is not just sentiment which more on experience, a much more demands it but practical, hard-nosed emotional reaction. Single attractions economics.In the last four years taken such as scenery, activities or meeting together (2002-2006), Northern Ireland new people are no longer a sufficient earned £1.45bn (s1.95bn) from lure to sophisticated visitors. They overseas visitors7, an impressive enough demand an integrated experience from figure, but it can do much, much better. their destination. It is as much an Consider that tourism generated almost emotional trip as a physical one. That £2.9bn (s3.9bn) throughout Ireland in obviously impacts on the way Tourism 2006 alone, and it is obvious that Ireland has to market the island. Northern Ireland is not achieving its full It also challenges a much wider potential. That is not a criticism of the community than just the hospitality and industry, but an indication of the tourism industry. Tourists’ experience is potential that is untapped north of the formed not just from their sampling of border. Some of that potential is already traditional tourism products, but also in being realised as the growth in visitor how they are treated by the wider numbers to the North is well in excess community. Staying in a five-star spa of the European average. Growth has may be an invigorating experience, but come from all of the main markets. it loses some of its appeal if the taxi driver taking the person to the spa is ‘Positive Patriotism’ rude or overcharges, or if they get bad service in the local shops. The brand is For some Group members, the not just a marketing tool; it is a concept discussions on improving the Northern which should be bought into by Ireland tourism offering and assimilating everyone who is likely to interact with its diversity into the overall promotion of visitors. Attracting more tourists is of the island was one of the most benefit to the entire economy. fascinating parts of their deliberations. The depth of emotional attachment to The intensive investigations into the
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current brand produced a broad The changing political atmosphere in consensus on the way forward. While Northern Ireland is of vital importance to there was agreement that much of what the brand and the promotion of the was being done at present in promoting island as a whole. While the island the island is valid and effective, it was consists of two jurisdictions and two also accepted that the brand needed to currencies, as a tourism offering it be repositioned to take account of the makes sense – indeed is an imperative, evolving dynamics of modern Ireland. according to the Expert Group – to There was a feeling that current market it as one island. The differences promotion, and perhaps the brand itself, between the two parts of the island can misses out on the young, the dynamic then be sold as positive diversity rather and the passionate elements which than glossed over. distinguish modern Ireland. Musically and artistically Ireland is a distinctive There was a feeling, for example, that destination, a point which is possibly there are huge opportunities to promote not widely enough recognised or Northern Ireland more positively, and acknowledged. particularly Belfast and Londonderry as JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
thriving, modern cities in the way that • However, it was felt that it did not Dublin has become a European ‘party fully reflect some of the changes on capital’. One suggestion to emerge was the island, such as the changed twinning towns, cities and other political situation in Northern destinations in the two parts of Ireland, Ireland, the dynamism of the urban offering visitors similar type experiences environment and the changing on both sides of the border. nature of Irish society influenced, in part, by the large number of Handling modern history immigrants in recent years. • The weakest point was the brand’s History in Ireland is a contentious inability to make Ireland stand out in subject, at least politically, and often the the crowded, mature, competitive safe option is taken when discussing the international market place. subject by concentrating on ancient Competitors had noted Ireland’s history, rather than on more recent marketing strategy based on the events that have shaped the island of themes of ‘people, place and today. There was broad recognition that culture’ and had, with varying the issue of modern history needs to be degrees of success, attempted to handled sensitively, but nevertheless it is replicate it. The consensus among an issue which should be addressed. those examining the current brand Again taking Northern Ireland as an was that it, like Ireland, needed example, it was pointed out that a to evolve. destination which has recently emerged Having reached that point in the from conflict can be attractive to visitors deliberations, the next stage of the for that very reason. Perhaps one of the process involved identifying the way most potent examples is Berlin, where forward and the challenges ahead. It the dreadful icons of the past are part was agreed that the brand must be of the experience which attracts millions sufficiently robust to attract first time of visitors annually to that city. visitors. Repeat visitor ratios are good8, but there is evidence to show that many In summary, the Group’s deliberations potential visitors filter Ireland out of on the current brand position produced their plans after good initial a largely positive feedback, with some consideration9. The research with visitors reservations: shows that their expectations of what a holiday in Ireland will deliver are too • The brand was felt to be credible low. One-third to one-half reported that and attractive for all audiences and their expectations were exceeded when largely over-delivers against they actually came to Ireland, which expectations. suggests that branding and promotion • It has delivered consistent should portray the island as a premium communications, and therefore destination10. consistent views about the island.
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Visitors too often have a stereotypical vibrant and deep-rooted. Its people can image of the island and have yet to be portrayed as authentic, curious, discover the depth and breadth of what knowledgeable, inquiring, engaging, it has to offer. spontaneous, witty, articulate, lyrical and having pride in place. Both elements ‘An Island of Unique Character have to be engaged to make the and Characters’ experience of holidaying in Ireland unique. The beauty, accessibility and So how could the brand evolve to diversity of the place has a very strong differentiate Ireland as a tourism appeal to visitors, but it is the people destination? Research and discussion who raise the experience to the higher among the stakeholders, including the level demanded by visitors. The Expert Group, determined that two of ‘characters’ of Ireland can be a unique the three original pillars, people and selling point and central to the place, remain the primary ways of promotion of the island. making the island stand out from the competition. The consensus was that With the evolution of the brand will these two features must be at the come a change of focus in the heart of the experience being sold to communication with the target markets. visitors. Cultural breadth and diversity The emphasis will be on a more positive are important motivators for image. The consensus was that more sightseers and culture seekers, but should be made of contemporary culture itself is not a unifying element people and places, with iconic images of of the brand. the island to the fore. The image of Irish people abroad is a largely positive one. The challenge posed by the research The Irish as tourists are generally was how to redefine the Irish character welcomed in their holiday destinations in a way which would appeal to those and that is a strength that has to be who know little of the country. Building incorporated when promoting Ireland to on the agreement that people and place potential overseas visitors. The message must be at the heart of the new brand, is that interaction with Irish people in the idea of ‘Ireland – An Island of Ireland will make the holiday an Unique Character and Characters’ unforgettable experience. Ireland’s evolved. The feeling was that this people are a selling point that cannot be branding would enable the island to be cloned by competitors. promoted and portrayed in a much more specific manner. Having agreed the concept, the challenge is now to bring it to life. It The character of the island could be must be validated in further discussions described in terms such as dissonant, within the industry and then shared diverse, surprising, dramatic, involving, with the stakeholders, and ultimately inviting, accessible, concentrated, the consumers. The evolution of a new
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brand is not an end in itself, but simply Jacob’s Creek as one of the most the arrival at a critical juncture for the spectacular views in the world alongside tourism industry. the Grand Canyon and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Those are testaments which can Tourism Ireland has set itself a easily be built upon. challenging, but attainable, target of increasing tourism income from However, to achieve the step change s12.8bn (£9.52bn) to s 16bn (£11.9bn) required to see tourism increase in in the next three years11. That, inevitably, Northern part of the island will require a will require further investment in the comprehensive private sector-driven product, from further training for those investment programme, supported by who work in the hospitality sector to the public sector as appropriate. While new infrastructure, especially at the the job of Tourism Ireland is to promote luxury end of the market. There was the entire island to its key overseas consensus among the Expert Group that markets, working with the Northern Northern Ireland, for perfectly Ireland Tourism Board, the Regional understandable reasons, has lagged Tourism Partnerships and other behind in the creation of tourism stakeholders, it also campaigns on infrastructure. One suggestion to behalf of Northern Ireland in particular: emerge was the creation of a think-tank for example as a short break destination among all the stakeholders in the for visitors from Scotland and industry to plot the way forward and northern England. create a better experience for visitors to The work undertaken in reassessing the the North. Tourism Ireland brand has laid vital groundwork in providing a Northern Ireland, as already stated, has comprehensive understanding of the the greatest potential for development, needs of the consumer in a highly starting, as it does, from a relatively low competitive industry. Now we have to base. While both parts of the island are begin to bring to life the expression of in competition for tourists, it is a what Ireland has to offer through collaborative competition that can advertising and promotional activity, and produce a win-win situation for the ultimately the persuasion of more and entire island. There are a number of more overseas visitors to come to these encouraging factors at play. The Lonely shores. What is evident from what they Planet travel guide designated Northern have told us is that they demand a Ireland as a ‘must see’ destination for memorable product when they arrive. In 2007, a huge encouragement to that we all have a part to play. overseas visitors. The Blue List 2008, also published by Lonely Planet, ranked Dr Maureen Gaffney is a clinical Ireland as the friendliest destination in psychologist by profession and the world12. The Antrim Coast road was holds two government positions in ranked in a survey by wine-makers the Republic: Chair of the National
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Economic and Social Forum and Survey. They are consolidated by FI, board member of the Health Service NITB and Tourism Ireland in order to Executive. She runs her own avoid duplication in all island consultancy business specialising in figures. The CSO survey comprises leadership development. questionnaires from approximately 500,000-600,000 people annually Trevor Ringland is a lawyer from who have visited Ireland. The NITB Larne in Co Antrim practising in survey questions approximately Belfast and Larne. He is a former 5,000-6,000 people annually who Irish (and British and Irish Lions) have visited Northern Ireland. The FI rugby international, a member of survey comprises questionnaires the Ulster Unionist Party, vice-chair completed by approximately 10,000 of Rally Ireland, and co-chair of the people annually who have visited One Small Step peacebuilding Ireland. campaign in Northern Ireland. 4. Hospitality Industry Research was REFERENCES conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes Limited on behalf of Tourism Ireland 1. Tourism Ireland was established as in Dublin, Belfast and Killarney. an ‘area of cooperation’ arising from Qualitative research comprised seven the 1998 Belfast Agreement. It was focus groups held in July 2007 established as a company limited by involving Irish nationals and non- guarantee on 11 December 2000 Irish newcomers working in the and commenced overseas marketing hospitality industry. in 2002, integrating the overseas functions of Bord Fáilte and the 5. Tourism Ireland commissioned P. Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Robert & Partners International Marketing Research to conduct 2. Tourism Brand Ireland was a brand ‘Promise versus Experience’ research developed first in 1996 by Bord with first time holidaymakers to the Fáilte in cooperation with the island of Ireland in summer 2007. Northern Ireland Tourist Board, using 600 self-completion surveys were international branding techniques to carried out at ports of departure (air market Ireland as a tourist and ferry) in each of Great Britain, destination. USA and Germany, with a smaller sample in France. The survey asked 3. Overseas tourist figures are compiled respondents to rate their from the Central Statistics Office expectations of different aspects of (CSO)’s Country of Residence Survey, their future holiday. Following their Fáilte Ireland (FI)’s Survey of Overseas holiday, the same holidaymakers Travellers and the Northern Ireland were contacted with an online Tourist Board (NITB)’s Passenger questionnaire, asking them to rate
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the actual holiday experience. Pre ABC1 overseas holidaymakers in and post ratings were then each market each year, but has compared and analysed to uncover moved to an online survey since any areas that were under- or over- 2007. The research is an integral promising. tool in market planning and strategy development, exploring consumers’ 6. In September 2007 industry image of Ireland and barriers to workshops were held in Dublin, visiting, as well as interest in Galway and Belfast with holidays on the island of Ireland, representatives from a broad cross planning behaviour and key section of the industry, government segments to target. departments and other stakeholders. In addition, 12 10. Tourism Ireland commissioned P. statutory ‘island of Ireland’ Robert & Partners International organisations participated in the Marketing Research to conduct Brand Review. ‘Promise versus Experience’ research with first time holidaymakers to the 7. Overseas tourist figures are island of Ireland in summer 2007 compiled from the Central Statistics (See Note 5). Office (CSO)’s Country of Residence Survey, Fáilte Ireland (FI)’s Survey of 11. Tourism Ireland – Corporate Plan Overseas Travellers and the Northern (draft) 2008-2010, approved by the Ireland Tourist Board (NITB)’s North/South Ministerial Council on 8 Passenger Survey (See Reference 3). November 2007
8. Repeat visitor ratio figures are 12. Lonely Planet Blue List 2008, p 187 compiled from the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) Country of Residence Survey, Fáilte Ireland’s (FI) Survey of Overseas Travellers and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s (NITB) Passenger Survey (See Reference 3).
9. Tourism Ireland’s Brand and Advertising Tracking research has been conducted by Lansdowne Market Research annually in between eight and twelve overseas markets since 2002. The research has traditionally been run as a telephone survey among 1,000
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LESSONS FROM AN INSTITUTE FOR CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION ON THE FRANCO-GERMAN BORDER
Joachim Beck
Border regions play an important role in the context of European integration: 40% of the EU territory is covered by such regions and approximately 30% of the EU’s population lives in them. Of the 362 regions registered by the Council of Europe and its 47 member states, more than 140 are cross-border regions. Both the effects of movement towards European integration – as well as the Joachim Beck remaining obstacles – can be best studied here, whether it is in the form of the mobility of goods, services, capital or people. This is why the border regions have often been described as the laboratories of European integration.
Border regions everywhere have specific characterised by varying degrees of characteristics. A wide range of social vertical differentiation in terms of and economic phenomena have a structures, resources and autonomy ‘border crossing’ dimension in areas as of action. different as transport, labour markets, service delivery, consumption patterns, The Upper Rhine is a border region that migration, criminality, pollution, lies at the heart of Europe. It is commuter movements, tourism and composed of the French region of leisure time activities. All of these Alsace, the north-western part of require close cross-border cooperation Switzerland and subregions of the between neighbouring states. However German länder Baden-Württemberg and unlike in the national context, where Rheinland-Pfalz. This cross-border region regional cooperation takes place within covers a surface of around 21.500 a uniform legal, institutional and square kilometres with approximately six financial framework, cross-border million people living there (30% in cooperation faces the challenge of France, 23% in Switzerland and 47% in managing different politico- Germany). During the last 15 years its administrative systems which have a transnational socio-economic dynamics distinctive legal basis and are have increased significantly. Here are a
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few examples: more than 90.000 and decentralised state level, leading to (mostly French) people cross the border early common approaches in regional each day to work in one of the planning, coordination of infrastructure neighbouring states. 80% of the overall and exchange of information. With the turnover of the property market in the coming of the Single Market and the German town of Kehl involves clients EU’s cross-border INTERREG programmes coming from across the Rhine in in the nineties (with the implementation Strasbourg. Nearly 50% of the craft in the region of more than 300 cross- enterprises in the Upper Rhine region border projects in the first three are engaged in activities in a INTERREG phases), it became more and neighbouring state. The trilateral more obvious that one of the key BioValley Initiative brings together 300 bottlenecks preventing deepening life sciences companies, three cooperation was the lack of knowledge internationally-active pharmaceutical and understanding of the political and companies (Novartis, Roche and administrative systems of the Aventis), four universities (Basle, neighbouring countries. Freiburg, Mulhouse and Strasbourg), approximately 30 private and public Based on the practical experience of Dr research institutes and a constantly- Ewald Eisenberg, then Professor in growing number of biotech start-up charge of French-German relations at companies. the University of Applied Sciences in Kehl, and following a feasibility study With a gross annual domestic product which was validated by a conference of of 165 billion euro, the Upper Rhine is public training institutions in the two economically nearly as important as countries, the Euro Institute was founded Ireland (173.8 billion euro), and the in 1993 as the first specialised binational number of employed persons (three institution for cross-border training in million) is larger than in Denmark (2.7 Europe. Its initial funding came from the million). While the socio-economic INTERREG I programme. importance and dynamism of this region is comparable with some entire member The Euro Institute’s objectives, as defined states, its governance structure remains by its founding agreement, have not divided by national borders, creating changed in the 15 years of its existence. numerous obstacles to an even greater The Institute contributes to the exploitation of its socio-economic improvement of cross-border cooperation potential. by continuing education and training, and provides practical advice and On the other hand, cross-border coaching to practitioners in the cross- cooperation has a relatively long border field. While in the early years it tradition in this region, going back to also provided basic research, a new the 1960s, when the first transnational convention in 2004 concentrated its institutions were created both at local objectives more closely on training and
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advice, in order to better clarify its Sciences of Kehl also became active relationship with its academic partners. partners. In this way, the Institute has become a facilitator for successful cross-border The second principle the partners cooperation in the Upper Rhine region agreed on was the decision to create a with regard to public policies, and legally and organisationally independent contributes actively to the resolution of entity. Unlike other institutions of cross- problems resulting from different legal border cooperation, which work with and administrative systems. personnel who are seconded from the national partners, the Euro Institute has Institutional structures from the beginning employed its own personnel, namely a French and/or The Institute’s internal structures reflect German director, a corresponding a number of common principles initially vice-director, and a team of bilingual agreed between the partners, which and bi-national training managers. continue to contribute to its good functioning. Firstly there was a After a short period in which the consensus that the governmental Institute was located in premises authorities on both sides of the border belonging to Kehl University , it moved who were involved in cross-border to the prestigious Rehfusvilla, a former cooperation in the Upper Rhine should hat factory, which had been renovated also be the main partners in the to become a modern centre of Institute. This was in order to ensure the European and cross-border cooperation necessary interlinking between the also hosting two other institutions: different levels of regional and local INFOBEST, an agency providing cross- administration and the services border citizens information, and the responsible for the management of Secretariat of the Trilateral Conference public training. On the French side these of the Upper Rhine, the official were the French state (represented by government body for cross-border the Préfecture de Region), the Conseil cooperation in the region. It was the Régional d´Alsace, the Département du ambition of all the partners also to set Bas-Rhin and the Strasbourg up a legal structure in order to Agglomeration Council, and on the symbolise both the integrity and German side they were the government durability of the new body. At that time of Baden-Württemberg (represented by German public law did not yet provide the regional governor of Freiburg), the an adequate legal form, so it was county of Ortenau and the municipal decided to use the only European government of Kehl, where the Institute instrument available, the EIEG (Economic was located. In order to ensure the Interest European Group) – although the necessary links and synergies with the objectives of the Euro Institute have academic world, the University of never been to work economically on a Strasbourg and the University of Applied profit basis. Later, in 2004, with the
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The Rehfusvilla in Kehl on the German-French Border, which houses the Euro Institute emergence of new transnational legal budget, the Institute has in recent years forms, the Institute became the first greatly improved its performance in GLCT (Local Cross-Border Cooperation winning external contracts. More Grouping) in Germany. demand-oriented and specialised training products have been developed The third principle was the introduction without changing the original objectives of a dual financing mechanism based on or the main target groups significantly. subventions from the partners and on securing external contracts; the In terms of internal governance, the establishment of a bi-national board partners have delegated most of the with a rotating national presidency everyday management to the director, between France and Germany; and the who now acts both as the institute’s appointment of a scientific board, CEO and its ‘Chief Strategic Officer’ in representing important personalities terms of product and programme willing to support and to contribute to design, marketing and acquisitions. The the work of the institute. At the end of board – representing the governmental the EU co-financing period in 1999, the and academic partners - meets twice a national partners decided not to cover year: to approve the annual activity the resulting budget deficit completely report and the externally audited themselves. Instead the Euro Institute financial report in March and to approve was asked to raise some of its revenues the budget and the following year’s by working as a service provider in the work programme in November. The public sector training market. In parallel, delegation of other competences to the a new internal accounting system was director and the fact of having its own set up to improve the cost-effectiveness legal structure, combined with a high of its training product. With a base of degree of autonomy in staffing and solid financing by its public partners, budgetary matters, has allowed it to which covers 90% of the annual develop a strong integrated working
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culture. The Institute has thus over time linguistic skills are learned in order to become a living example of prepare and structure the proposed transnational institutional integration, cross-border activity in advance. It is as had been intended by its founders. very important to sensitise the future actors about the importance of the How the Institute works intercultural dimension and to provide them with the necessary tools and The Euro Institute`s training product is methods of intercultural management. structured according to the needs The courses also provide participants identified by the actors involved in with the specifics of managing cross- cross-border cooperation in the Upper border projects in terms of planning, Rhine. The main characteristic of this financing, organisation of meetings, and product is its bi-national and bi-cultural monitoring and evaluation. orientation, and the main target groups are the employees of the state and local Participants take a minimum of four administrations in Germany, France and training modules: for instance (for increasingly Switzerland. Its training Germans), an introductory seminar on courses are also open to participants the politico-administrative system of from the private sector, and from France, two courses on intercultural research institutions, universities, civil training and project management, and society associations and other groups. one language course. If they complete the course, they can obtain the The Institute’s training work can be professional auxiliary qualification of classified according to the following ‘cross-border project manager’. three pillars: The course and qualification provided Pillar 1: Basic training on under the first pillar meets an increasing cross-sectoral competences demand. The more cross-border cooperation becomes an everyday The basic component of the Institute’s reality, the more new actors face the activity is the development of the cross- challenge of becoming better trained sectoral skills and competences and qualified in terms of the skills the necessary for any cross-border and/or course covers. Nearly all public inter-regional cooperation. The main institutions in the Upper Rhine valley are objective here is to provide those now seeking well qualified people who involved with the necessary institutional can represent them in both formal and and legal knowledge about the politico- informal cross-border cooperation administrative system of the situations. neighbouring states and about the system of cross-border cooperation Pillar 2: Specialised training itself. In addition, the relevant instrumental, methodological and The Institute also provides specialised
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training courses which are oriented two day seminars, including informal towards representatives from specific exchanges during an evening event on administrative sectors in the the first day. As most cross-border neighbouring states. The content of problems have a sectoral or thematic these courses consists of selected policy- component, and thus require oriented topics within cross-border cooperation between the relevant cooperation. The aim is to provide a sectoral services, these specialist neutral platform for exchanges between seminars are very often the starting specialists from the different countries point for future joint projects, and so that they can better understand the sometimes even lead to the sectoral competences and establishment of bilateral or trilateral organisational structures in the other standing working groups. countries, and identify differences from and similarities with their own - or just Another form of training under the allow them to get current information second pillar is bigger conferences of and analysis on policy developments and 200 or more participants. In 2007, for good practice in the neighbouring example, the Euro Institute organised states. This training mainly consists of two major conferences: one on the
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implementation of the French-German how to make a project-oriented framework treaty on health monitoring and evaluation system work. cooperation, and the second on the Although the INTERREG secretariat of reintegration of older French and the relevant Operational Programme German people into the workforce at a usually does a very good job, practical time when there are fewer young experience shows that local and people on the labour market and the regional partners are very often official pension age is rising (it is now overloaded by the complexity of the 67 in Germany). reporting and accounting demands on them by the funder. Another programme deals with cooperation between the French and In addition, German, French and Swiss German police, justice and gendarmerie project partners often have different services in the context of the Schengen perceptions of these demands, and have Treaty. This programme, which consists to deal with the day-to-day running of a of five annual seminars, was established cross-border project involving national in 2004. It is overseen by a steering administrations with quite different committee of high-level representatives administrative cultures. This is why the from the participating administrations Euro Institute, using its own extensive which select the topics and annually experience of such projects, provides evaluate the course, which has been adaptable practical coaching to both the developed by the Euro Institute. individual project leader and the bi- or tri-national project teams as an Pillar 3: Developing national intercultural group. This contributes to competences for EU affairs the smooth functioning of the project teams, helps to avoid blockages, and Under the third pillar, the Institute tries thus facilitates both project and to enhance the competences of national programme implementation public administrations with regard to European integration. Most local and In addition, more and more local and regional administrations take a very regional authorities want to participate pragmatic view and see Europe mainly in inter-regional or even transnational as an opportunity to access EU financial INTERREG projects, and are developing support programmes like INTERREG. partnerships with Eastern European This is a legitimate position which raises regions. In this context the question of numerous practical questions: how to good practice in international network find the right partner across the border; management arises: how to build and how to fill in the application form; how maintain a solid international to set up a project’s organisation; how partnership; what is the relative position to manage a cross-border budget; how of the actors in the network; how to to justify expenses; how to define good prepare and manage international progress and impact indicators, and meetings and so on. Here the Euro
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Institute also provides practical however, represent only 30% of the assistance. Institute’s training activities. Most training courses are developed in Last but not least, the local and regional response to external demand. These authorities are increasingly realising to tailor-made courses have become more what extent they are affected by and more important during recent years, European legislation. The fact that in and are often organised as bi-national Germany, for example, 80% of all local seminars on specific public administrative action is more or less administration themes, e.g. on public determined by EU law, raises the health, occupational medicine, regional question of how to become more planning and urban policy. On the other actively involved in the preparation of hand, they do require the adaptation of this legislation and how to better training methods to fit the specific represent local and regional interests in topics and/or the expectations of the its formulation. Based on the wide external clients, and they often take practical experience of its director, who place ‘in house’ at the client’s place has since 2004 been an accredited of business. trainer on Impact Assessment for the European Commission’s Secretariat The success of these external courses is General, the Institute helps the actors in proof that the Institute has found its the Upper Rhine to become more niche in the relatively difficult public familiar with the relevant procedures at sector training market. This recognition EU-level and teaches them how to has also led to partnership agreements contribute actively to stakeholder with the regional branches of some of consultations and ex ante impact the most important national training assessments , which increasingly have institutions in France, such as the Centre to consider regional and/or trans- National de la Fonction Publique regional dimensions. Territoriale (CNFPT). However with a more decentralised system of continuing In terms of the development, design and education in Germany, the formalisation marketing of its training product, the of standard contracts is more difficult. Euro Institute takes two main Also the training budgets available to approaches. On the one hand, an German local and regional authorities annual catalogue is published, which are smaller compared to the French side. describes and schedules around ten To maintain the necessary balance, both training courses for each pillar. The in terms of individual participants and catalogue lists those training courses external clients, is the everyday which can be signed up to by any challenge of this kind of bi-national interested person. It is published in training institution. January each year and is widely distributed in a print and electronic Publications on cross-border cooperation version. The courses in the catalogue, are very important. The Euro Institute
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has therefore established its own series of content, methodology and of publications with the well-known participation. For successful cooperation German publishing house NOMOS. 22 with no ‘mental frontier’, trainers must books have been published by the reconsider their whole way of thinking, Institute so far. Recent titles include a recognising that constructive practical guide on the intercultural cooperation is not possible without management of meetings, and a knowing and respecting the structures, volume on the European dimension of working methods and ethos of the administrative culture, taken from the neighbouring country’s system – as well proceedings of an international as fully understanding one’s own! conference in 2007 co-organised with the Council of Europe. The contribution of the Euro Institute in making this partnership principle work is How to make cross-border twofold: providing a neutral platform, partnerships work and facilitating intercultural and inter-service exchange. Most important A thorough knowledge of the in this respect is a strategic positioning politico-administrative system of the which is able to respond quickly to the neighbouring country is a prerequisite real needs of the participants. for any efficient cross-border Sometimes this means to be modest in cooperation. The main difference one’s aims and to provide only technical between the Euro Institute’s training and logistical support. However, the courses and those of a national training provision of methodological and organisation is therefore the linguistic competence along with solid concentration on themes arising out of experience of good practice in the needs of cross-border professionals intercultural management are the within the various sectors. Also the fact hallmarks of the Euro Institute. We that the training courses are always believe that to share this experience and inter-service, bi-national and bilingual in to cooperate with similar institutions nature has contributed to their high from other border regions in Europe is acceptance among participants. We very important. We look forward to the have found that partnerships between Centre for Cross Border Studies in the relevant administrations are best Ireland joining us to become a partner developed when the courses are in the EU-wide network of local prepared by an ad hoc group of authorities and training institutes which different national specialists. Such is being planned by Mission preparation requires a lot of time and Opérationelle Transfrontalière, the investment by the partners – but it is a French Government’s cross-border necessary precondition for any effective cooperation agency, as part of a current bi-national training product, which not application to the INTERREG IVC only considers the intercultural programme. dimension but actively uses it in terms
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Dr Joachim Beck has been Director Casteigts, M./Drewello, H./Eisenberg, of the Franco-German Euro Institute E.(1999): Evaluierung since 2006. Before that he was Head grenzüberschreitender und of Public Management at the Swiss- interregionaler Vorhaben’ in Europa, based consultancy firm PROGNOS Herausforderungen - Methoden - AG and, in the 1990s, Managing Praktische Erfahrungen, Baden-Baden Director of INFOBEST Strasbourg/Kehl, an agency Eisenberg, Ewald (2007): ‘Learning from providing cross-border citizens cultural experiences and interactions: information. He has written several Cross-border administrative cultures’, in books on public management and Franz Thedieck (Ed.), Foundations of cross-border cooperation and Administrative Culture in Europe, administrative culture in Europe. Baden-Baden, pp. 183 – 193
Euro-Institut (Hrsg.)(2007): Interkultureller Leitfaden zur Moderation grenzüberschreitender Sitzungen, REFERENCES Baden-Baden, 2007 / Guide interculturel pour l´animation de réunions Beck, Joachim (1999): ‘Cross-border transfrontalières, Luxembourg Cooperation in Europe – The Example of the Upper Rhine’, in König, Klaus/Fosler, Frey, Michael (2005); Eurodistrikte als Scot (Ed.), Regionalization below State- neue Form der grenzüberschreitenden level in Germany and the United States, Zusammenarbeit am Oberrhein – Speyer, 1999, pp. 137 – 165 Grundlagen und Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten’ in VBLBW, Beck, Joachim (2007): ‘Methods of 12/2005, pp. 449 – 464 research to Explore Administrative Culture’, in Franz Thedieck (Ed.), Jann, Werner (2006): ‘Administrative Foundations of Administrative Culture in Culture: Concepts and Classifications’; Europe, Baden-Baden, 2007, paper for the Conference on pp. 29 – 35 Foundations of Administrative Culture in Europe, Strasbourg, 12 October 2006 Beck, Joachim: ‘Patterns of administrative culture in cross-border Nagelschmidt, Martin (2005): Das cooperation’ , in Joachim Beck/Franz oberrheinische Mehrebenensystem. Thedieck (Ed.), The European Dimension Institutionelle Bedingungen und of Administrative Culture, Baden-Baden, funktionale Herausforderungen (forthcoming) grenzübergreifender Zusammenarbeit in Europa, Basel 2005
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Ricq, Charles (2006): Handbook of Transfrontier Cooperation, Strasbourg 2006 edition
Wassenberg, Birte (2007): Vers une eurorégion? La coopération transfrontalière franco-germano-suisse dans l ´espace du Rhin supérieur de 1975 à 2000, Bruxelles. JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
SCoTENS: HOW TEACHER EDUCATORS TOOK THE LEAD IN NORTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
John Coolahan
2008 marks the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the discussions which led to the formation of the Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS), a unique organisation which brings together all the key agencies involved in the formation of teachers on the island of Ireland. This may be an John Coolahan appropriate time to trace the origins of SCoTENS, to examine its development, and to evaluate and contextualise its achievements. The move towards establishing such a standing conference was prompted by the text and spirit of Strand Two of the Belfast Agreement, which sought ‘to develop consultation, co- operation and action within the island of Ireland – including through implementation on an all-island and cross-border basis – on matters of mutual interest within the competence of the administrations, North and South’. The second area listed for North-South cooperation and implementation was ‘Education – teacher qualifications and exchanges’.
In the summer of 1998, Professor Harry bring interested people together to McMahon of the University of Ulster focus on teacher education policy and and Professor John Coolahan of practice in both jurisdictions on the National University of Ireland Maynooth island. This would provide an began discussions on the desirability of opportunity for viewpoints to emerge teacher educators taking a pro-active on the best way forward for sustaining stance to promote cooperation on dialogue and cooperation. A nine- teacher education issues throughout the person working group representative of island. Consultations were held with teacher education institutions North and other colleagues and strong support South was convened to plan this emerged for taking such an initiative. In conference. Initial financial support was the first instance, it was considered that sought and received from the a major conference should be held to Department of Education in Northern
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Ireland and the Department of including coordinated research and Education and Science in the Republic. development; • To stimulate the creation of a The Invitational Conference for Teacher framework for promoting Education Professionals in Ireland, North continuing collaboration between and South, took place in the Hilton teacher educators North and South, Hotel in Belfast on 18-20 May 2000. It e.g. in the form of a standing was addressed by the Minister in charge conference.2 of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland, George Howarth MP, The three day event was a major success and the Minister of State for Children in with a remarkable spirit of engagement the Republic of Ireland, Mary Hanafin and enthusiasm for collaboration in TD. The conference was attended by evidence. It benefited from the input of representatives of 31 interested two major figures in international agencies: colleges of education, teacher education, Professsor Malcolm university education departments, Skilbeck from Australia and Professor curriculum councils and regional David Imig from the USA. Following education bodies, along with officials plenary papers by Professor McMahon from the sponsoring Departments. This and Professor Áine Hyland of University was the first time that representatives College Cork on teacher education, from all the institutions with North and South, most of the work responsibility for teacher education on took place in work groups, which the island of Ireland had come proposed a range of areas that would together to discuss a range of issues of benefit from cross-border research and common concern. collaboration. A framework for action was agreed by the conference One can view the 2000 Belfast organising committee, which was conference as an attempt to re-engage constituted as an interim executive teacher educators on the island in a committee for the proposed standing process of reflection and collaboration conference. after 80 years of the two education systems turning their backs on each The interim executive committee other. Among the conference’s prepared an organisational framework, objectives were: a work programme and a three year • To allow teacher education financial plan and submitted these to professionals to develop a greater the Departments in both jurisdictions in understanding of teacher education December 2000.3 While it was intended in both jurisdictions, and to consider that a scheme of institutional current practice and concerns, and membership fees would eventually emerging futures; become operative, the hope was that • To identify possible shared initiatives contributions from the Departments and cross-border collaborations, over a three year period would be
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obtained as initial core funding. its administration to the Centre for However while there were expressions Cross Border Studies in Armagh. Since of goodwill, the required resources were that time the Centre has continued to not immediately forthcoming, be an effective and efficient support particularly from the Northern base for the work of SCOTENS, whose administration. The offer of a small, objectives are cognate to the purposes once-off, start-up grant was deemed by of the Centre. SCoTENS immediately the committee to be insufficient as a gave its support to two EU-funded base to move forward. Eventually a projects which the Centre for Cross scaled-down re-submission was made in Border Studies was getting under way: February 2002, seeking £40,000 per the North-South Student Teacher annum from each administration over a Exchange Project, which brought two year pilot phase, and students from seven colleges of representations were made in support education – two in the North and five in of it. In July 2002 Martin McGuinness, the South – across the border to do part Minister for Education in Northern of their assessed teaching practice in Ireland, wrote to Professor Coolahan to schools in the other jurisdiction; and the say that both he and his Northern North-South Diversity in Early Years colleague Carmel Hanna, Minister for Education research project, which aimed Employment and Learning, were to identify difficulties facing young prepared to back this submission.4 With children and teachers in areas of inter- a parallel commitment from the community conflict and tension on both Department of Education and Science in sides of the border. the Republic, this provided a budget of £160,000 for the 2003-2005 two-year A SCoTENS website (http://scotens.org) pilot phase.5 Even before this funding was set up, initially under the direction was forthcoming, the interim executive of Dr Roger Austin in the University of committee had kept interest alive in the Ulster, and later in the Centre for Cross initiative by supporting cross-border Border Studies. In the first instance, it networks on early childhood education concentrated on material for special and initial teacher education. needs education, and material on citizenship education was later added. In autumn 2002 the committee held A group under Dr Austin was several meetings to plan its work particularly active in forming a nucleus programme and modus operandi. A to develop initiatives involving teachers work programme was submitted to the and student teachers, North and South, two Departments in December.6 The aim to engage cooperatively in areas of was to deploy the resources available as mutual professional interest in the seed funding to support North-South application of ICT to education. networks and research projects during the two year pilot phase. The committee SCoTENS was also in a position to re- was pleased that it was able to devolve activate the network focussing on initial
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teacher education issues, North and obtaining funding for approved South. The Standing Conference also research activities; supported a network considering policy • Support exchange arrangements and practice on the in-career between teacher educators for development of teachers, and the approved purposes, as part of its recently-formed Irish Association for concern to strengthen existing inter- Social, Scientific and Environmental professional and inter-institutional Education (IASSEE), which brought linkages; together history, geography and science • Maintain a website which will teachers from the two jurisdictions. It incorporate several forms of also planned a series of annual computer-mediated communication conferences with prestigious in relation to educational international speakers. The Departments developments in research, North and in both jurisdictions responded South; favourably to the work plan and • Act as an agency for advice and indicated that they were ‘firmly consultation by policy makers in the committed to the development of the Department of Education and cross-border dimension of teacher Department for Employment and education.’ Learning (NI) and the Department of Education and Science (RoI).7 Thus when the Standing Committee of SCoTENS came together in Stranmillis Over the five years since this ambitious University College Belfast on 31 January declaration of intent SCOTENS has 2003 for its first formal meeting, it was successfully delivered on all these in a good position to re-formulate its objectives, although there has been objectives and put in place structures limited direct engagement in the pursuit and procedures to achieve them. Its of the last objective of being an agency objectives were agreed to be as follows: for advice and consultation to the • Provide a supportive framework for Departments. collaboration and professional activities on teacher education, The pilot phase North and South; • Hold invitational conferences of The 2003-2005 pilot phase was to be of mutual interest to teacher crucial importance in laying the educators, North and South; foundations for this unusual form of • Provide seed funding for North- cross-border academic collaboration, South research projects on teacher focussing on mutual educational education issues; concerns in two states which had been • Promote position papers on issues of cut off from each other for over 80 mutual concern to teacher years. One of the key mechanisms was educators, North and South; to convene annual all-island conferences • Use its good offices to assist in of teacher educators on common
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themes, somewhat on the lines of the Council for Scotland, Matthew McIver; original Belfast conference in 2000. The the Chief Executive of the General first such a conference took place in Teaching Council for England, Keith Malahide, Co Dublin in October 2003 Bartley, and the Chairman and under the title ‘Challenges to Teacher Academic Secretary of the Universities Education and Research, North and Council for the Education of Teachers South’. It was opened by the Secretary (UCET), Professors Michael Totterdell General of the Irish Department of and Gordon Kirk. Education and Science, John Dennehy, and the Assistant Secretary of the As well as plenary sessions at the annual Northern Ireland Department of conferences, much of the activity Education, Christine Jendoubi. occurred through cross-border work groups on specialist themes. The lists of While SCoTENS has focussed on the workshops at the 2003 and 2007 analysis and research of teacher conferences illustrate this well. In 2003 education issues on the island of they were on: attracting, selecting and Ireland, it has never taken an insular integrating student teachers; integrating approach. From the beginning it ICT into teacher education; teacher accepted that in modern circumstances education for diversity and citizenship; teacher education in Ireland needed to teacher education and the integration of be alert to international trends, special needs; school placements in particularly within the Organisation of initial teacher education; training for Economic Cooperation and school leadership; best practice in Development (OECD) and the EU. The teacher induction; and policy 2003 conference was addressed by approaches to continuing professional David Istance, leader of the ‘Schools for development. In contrast, the 2007 the Future’ project in the OECD’s Centre conference workshops were on: digital for Educational Research and video as a tool for changing ICT Innovation, and the 2004 conference by learning; moving towards creativity in Sean Feerick, chairman of the EU arts and science education; exploring Commission’s working group on the CPD needs of heads of year; improving the education of teachers developing reflective skills in student and trainers. This broad international teachers; bringing school communities input has continued to be a feature of together to promote education for all SCOTENS conferences. The diversity; and building effective science organisation has also taken care to outreach strategies. These lists clearly foster an East-West, as well as a North- demonstrate the centrality of what South dimension, inviting distinguished was being discussed to contemporary figures in teacher education from teacher education in both parts of Scotland and England as conference the island. speakers. These have included the Registrar of the General Teaching The 2004 annual conference was held in
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Irish Minister for Education and Science Ms Mary Hanafin TD with the joint chairpersons of SCoTENS, Professor Richard McMinn (left) and Dr Pauric Travers.
Armagh under the title ‘The Changing conferences organised by sub-groups Contexts of Teacher Education, North such as the Irish Association for Social and South’. It included a very relevant Scientific and Environmental Education and informative symposium on the (IASSEE) and the SCoTENS network on Teaching Councils in Ireland and initial teacher education; and North- Scotland, with speeches from the South conferences on special directors of the Irish, Northern Irish and educational needs in initial teacher Scottish teaching councils: Áine Lawlor, education, citizenship education, and Eddie McArdle and Matthew McIver. building educational research capacity. There was the usual range of reporting Between 2003 and 2007, 12 such back on the research projects which conferences were supported by SCOTENS had been supporting, from SCOTENS. initial teacher education to teaching children with profound learning A key objective of SCOTENS has been to disabilities, and from an all-island survey provide relatively small amounts of seed of student perceptions of history, funding for research projects conducted geography and science to a ‘toolkit’ for jointly by researchers North and South. teachers working in intercultural The list of research projects which have education. been nurtured and supported in this way has been extraordinarily impressive. During this pilot phase, in line with its In the five years up to January 2008 no objective of providing a supportive fewer than 27 research and conference framework for professional activities, projects were supported (see Table on SCoTENS also supported a range of pages 56-59). sectoral conferences. These included continued on page 60 >
55 JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3 SCoTENS RESEARCH AND CONFERENCE PROJECTS
Project Name Lead Participants
2003-2004
Special Education Needs and Initial Mr Hugh Kearns, Stranmillis University Teacher Education in Ireland College, Belfast and Dr Michael Shevlin, Trinity College Dublin
A preliminary evaluation of a Teaching Dr Jean Ware, St Patrick's College, Package for Children with Profound and Drumcondra and Dr Colette Gray, Multiple Learning Difficulties Stranmillis University College, Belfast
North-South conference on Education Ms Una O'Connor, University of Ulster for Diversity and Citizenship (1) and Mr Gerry Jeffers, NUI Maynooth
Universities and the Continuing Dr Paul Conway, University College Professional Development (CPD) of Cork; Mr Hugh Kearns, Stranmillis Teachers North and South University College, Belfast; Dr Mary McAteer, University of Ulster; Ms Regina Murphy, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra
Irish Association for Social, Scientific and Dr Janet Varley, St Patrick's College, Environmental Education (IASSEE) Drumcondra and Dr Catherine Quinn, annual conference 2004 St Mary's University College, Belfast
2004-2005
An all-Ireland longitudinal study of Dr Colette Murphy, Queen's University Student Perceptions of History, Belfast and Ms Fionnuala Waldron, Geography & Science (IASSEE)(3 phases, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra 2004-2008)
Educational Studies Association of Dr Denis Bates, University of Limerick Ireland (ESAI) and British Education and Dr John Gardner, Queen's Research Association (BERA) joint University, Belfast conference on research (1)
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SCoTENS RESEARCH AND CONFERENCE PROJECTS
Project Name Lead Participants
2005-2006
Together towards Inclusion: A Toolkit for Ms Mary Yarr, Southern Education and Trainers Library Board, Armagh; Dr Barbara Simpson, Trinity College Dublin; Professor David Little, Trinity College Dublin
IASSEE annual conference 2005 Ms Fionnuala Waldron, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra; Dr Janet Varley, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra; Dr Colette Murphy, Queen's University Belfast
North-South conference: The Dr Andy Burke, St Patrick's College, Competences Approach to Teacher Drumcondra; Mr Barry Burgess, Professional Development University of Ulster; Ms Rose Dolan, NUI Maynooth; Ms Clare Connolly, St Mary's University College, Belfast
North-South Teaching Practice Study Dr Paraig Cannon, Marino Institute of Group Education, Dublin; Ms Margaret Farrar, Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin; Ms Sandra McWilliams, Stranmillis University College, Belfast
North-South Citizenship Website Dr Ron Smith. University of Ulster
2006-2007
North-South Conference on Education Ms Una O'Connor, University of Ulster for Diversity and Citizenship (2) and Mr Gerry Jeffers. NUI Maynooth
ESAI and BERA joint conference on Dr Denis Bates, University of Limerick; research (2) Dr John Gardner, Queen's University, Belfast; Dr Anne Lodge, NUI Maynooth continued on next page >
57 JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3 SCoTENS RESEARCH AND CONFERENCE PROJECTS
Project Name Lead Participants
2006-2007 cont.
Current Practice in ICT within Teacher Dr Roger Austin, University of Ulster; Ms Education Deirdre Graffin, University of Ulster; Dr Paul Conway, University College Cork; Dr Joe O'Hara, Dublin City University
Teacher Education for Special Mr Hugh Kearns, Stranmillis University Educational Needs in the North and College, Belfast and Dr Michael Shevlin, South of Ireland: Sharing Cases of Trinity College Dublin Practice
The Social/National Identity of Young Dr Barbara McConnell and Ms Louise Children North-South research project Quinn, Stranmillis University College, Belfast; Dr Philomena Donnelly, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra
2007-2008
Digital Video as a tool for changing ICT Dr Roger Austin, University of Ulster; Ms learning in Schools and Teacher Deirdre Graffin, University of Ulster; Dr Education Paul Conway, University College Cork; Dr Joe O'Hara, Dublin City University; Mrs Linda Clarke, University of Ulster
Social Justice Education in Initial Teacher Dr Marie Clarke and Dr Audrey Bryan, Education: a Cross Border Perspective University College Dublin; Professor Tony Gallagher, Queen's University Belfast; Dr Margaret Reynolds, St Mary's University College, Belfast; Dr Ken Wylie, Stranmillis University College, Belfast
Developing Reflective Skills in Student Dr Gerry MacRuairc and Dr Judith Teachers Harford, University College Dublin; Mr Dermot MacCartan, St Mary's University College, Belfast
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SCoTENS RESEARCH AND CONFERENCE PROJECTS
Project Name Lead Participants
2007-2008
Bringing School Communities Together Professor Keith Sullivan, NUI Galway; Dr to Promote Education for Diversity Ron Smith, Queen’s University Belfast
Art and Science in Education: Moving Mr Ivor Hickey and Ms Deirdre Robson, Towards Creativity St Mary's University College, Belfast; Mr Donal O'Donoghue, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick
School-based work in the North and Dr Brian Cummins, Stranmillis University South of Ireland: Exploring the Role of College, Belfast and Ms Bernadette Ni the HEI Tutor Aingleis, St Patrick's College, Drumcondra.
Building Effective Science Outreach Dr Kevin Davison, Dr Veronica McCauley Strategies North and South and Dr C Domegan, NUI Galway; Ms Eileen Martin, Ms Emma McKenna, Dr Billy McClure and Dr Ruth Jarman, Queen's University Belfast
Cross Border Exploration of CPD needs Ms Patricia Mannix McNamara and Dr of Heads of Year in a sample of Tom Geary, University of Limerick; Dr Comprehensive and Integrated Schools Caryl Sibbett, Queen's University Belfast
The Professional Development Needs of Ms Elizabeth O'Gorman, Ms Mairin Teachers working in the area of Special Barry and Mr Bernard McGettrick, Educational Needs University College Dublin; Dr Eileen Winter, Queen's University Belfast
Examining Assessment procedures for Mr Justin Rami, Dublin City University Trainee Teachers: a comparison and Dr Margaret Reynolds, St. Mary's University College, Belfast
59 JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
continued from page 55 >
SCOTENS also began publishing or chairpersons of SCoTENS, replied to this supporting the publication of reports or letter, setting out the scale of the direct books which came out of these and indirect contributions which the conferences and research projects. teacher education institutions were Among the early publications were: making to facilitate their staffs’ Teacher Education in the Republic of engagement in SCoTENS.10 Following Ireland: Retrospect and Prospect (2004); some telephone communication, the Diversity in Early Years Education North chairpersons wrote again to the and South – Implications for Teacher Permanent Secretary of the NI Education (2004); Together Towards Department of Education in February Inclusion – A North South Project 2005, stating that if departmental (2005). The organisation also publishes funding were renewed for 2005-2006, a book-length annual report containing SCOTENS would commit to raising papers from the annual conferences, resources from other agencies, including reports from sectoral conferences and the teacher education institutions research projects, reports of the working themselves, for the following years.11 groups, a website report and a financial A reply in April said the issue would be statement.8 This is compiled by the considered further in the light of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, and it submission of ‘a fully costed work is distributed widely to all agencies with programme against which the year’s an involvement in teacher education activities can be evaluated’.12 throughout the island. This costed work programme was In the summer and autumn of 2004 the submitted to the Departments before Standing Committee, conscious that the the end of May 2005. On this occasion pilot phase was reaching its conclusion, the full costs of the various projects, sought to explore if the Department of including the contributions from the Education and Science in the Republic institutions and academics to the and the Departments of Education and projects, were included. This was to Employment and Learning in Northern demonstrate clearly that the financial Ireland were prepared to continue their support being sought from the financial support in the years ahead. The Departments was only a portion of Irish Department of Education and SCoTENS’ total costs. Eventually, in Science appeared to be favourably September 2005, it was agreed that the disposed. However a letter in November two Northern Ireland Departments 2004 from the Secretary of the NI would each contribute £25,000 each for Department for Employment and the year 2005-2006, and this would be Learning in Belfast stated that if further matched by £50,000 from the funding was to be considered, evidence Department of Education and Science.13 of future self-sustainability was This provided an important breathing required.9 Professor Anne Moran and space for SCOTENS to enable it to Professor John Coolahan, joint sustain the momentum of its activities
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while preparing to diversify its summer of 2006 when a two-year grant funding base. of £40,000 was obtained from the Nuffield Foundation. A new phase Thus by mid-2006 SCOTENS was well At the November 2005 annual positioned to maintain and develop its conference, the financial situation of work into the future. In line with the SCOTENS was discussed with changed financial situation, at the participants, and it was agreed that October 2006 annual conference in teacher education and other relevant Belfast the membership of the Standing agencies should be approached to take Committee was broadened (to 17 out institutional membership for a three- members) to be more representative of year period starting with the academic the participating institutions. year 2006-2007. There followed a very positive response from all the relevant The annual conferences had continued institutions on the island, with the result with various themes. The 2005 that 39 institutional members – colleges conference had been on ‘Teaching of education, universities, curriculum Education for Citizenship in Diverse councils, teaching councils, education Societies’, with keynote speakers from trade unions and education centres – England and Norway. The 2006 registered as paid-up institutional conference took the theme ‘Teacher members. This was a powerful Education and Schools: Together endorsement of the work of SCOTENS Towards Improvement’ and had a strong by its user constituency, and gave the East-West flavour, with two of the member institutions a greater sense of keynote speakers from the UK ownership of the organisation. Universities Council for the Education of Teachers. The theme for the 2007 Furthermore, when the chairpersons – conference was ‘Teaching in the Professor Richard McMinn, Principal of Knowledge Society’, with a strongly Stranmillis University College, was now supportive opening address by the Irish the Northern joint chair – sought Minister for Education and Science, continuing support from the Mary Hanafin (who had spoken at the Departments, North and South, for the inaugural Belfast conference in 2000) years 2007-2009, this was forthcoming, and a keynote by Professor John Furlong albeit on a smaller scale. Senior of Oxford University’s Department of departmental officials also expressed Education. their high regard for SCoTENS’ work. One Dublin official said it had provided SCoTENS publications continued to a much needed boost to networking appear, among them The Competences between the colleges of education in Approach to Teacher Professional the Republic, let alone across the island. Development: Current Practice and There was more good news in the Future Prospects in November 2007. In
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December 2007 came the launch of set their minds to working on North- Together towards Inclusion – Toolkit for South basis. Diversity in the Primary School, which was the culmination of three years of Overview collaboration between the Southern Education and Library Board in Armagh SCoTENS emerged from the changing and Integrate Ireland Language and political circumstances of the peace Training in Dublin (a government- process, which saw new relationships supported agency providing English being forged between unionists and language support for refugees and nationalists in Northern Ireland, asylum seekers, and support to teachers between Northern Ireland and the teaching English to non-English Republic of Ireland, and the Republic speaking immigrant pupils). It was and Britain. Education is the crucial launched in Dundalk by the Northern process through which society nurtures Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane, knowledge, understanding, attitudes and the Southern Minister with and skills among the younger responsibility for Integration, Conor generations. For historical reasons the Lenihan. This ‘toolkit’ for teachers came educational systems in both parts of the out of a SCoTENS-funded research small island had grown very much apart, project. It was unprecedented in that although they shared deep common the two Departments of Education, roots. In the first instance, SCoTENS North and South, pledged that it would aimed to promote greater mutual be distributed to every primary school understanding of the contemporary on the island of Ireland – the first time policies, practices and problems of both any curricular material had been systems among teacher educators. It distributed in this way for over 80 years. also wanted to discuss on an all-island basis international issues of vital While its resources do not permit the importance to education such as the so- financing of large scale research called ‘knowledge society’ and the role projects, it is clear that through seed of teaching councils. funding 27 research and conference projects in five years, SCoTENS has had In 2005 the OECD published the most a huge impact on both the level of comprehensive, comparative review ever research activity and on inter-college on the teaching career around the networking in the field of teacher world: Teachers Matter: Attracting, education. It is little wonder that the Retaining and Developing Effective first Joint Secretary of the North/South Teachers.14 Measuring the teaching Ministerial Council, Tim O’Connor, career in both parts of Ireland against speaking at the 2004 conference, this benchmark, there are many positive singled out SCoTENS as a superb dimensions to be recorded. Teaching as example of what professional a career has deep historical roots within associations could achieve if they the island, and it is recognised that the
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Irish people have been well served by involves engagement by teachers and the teaching force through many pupils in schools. generations, leading to it enjoying high social status and regard. This is an asset In these ways SCoTENS provides a of inestimable value, which should not valuable forum for supporting teacher be taken for granted, and which many educators throughout the island to help countries would wish to have today. The them fulfil their demanding roles at this image of the teacher continues to period of great change in education. attract a strong supply of highly Arising from SCoTENS-sponsored qualified and committed applicants, activities, teacher educators are now which is in strong contrast to trends in involved in numerous linkages and some other countries. Both systems in exchanges between the two Ireland are fortunate that retention rates jurisdictions. Its annual and sectoral within the profession remain high, in conferences have been valuable staff contrast to the attrition rates occurring development occasions, as well as in other systems. Both governments fostering personal relationships between have emphasised education for human fellow professionals throughout the resource development as a central island. Its 27 seed funded projects have dimension of economic and social policy. led to significant added value to existing They are also concerned that education knowledge and practice, to the benefit should promote greater mutual of all concerned. Its publications, books understanding and cooperation on the and reports have disseminated much island, regarding this as integral to valuable material to all those with an improved quality of life for the whole interest in education, along with its populace. award-winning website (the latter particularly in the demanding areas of Teacher education is strategically placed special education and education for to play a catalytic role in promoting such citizenship). In all these ways SCoTENS – objectives. Teacher education which may be unique in the world, in professionals work with teachers within that it operates as a fully functioning a lifelong learning framework. They network of teacher educators across a exercise considerable influence on the traditionally contested border – has understanding, attitudes and skills of made a major contribution to teacher teachers during the formative periods of education policy and practice in Ireland. pre-service training and early professional development. Furthermore, John Coolahan is Professor as numerous SCoTENS projects have Emeritus of Education at National demonstrated, they are in a position to University of Ireland Maynooth. In encourage cooperative activity of the 1990s he was Secretary General mutual benefit to trainee students in of the National Education both parts of Ireland during their pre- Convention and the National Forum service education. This process also on Early Childhood Education in the
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Republic of Ireland. He has led a 8. Standing Conference on Teacher number of OECD education review Education North and South teams to countries in Eastern (SCoTENS) annual reports for 2003, Europe, the Far East and South 2004, 2005 and 2006, Centre for America. Cross Border Studies, Armagh
9. Letter from Will Haire, Permanent REFERENCES Secretary, Department for Employment and Learning, 8 1. The Belfast Agreement (1998), November 2004 (SCoTENS archive) pp 12-14 10. Letter from John Coolahan and 2. Programme for Invitational Anne Moran to Mr Haire, 1 Conference for Teacher Education December 2004 (SCoTENS archive) Professionals, North and South, 2000, Objectives (SCoTENS archive) 11. Letter from John Coolahan and Anne Moran to Gerry McGinn, 3. Proposal for a Standing Conference Permanent Secretary, NI Department on Teacher Education, North and of Education, 28 February 2005 South, December 2000 (SCoTENS (SCoTENS archive) archive) 12. Letter from Gerry McGinn to John 4. Letter from Martin McGuinness MP Coolahan and Anne Moran, 19 April MLA to John Coolahan, 4 July 2002 2005 (SCoTENS archive) (SCoTENS archive) 13. Letter from John Coolahan and 5. Letter from Pat Dowling, Richard McMinn to Gerry McGinn Department of Education and (DENI), Will Haire (DEL) and Science, 5 September 2002 Christine Tiernan (DES), 6 (SCoTENS archive) September 2005 (SCoTENS archive)
6. Programme of work submitted to 14. OECD, Teachers Matter: Attracting, Pat Dowling, DES and Jane Kennedy Retaining and Developing Effective MP, Minister for Education, Teachers (2005), OECD: Paris. Department of Education, Bangor, Co Down, 2 December 2002 (SCoTENS archive)
7. Statement of SCoTENS objectives, January 2003 (SCoTENS archive)
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SURVEYING THE SICKBEDS: INITIAL STEPS TOWARDS MODELLING ALL-ISLAND HOSPITAL ACCESSIBILITY
Ronan Foley, Martin Charlton and Patricia Clarke
Ronan Foley Martin Charlton Patricia Clarke
There has been increasing interest in recent years by both civil servants and academics in both Irish jurisdictions in modelling economic and social structures across the whole island, with health services one of the key areas explored1. There has been some limited cross-border movement in the utilisation of health care, and a recently published preliminary study by Jamison and Butler (2007)2 examined the existing configuration of acute hospital services, identifying considerable potential for cross-border collaboration in these services, particularly in the border region.
Hospital rationalisation remains Report7 in the Republic. However all somewhat further advanced in Northern these reports contain practically nothing Ireland than in the South, which may with a cross-border dimension. Recent present some issues around reciprocal developments in cancer services – with service provision.3 However, strategic patients from Donegal going to Belfast reorganisation plans in the health sector for radiotherapy – show that it is have been drawn up since 2000 in both possible to begin to envisage the future jurisdictions, as represented by the pattern of acute hospital services on a Hayes Report in the North4, and the cross-border basis. This initiative is the Hanly Report5, the Developing Better first indication that the Irish Government Services Report6 and the Teamwork is prepared systematically to access
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services in the North which benefit Ireland of the National Health Service citizens of the Republic8. model created one structure, while a notional national public hospital system, This article, based on work the National but one characterised by a more Centre for GeoComputation at NUI complex public-private mix with a Maynooth is doing for the Centre for stronger role for private health Cross Border Studies, is a development insurance, emerged in the South. of Jamison and Butler’s work in that it takes a geographical or spatial approach Similarly, the organisation of hospitals in to measuring accessibility to acute both jurisdictions differed. In the North, hospitals and examines how the current they were organised under a Trust configurations in both jurisdictions can model with multiple sites within each be expressed in terms of an ‘accessibility Trust area. For the purposes of this score’. It also investigates quantitatively article we have based our assumptions another of these authors’ themes, on a Trust model with nine acute namely the relative accessibility of hospitals and a simple bed count with hospitals both North and South as no differentiation by specialism. In the expressed by beds per patient. South, the 40 hospitals providing acute care are a mix of voluntary hospitals and The role of spatial planning Health Board/Health Service Executive funded units. Within both jurisdictions Jamison and Butler note the role of there is a range of hospital sizes, history in explaining the current expressed in both the number of distribution of hospitals North and specialisms and the total bed count, South. For a health geographer this is a although the latter was the sole crucial aspect in modelling health care measure which was used in the model provision.9 The distribution of the for this study. current hospital network in Ireland reflects the previous organisation of There has been a concerted effort in hospital services, developed from the both jurisdictions in recent years to look 18th century onwards and reflected in seriously at the organisation of hospital the pre-partition model, which covered services. In addition to the reports listed the whole island. In this model the above, the 2005 Appleby Review11 is general hospital provision was broadly crucial because it looked at the based on two elements: voluntary performance and efficiency of the wider hospitals, mostly located in the cities, health and social services in Northern and the general county hospitals, Ireland and identified particular typically associated with local weaknesses and inefficiencies. All these authorities.10 The pattern of provision reports are informed by the twin aims of after partition initially maintained these providing both a more equitable and a structures. In the latter half of the 20th more efficient health service. In this century, the introduction in Northern paper it is the spatial element whose
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exploration could help in improving that as density of population and the impact service which concerns us. Clearly of distance have rarely been factored geographical tensions always exist in into strategic planning.12 any decision on where to locate health services. These will reflect tensions Yet the fact is that all policy requires between urban and rural areas, better evidence bases. The existence of between densely and lightly populated data sets which can be spatially areas, and between local, regional and referenced and fed into analytical tools national imperatives. Few decisions such as Geographical Information made around either additions to, or cuts Systems (GIS) means that there is now in, service provision escape the considerable potential for a spatially contentious question of exactly where informed modelling approach which can these adjustments should take place. provide valuable evidence bases for Both Jamison and Butler and Murphy making decisions about locating hospital and Killen12 stress the importance of services. This article begins in a small spatially-informed decision-making way to identify how those spatial data when choosing the location of new sets can be put together to help inform hospitals (both regional and such planning. Perhaps the primary service-specific). value of a GIS based approach is its ability to collate large volumes of One area where policy is arguably information and to produce not one lacking is evidence bases with spatial answer but several answers to inform a dimensions. It is possible to access number of different planning scenarios. information on an annual basis on the nature and level of hospital service The aim of the work the National provision in terms of bed counts, Centre for GeoComputation is currently occupancy rates, specialisms and day doing for CCBS is to start using a spatial patient activity. These statistics are approach to examine specific aspects of associated with individual hospitals but accessibility associated with existing and can also be aggregated up to regional potential future hospital provision on an or national level. It is also possible to get island basis. It is by definition a pilot information on utilisation of services study and the aim is relatively broad for though spatially-tagged data, although this reason. The specific objectives of this is better in the North due to the the study are: to use GIS to model existence of UK postcodes and the very spatial accessibility to acute hospitals in limited spatial coding contained in the both Northern Ireland and the Republic South’s Hospital Inpatient Enquiry of Ireland; to model for two different System. Both these data sets have been time periods to see how changes in bed studied and analysed but rarely have provision and local populations have an their locational and spatial aspects been impact on accessibility; to provide a put together in a holistic way. spatial measure of supply equity in the Additionally, geographical aspects such form of beds per patient; and to explore
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how changes, even over a very short two quite different health care systems, time period, impact spatially on North and South. Need is also a improvements or reductions in bed complex term with a number of supply. different definitions relating to expressed need in the form of patients The arrival of GIS and digital and unexpressed need within the wider spatial data population13. Finally, equity can be expressed in a number of ways, Modelling accessibility is a subject that depending on whether one uses a has engaged the minds of medical and vertical or horizontal definition,14 or even health geographers from an early stage. whether one takes a measure based on One of the original core texts in the population or catchment area15. subject was by Joseph and Phillips13, which explicitly studied the twin terms The work of Khan and Bhardwaj16 is accessibility and utilisation. While the particularly useful in developing a fuller two themes can be and often are understanding of what they refer to as discussed separately, it is important to spatial and aspatial aspects of acknowledge the utilisation dimension accessibility. The aspatial aspects they up front, although this study will focus refer to include a wide and complex set primarily on accessibility. Clearly any of variables including income, study of access to and utilisation of education, social class, insurance and health care needs to be aware also of other social and economic factors which core concepts such as need, equity, affect how people access and utilise supply and demand – it is important to health care. They identify these as being recognise that all these elements play a separate but linked elements to the role in a full exploration of accessibility. more purely spatial aspects of location, distance, time and supply which provide We have incorporated some of these the other part of the equation. Together elements into our spatial modelling, these provide a completely integrated though others would require additional model, but it is the spatial side of the data and research. For example supply is equation that this article will focus on, expressed through the number of while understanding that a fuller hospitals but also the relative size of development incorporating the aspatial those hospitals and the level of services would be needed to develop the work provided. Demand is often measured in the future. through utilisation, but there are issues here in terms of how fully demand The traditional approach used by identifies need in a setting of waiting medical and health geographers has lists and staffing shortages, and where been to focus on a number of core the structure of the system itself informs datasets and use these in the modelling utilisation rates. This is a particular issue of accessibility. Some of these in a study like this one, which looks at approaches were used before the
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widespread use of GIS and digital spatial effective accessibility score by area, data.17 The arrival of the latter has, weighted by population, and which also however, allowed for more efficient and incorporated a locally relevant effective modelling using a number of remoteness factor. Other studies have new spatial analytical techniques. The used the power of the GIS to produce location and distribution of health care more robust forms of spatial modelling facilities form the first layer of by including consideration of distance information. While much of this work along road networks and travel time.23, 24 has focussed on secondary and tertiary Other researchers25, 26 have used care, other services associated with additional spatial modelling techniques primary care, community care and even to measure the effect of clustering of voluntary services have also been services and its impact on access. modelled in this way.1,19 Within the Republic of Ireland, the first The second core element is a layer that work that looked at the geography of incorporates demographic data and the hospitals and the ways in which distribution of different populations. geography could be used to model These function as proxies for demand proposed changes was carried out in and need and can be broken down into 197917. This looked at the impacts of sub-populations depending on the the 1968 Fitzgerald Report and services being modelled8. The final layer modelled a proposed re-organisation of of information needed is on the hospitals into a set of regional networks, transportation network used to model a proposal surprisingly similar to the spatial linkages between patients or proposals in 2007. More directly potential patients and services. This was relevant were a number of recent traditionally modelled as Euclidian or studies which were informed by policy straight-line distance, which often decisions and aimed at modelling the enabled planners to quickly see buffers implications of those decisions. Teljeur et or catchments zones around hospitals al27 carried out the first GIS-informed and to visualise quickly those areas or study of the potential impact of the groups which fell outside those zones.2 Hanly report by producing tabulated outputs by health board area for the With the advent of GIS, the ability to effect of Hanly on travel times for two overlay and merge these three different specific acute interventions, heart layers within a single automated attacks and road traffic accidents. information system provided an Essentially they modelled a pre and post important new evidence base for health Hanly model for these interventions and care planning21. Brabyn and Skelly22 took concluded that access to services for these core elements and combined them them had deteriorated. Kalogirou and in a vector (linear) GIS to model access Foley28 also modelled the impact of to public hospitals by travel time across Hanly more widely in terms of general New Zealand. They identified an hospital provision. They identified three
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different models: one current, one based on a partial roll-out of Hanly and one based on a full roll-out. Two further recent studies have focused on the optimal location of a new national children’s hospital29, 12. What has been useful in all these studies is the development of GIS-based models to provide the beginnings of an evidence base which informs policy by identifying the importance of geography in the decision-making process. The current work begins to extend the above analysis by applying it on an all-island basis. While there are clearly structural and system-based complications in modelling two hospital networks simultaneously, we hope that the spatial outcomes from the modelling will interest policy makers in the role of geography on both sides of the border. Figure 1
Data and method (potential need and demand), the With governments in both Irish configuration of hospitals North and jurisdictions engaged in the South (potential supply) and the restructuring of health services, the transport network (accessibility based on Centre for Cross Border Studies travel time). approached the National Centre for GeoComputation to critically explore the Based on the literature on spatial potential for developing a GIS-based accessibility, three core datasets spatial model of access to hospitals on were identified as being essential. an all-island basis. The initial pilot study These were: has a single research aim: to develop a a) demographic data at electoral division robust model of spatial accessibility (ED) and output area (OA) levels (drawn which would be realistic enough to from the Northern Ireland Statistical satisfy health care planners while also Research Agency and the Central being technically sound enough to Statistics Office in the South); satisfy GIS modellers. It was driven by b) point datasets for individual hospitals the three core geographical with associated data on size, status and considerations mentioned previously: the levels of provision (data was gathered distribution of potential patients directly from the Department of Health,
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Social Services and Public Safety in of the hospitals with small area Northern Ireland and the Irish population counts to produce an Department of Health and Children); effective ‘cost-distance’ surface which c) data related to the road networks in provided us with an accessibility score. both countries (commercially purchased The final technical stage was to remodel NAVTEQ data). the accessibility scores with the border both included and excluded in order to A number of issues arose in relation to examine its spatial effect on hospital spatial scale, compatibilities of activity in both jurisdictions. classifications and the timing of data collection, but a robust initial model was still produced30, 31. This will be more fully detailed in a final report later in 2008.
Given that the aims were to produce a working accessibility ‘score’ as well as to define nominal catchments, the model started by assuming nominal non- overlapping catchments for each hospital. Once these catchments were defined and mapped, it was possible to use the background demographic data to compute the number of residents in each catchment. Given that we also knew how many beds were available in all the hospitals, we could compute the ratio of beds per head of population in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. We were then able to compute the expected number of beds if local supply followed the national rate, and calculate the ratio of the actual number Figure 2 of beds relative to the expected number of beds – this gave us the local bed rate Some initial results as a ‘location quotient’. This approach will be more fully described in the final The initial modelling focused on the project report. years 2001-2002 as this was the best fit in terms of demographic data North and The second piece of modelling was South. There was an estimated more complex: it was carried out within combined island population of 5.59 the GIS to combine the road network, million in this period. The total number travel speeds and the specific locations of beds modelled into the system at this
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time was 14,129, and taking the two 14,129 in 2001-02) kept up almost jurisdictional datasets together an all- exactly with a 6.2% increase in the island rate of 0.00257 beds per person island’s population. was calculated. Multiplying each modelled catchment’s population by this It was also interesting to look at change rate would yield the expected number in a more disaggregated way by of beds in a particular area, which could examining ‘modelled’ bed rate provision be compared with the actual number. at regional and local levels. As noted in Not unexpectedly, the initial map the methodology section, for each (Figure 1) identified a strong clustering hospital catchment a form of location of high accessibility around urban quotient was calculated which centres. Obviously this was affected by compared actual local provision to the the location of most hospitals in high expected provision if all-island averages density population areas. Equally it was were applied. When the two time not surprising that there were low levels periods were compared (Figure 2), it of accessibility in much of the western was possible to tease out more fully seaboard and in upland areas of changes at a local level. A number of Northern Ireland. These ‘common sense’ areas showed a reduction in their conclusions indicated that the modelling location quotients, most definitively in was working satisfactorily. Galway but also in the Midlands, along the south coast, in Donegal and in The second phase of the modelling south Down. Much of Northern Ireland looked at the period 2005-2006 using saw slight increases in the their location updated hospital, road and quotients as did parts of central and demographic data. There were strong mid-Leinster, and – perhaps surprisingly caveats on the demographic data due to – even some more remote parts of the lack of up-to-date small area data Mayo and west Cork. Policy makers for Northern Ireland, and as a result this could find this data, even with the data was modelled from district level caveats mentioned, useful in a number estimates. The accessibility modelling of ways. Spatial approaches such as this identified for 2005-2006 provided identify more exactly where change is results very similar to the earlier 2001- taking place. However it should be 2002 period. It was difficult to get a noted that a reduction in the location strong sense of change from the spatial quotient for an area like Galway, while it accessibility maps as the two periods might suggest a diminution of service were only five years apart and the provision, could also indicate an over- increases in bed provision were matched supply in the first period which was by increases in population across both brought back in line with the national jurisdictions. However it was interesting average in the second period. – and encouraging for policy makers – that the provision of beds in this period The most interesting part of the (15,008 in 2005-06 as opposed to modelling was when the impact of the
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border was modelled as two scenarios, while 52% of the population in border one with and one without the border. areas were disadvantaged by the This allowed the impact of a ‘non- presence of the border by less than five border’ scenario to be modelled and minutes, a full 26% of the residents compared with provision in the present were disadvantaged by fifteen minutes separate systems. This identified the or more. Put bluntly, for someone location of areas close to the border suffering a heart attack or a serious road which were disadvantaged in terms of traffic accident, this ‘border factor’ accessibility, as well as the extent, could make the difference between life expressed in excess travel time zones, of and death32. As Figure 3 demonstrates, that disadvantage (Figure 3). This was the GIS was able not only to calculate done by using the GIS to calculate a these inequities but also to identify time disadvantage grid. This grid was exactly where these zones were. Thus, then classified into time bands, and for example, people living in north vectorised and intersected with the Donegal in the Inishowen peninsula and population data to obtain the in south Donegal near Lough Derg could proportions of accessibility and travel to hospitals in Northern Ireland inaccessibility in each band. faster in an emergency. Likewise people living in west Tyrone would get faster The most significant finding was that access to emergency care in the
Figure 3
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Republic of Ireland. Other areas where Additionally a predictive version of the travel to hospital distances would be model for 2011 or even 2015, which decreased by allowing cross-border included planned hospital capacity access include north-west Cavan along changes, would also be relatively easy to the N87, in the Cooley Peninsula and do once the respective datasets in the along the Northern Ireland border with two jurisdictions are in place. Such Monaghan in areas such as Aughnacloy, modelling could also feature a set of Roslea, Keady and Crossmaglen. This scenarios based on minimal, partial and exercise thus identified another very full achievement of those plans. A third, useful policy function for a spatial quantitative approach would be to modelling approach in a cross-border model individual services according to context. accessibility, perhaps also weighted by utilisation data. Finally, detailed Conclusions qualitative research would be required to put flesh on the bones of such spatial A developed version of this model modelling by using new data on would incorporate analysis of population utilisation, patterns of referral, links with data at small area level along with primary care, and local evidence on both health service data by specialism public feeling and patterns of ad hoc (utilisation rates, staffing numbers, use. The role of private insurance and hospital throughput etc), but this was private hospital care would also have to beyond the scope of this initial research. be factored into such a study. In addition, a number of caveats exist in relation to accurate bed counts (most Communities on both sides of the are averaged across the year) and the border are reluctant to embrace extent to which certain hospitals might government policy of centralising be slotted in or out of the model. hospital services, believing that the However the primary aim of the majority of time critical emergencies can research was to identify the potential of be treated locally. An illuminating study GIS for ‘scenario modelling’ involving by Nicoll et. al. (2007)33, a leading UK both a spatial and a numerical analysis researcher, concluded that for every of the impact of the border. Tracking the extra 10 kilometres you travel when you spatial impact of future policy are seriously ill, your risk of dying rises developments using this method should by one per cent. There is good evidence be very feasible. It should have particular for some groups of emergency patients, applications in the south-west of for example major trauma patients with Northern Ireland, where a new hospital multiple injuries, that travelling longer is being planned for Enniskillen, and in distances to specialist care centres the north-east of the Republic where improves outcomes. Anecdotally these a new regional hospital has been groups of people are already bypassing proposed, both serving border local care and being taken directly to region populations. the nearest appropriate care irrespective
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on which side of the border it is Martin Charlton is the Deputy delivered. However Nicoll suggests that Director of the National Centre for for patients in anaphylactic shock, GeoComputation at NUI Maynooth choking, drowning, or having acute asthma attacks who need urgent care, Patricia Clarke is the Research having to travel increased distances for Manager of the Centre for Cross care that could be delivered locally is Border Studies, Armagh detrimental. Applying this principle to the border region, optimal patient care could be delivered within an integrated REFERENCES border zone, similar to the Thierache region on the French-Belgian border, where people are allowed to access 1. Gleeson, J., Kitchin, R. Bartley, B., their nearest hospital service irrespective Driscoll, J., Foley, R., Fotheringham, on which side of the border they live. A.S. and Lloyd, C. (2008): An Atlas of the Island of Ireland: Mapping Understanding the connections and Social and Economic Change. impacts of health services across the Maynooth: NIRSA-AIRO. Irish border is crucial for meeting the complex and diverse needs of the 2. Jamison, J. and Butler, M. (2007): border population. The experience of Removing the Barriers: An Initial Co-operation and Working Together in Report on the Potential for Greater developing the Cross-Border GP Cross-Border Co-operation in Out-Of-Hours service34,which integrates Hospital Services in Ireland. Armagh: legislation and professional issues, Centre for Cross Border Studies. financial systems, information exchange, and pharmaceutical issues across the 3. Review of Public Administration border, should be applied to improve (RPA) (2006): Government for access to hospital care. This spatial Northern Ireland. Final Decisions of modelling tool offers a real opportunity the Review of Public Administration. to investigate the benefits of such an Belfast: RPANI all-island configuration of health systems. 4. Hayes, M. (2001): A Review of Acute Services in Northern Ireland. Belfast: DHSSPS. Ronan Foley is a Lecturer in Geography at National University of 5. Department of Health and Children Ireland Maynooth and a research (2003): Report of the National Task associate of the National Centre for Force on Medical Staffing (Hanly GeoComputation Report). Dublin: Government Publications Office.
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6. Department of Health, Social Geographical perspectives on health Services and Public Safety (2003): care delivery. New York: Harper Developing Better Services: & Row. Modernising Hospitals and Reforming Structures. Belfast: 14. Goodard, M. and Smith, P. (2001): DHSSPS. Equity of access to health care services: Theory and evidence from 7. Teamwork Management Services the UK. Social Science & Medicine, Limited (2006): Improving safety and 53 (9): 1149-1162. achieving better standards: An Action Plan for services in the North 15. Christie, S. and Fone, D. (2003): East. Dublin: Health Service Equity of access to tertiary hospitals Executive. in Wales: a travel time analysis. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 8. Expert Working Group on Oncology 25 (4): 344-350. Services (2002): The Development of Radiation Oncology Services in 16. Khan, A.A. and Bhardwaj, S.M. Ireland. Dublin: DoHC. (1994): Access to Healthcare: A Conceptual framework and its 9. Curtis, S. (2004): Health and relevance to Health Care Planning. Inequalities: Geographical Evaluation & the Health Professions, Perspectives. London: Sage. 17 (1): 60-76.
10. Wren, M-A. (2003): Unhealthy State: 17. Horner, A.A. and Taylor, A-M. Anatomy of a Sick Society. Dublin: (1979): Grasping the nettle – New Island. location strategies for Irish hospitals. Administration, 27 (3): 348-370. 11. Appleby, J. (2005): Independent Review of Health and Social Care 18. Foley, R. (2002): Assessing the Services in Northern Ireland. applicability of GIS in a health and London: King’s Fund. social care setting: planning services for informal carers in East Sussex, 12. Murphy, E. and Killen, J. (2007): England. Social Science & Medicine, Transportation accessibility issues 55 (1): 79-96. and the location of a national facility: the case for a new paediatric 19. Lovett, A., Haynes, R., Sünnenberg, hospital to serve the Republic of G. and Gale, S. (2002): Car travel Ireland. Irish Geography, 40 (1): time and accessibility by bus to 1-16. general practitioner services: a study using patient registers and GIS. 13. Joseph, A. E. and Phillips, D. R. Social Science & Medicine, 55 (1): (1984): Accessibility and utilization: 97-111.
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20. Kumar, N. (2004): Changing 27. Teljeur, C., Barry, J. and Kelly, A. geographic access to and locational (2004): The Potential Impact on efficiency of health services in two Travel Times of Closure and Indian districts between 1981 and Redistribution of A&E Units in 1996. Social Science & Medicine, Ireland. Irish Medical Journal, 97: 6. 58: 2045-2067. 28. Kalogirou, S. and Foley, R. (2007): 21. Gatrell, A.C. and Löytönen, M. Health, Place & Hanly: Modelling (1998): GIS And Health. London: Accessibility to Hospitals in Ireland. Taylor and Francis. Irish Geography, 39 (1): 52-68.
22. Brabyn, L. and Skelly, C. (2002): 29. Joint Task Group (2006): Report of Modelling population access to New the Joint Health Service Executive / Zealand public hospitals. Department of Health and Children International Journal of Health Task Group to advise on the Geography, 1 (1): 3-12. optimum location of the new national paediatric hospital. Dublin: 23. Lin, G., Allen, D. and Penning, M. DoHC/HSE. (2002): Examining distance effects on hospitalizations using GIS: a 30. Pringle, D., Cook, S., Poole, M. and study of three health regions in Moore, A. (2000): Cross-border British Columbia, Canada. deprivation analysis: a summary Environment and Planning A, 34: guide. Dublin: Oak Tree Press. 2037 – 2053. 31. Kitchin, R., Bartley, B., Gleeson, J., 24. Martin, D., Wrigley, H, Barnett, S., Cowman, M., Fotheringham, A.S. and Roderick, P. (2002): Increasing and Lloyd, C. (2007): Joined-up the sophistication of access thinking across the Irish border: measurement in a rural healthcare Making the data more compatible. study. Health and Place, (8): 3–13. Journal of Cross Border Studies in Ireland, 2: 22-33. 25. Guagliardo, M. (2004): Spatial accessibility of primary care: 32. Larsen, MP, Eisenberg, MS, concepts, methods and challenges. Cummins RO et al (1993): International Journal of Health Predicting survival from out-of- Geographics, 3: 3. hospital cardiac arrest: a graphic model. Ann. Emerg. Med, 22: 26. Rosero-Bixby, L. (2004): Spatial 1652–1658. access to health care in Costa Rica and its equity: a GIS-based study. 33. Nicoll J, West J, Goodacre, Sand Social Science & Medicine, 58: Turner J. (2007): The relationship 2071- 2084. between distance to hospital and
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patient mortality in emergencies: an observational study. Emerg Med J. 24: 665-668.
34. The cross-border GP Out-Of-Hours service is being piloted to improve access by allowing people living in the border region to access their nearest out-of-hours service irrespective of which side of the border they live. JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
TOUGH LOVE: LOCAL CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION FACES THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY
Caroline Creamer, Neale Blair, Brendan O’Keeffe, Chris Van Egeraat and John Driscoll
Neale Blair Caroline Creamer Brendan O’Keefe
Local area-based cross-border cooperation has been ongoing in Ireland since before the ‘Troubles’, albeit much of this on an informal basis – a case of neighbour helping neighbour. Since the mid-1990s much of this community-led cooperation has been formalised in the context of EU funding programmes to support the Northern Irish peace process and emerging national and regional spatial strategies. Under such programmes and strategies, its focus has been on economic and social development goals, rather than on social objectives only. Today local cross-border cooperation on the island of Ireland, and particularly in the border region, finds itself at a crossroads. For projects and partnerships that wish to remain in existence, and continue to receive funding, the emphasis now is on demonstrating their long-term sustainable nature.
This ‘tough love’ approach to cross- towards large-scale, partnership-led border cooperation is increasingly being projects, and there is a danger that this adopted by both government and EU will potentially exclude the community funding agencies. Furthermore, these sector. As a result, many cross-border agencies’ emphasis is leaning more groups find themselves entering their
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Small Cross-Border Towns and Villages Case Studies
Ordinance Survey Ireland Permit No 8442© Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland final phase of operation – that is, unless In the Irish border region there is the they can widen their stakeholder base, challenge both of a border separating build on their areas’ strengths and the two jurisdictions, and of securing potentiality, engage in spatial planning positive growth in frontier villages and processes, and ensure that real towns affected by depressed economic partnership, dialogue and conditions. In this article, we outline the communication takes place between all work of the International Centre for stakeholders. Local and Regional Development (ICLRD) in considering the current connectivity The cross-border fit of national and and future potentiality that exists in a regional policy is becoming of increasing number of small cross-border towns and importance in both jurisdictions in villages located in close proximity to Ireland. This is particularly evident each other. The three case study areas through the close relationship of public highlighted here are1: policy with spatial planning, and is • Lifford-Strabane (Donegal-Tyrone encouraged in the context of the border) European Spatial Development • Kiltyclogher-Cashel (Scribbagh)- Perspective (ESDP), the National Spatial Garrison-Rossinver (Leitrim- Strategy (NSS) in the Republic of Ireland Fermanagh border) and Regional Development Strategy • Clones-Rosslea-Newtownbutler- (RDS) in Northern Ireland, along with Lisnaskea (Monaghan-Fermanagh associated planning guidelines. border)
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This research project commenced in the • Social: capacity building within summer of 2007 and will conclude in communities, training and mid-2008. While a number of cross- mentoring; border initiatives and linkages are in • Physical: enhancing the physical place in each of the three case study environment. areas, the article focusses on the work of one key stakeholder body established For the island as a whole, the significant in each of these cross-border benefits which can accrue from communities with the specific remit of engagement in cross-border cooperation redressing the socio-economic and include the enhancement of community cultural disconnect that has resulted cohesion, improved marketing of the from partition and the ‘Troubles’. It border region, support for the Northern discusses the rationale behind cross- Ireland peace process, opportunities for border cooperation in such areas, economic development and the reviews cooperation in each of them development of the physical and concludes with some actions environment. necessary for sustaining such cooperation. There are three distinct phases to the development of the Irish border region: Why cooperate? pre-1970s; 1970s to mid-1990s; and mid-1990s to the present day. Each border area faces unique challenges, including retardation of Partition in 1921 had varying impacts on trade, disruption of natural hinterlands communities and towns along the and back-to-back policy development. border. In many areas, citizens For more than eight decades, the continued to cross the border to shop, ‘border corridor’ has been hampered in to socialise, to farm and to work, and its development by back-to-back policies the pattern of daily life was often not in each jurisdiction, with the result that greatly affected. However the negative no policy assessment or coordination impacts of partition were clearly took place on an inter-jurisdictional manifest at many levels. Harvey et al basis. (2005) regard Clones as the Southern town that was most adversely affected Often the best way to address border by the border2: customs barriers and region issues is through inter- price differentials from 1924 onwards jurisdictional cooperation that results in saw Clones lose much of its trade to a mix of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ mutual towns in the North. Ireland’s entry into benefits: the European Monetary System (EMS) in • Economic: the pooling of resources 1979 ended the link between the punt and developing of economies of and sterling, leading to constant scale; fluctuations between the two
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‘Let the Dance Begin’ statues near the border outside Strabane currencies. These factors, together with and low educational attainment. Border the severing of cross-border rail towns and villages were cut off from connections in the late 1950s, adversely their natural trading and retailing affected cross-border interaction in hinterlands. The region was also economic, political and social terms. The characterised by increased sectarian onset of the ‘Troubles’ and ensuing road tensions caused by the Northern Ireland closures in the early 1970s further conflict. To address this, the 1990s inhibited the development of the region, witnessed a mushrooming in the and has left sizeable challenges for number of both formal and informal those seeking to promote cross-border cross-border networks as part of the collaboration. emerging peace process. This was assisted by generous EU and other During the ‘Troubles’ era – the early largely overseas funding through seventies to the mid-nineties – the organisations like the International Fund border as a barrier to socio-economic for Ireland and the EU Peace and development became even more INTERREG programmes. difficult to surmount. During this period the region was characterised by Since the mid-nineties, local border continuing peripherality from Dublin and communities have striven to build on Belfast; a lack of joined-up action on existing cross-border linkages – and spatial planning; an infrastructure forge new ones – with varying degrees deficit; the decline of traditional of success. Now local stakeholders face economic activities such as farming and the additional challenges of competing clothing and textiles; high within a changing political landscape unemployment and under-employment; brought about by devolution in
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Northern Ireland; the cessation or entity4, a single community. Strabane reduction of funding, and securing buy- was a significant market town and one in from a wider range of stakeholders, of the main shopping and industrial such as local government and the employment centres in the region. business community. A key question However, a combination of the railway now facing border towns and villages is: closing in 1954, the impact of the should they rely on past economic Northern Ireland conflict, and the effects success as an inspiration for future of general economic decline and economic development, or should they globalisation had a devastating effect on seek to construct a new future for these co-located towns. For example, themselves based on other potential Strabane town centre was hit hard by growth areas such as sustainable ‘Troubles’-related bombings and other tourism? violence, and major industries, notably textiles and food processing, Three faces of cooperation experienced a steep decline. By the late 1970s the town’s male unemployment While it is believed that much of the rate exceeded 35%5. In Lifford the cross-border cooperation and situation was similar, with the conflict collaboration taking place in the border next door bringing about economic region is community-led, this is not decline and employment loss in this always the case. A review of the Border Donegal county town. Interestingly, Ireland website3, for example, clearly Lifford was unable to take advantage of highlights that cooperation takes many the decline of Strabane as a retail centre forms, involves partnerships of various as customers turned to other towns in sizes and make-up, has various both Donegal and Northern Ireland. objectives, covers different timeframes, and uses a variety of delivery methods. Both towns are now experiencing a Increasingly, the private sector and local change in their fortunes. The population government are engaging in the process level is growing steadily and both towns of cross-border cooperation as key have benefitted from major stakeholders – and in some instances regeneration and economic are actually the instigators of, or key development initiatives, with the drivers behind, a particular project or employment base shifting more towards partnership. In the section below these professional services. Both towns are different forms of cooperation are also located in close proximity to the explored through evidence from the proposed ‘gateway’ of Letterkenny- three case study areas. Derry/Londonderry and, if capitalised on correctly, this could create growth Lifford-Strabane opportunities for both of them. In effect, this border area is once again Prior to partition, both Lifford and being considered a single entity. Strabane were considered a single
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A key constituent in this success has where nothing was happening socially been the commitment of a group of or economically. This image persisted to local businesspeople who came together the point that Donegal County Council in 1993 and, with the encouragement was rumoured to be considering of John Hume (then the local MP and moving its headquarters out of MEP), established the Strabane-Lifford the town. Development Commission (SLDC) with the overall objective of improving At the same time as the SLDC was the towns and their surrounds through established, the regeneration of the tourism, quality product development towns of Lifford and Strabane was and physical renewal. The Commission adopted as a flagship project by the was established as an European International Fund for Ireland (IFI) when Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG)6, a it was established in the late 1980s. It is strategic decision to ensure it was in a now widely acknowledged that the IFI position to apply for EU regional took a risk in adopting Lifford-Strabane funding. The SLDC is, in effect, the as a flagship, but that it was the right marriage of two bodies established with organisation for the SLDC to enter into the specific purpose of availing of EEIG partnership with at that time. The IFI status: the Lifford Commission and the became fully committed to the success Strabane Commission. By establishing of the Commission, adopting a very themselves in this way, both towns were flexible approach to the initiatives it able to address their own priorities until supported on the ground. such time as it was possible for them to undertake joint initiatives. From 1993 to 2006, the SLDC generated funding of s 25m for both In 1993, when the SLDC was being ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ projects. Examples of established, the local border crossing the types of initiatives the Commission was still heavily fortified. Despite the has involved itself with include: strategic position of the two towns – a good location for distribution companies Lifford and businesses serving the north-west – • the development of the Finn Valley economic prospects were bleak. There Enterprise Park; was no inward investment taking place. • the development of social housing Both towns were characterised by a lot (with Habinteg Housing of dereliction and were, in development Association); terms, ‘sleep-walking’. Intimidation and Strabane extortion were widescale and a dissident • the restoration of part of the republican movement was active, Strabane Canal; particularly in Strabane. The negative • a series of environmental experiences of one area inevitably improvements; impacted on the other. In Donegal, Both Lifford was considered a ’dark place’ • the Wider Horizons Programme
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(with IFI) which aimed to improve particularly from the business the employability of young people community. from disadvantaged areas between the ages of 16-28 years More recently, the SLDC has begun through training and work getting involved in initiatives outside experience; Strabane and Lifford7: for example, the • the Centre without Walls restoration of an old Church of Ireland Programme, the objective of which hall in Convoy in County Donegal using was to re-engage women in the an international labour force, and the workforce through IT training and refurbishment of the old mill in Convoy upskilling; as a craft centre. With its current • Border Reach, a community arts funding running out, the SLDC is initiative including ‘Let the Dance considering its future and investigating Begin’, a grouping of 30ft high whether it can unlock further funding. statues near the border crossing Given that it was initially established for symbolising music and dance; a two year period15 years ago, one • Outward Bound Programme with a might be right in thinking that we focus on addressing tensions haven’t heard the last from this between youth in the area through grouping just yet. photography and music; and • Mind your Tongue, which explored Kiltyclogher-Cashel(Scribbagh)- ethnic diversity in the area. Garrison-Rossinver
People interviewed by the ICLRD This grouping of small rural villages and researchers were generally of the townlands, each with a population of opinion that the regeneration of both 250-400 people, is situated in North Lifford and Strabane would have taken Leitrim-West Fermanagh, with their much longer if the SLDC had not been natural hinterlands stretching across the established. It has been able to engage Border. These remote and peripheral in initiatives that Donegal County settlements have experienced mixed Council and Strabane District Council fortunes over the past 40 years. The would never have been able to get off road closures of the ‘Troubles’ resulted the ground. The Commission’s non- in their economic decline and physical political status has been a key factor in separation, the end result being that this this, as has been its ability to engage area now lags seriously behind other with a wide range of stakeholders. The rural communities that were not divided Councils have, however, been very in such a manner. For example, the supportive of the work of the village of Kiltyclogher in County Leitrim Commission through cash contributions would have been a thriving village prior and providing office space. Their to the conflict, with eight shops and commitment, in turn, has been crucial seven public houses. However, during in leveraging further support and buy-in, the ‘Troubles’ all roads leading into
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Kiltyclogher from the North were closed cross-border committee. Now this once and this resulted in the disruption of natural hinterland is slowly beginning to natural trading patterns as well as social put the ‘Troubles’ behind it and focus disconnects. The population of the on its future. There has been little open region is ageing and unemployment discussion between both communities remains high. Agriculture is the on the impact of the conflict on their dominant activity but its development is communities9 - instead the emphasis constrained by poor land quality and the has been on new opportunities and age profile of farmers. moving forward.
There is little local industrial Funded under the EU Peace II employment, with many residents programme, the KiltyCashel Project is a working in manufacturing and cross-border, cross-community initiative commerce in the larger neighbouring that is entirely community-led. While the towns, such as Manorhamilton and funding has been important in helping Enniskillen. Access to the area is poor, both communities re-establish old given that it is served solely by linkages and develop new ones, the secondary roads. Public transport is collaborative process is largely driven by limited and dependent upon an irregular the strong community spirit that exists Rural Lift8 service. in both Kiltyclogher and Cashel. The community representatives are The viability of rural communities like passionate about their work and are these along the Irish border has become committed to reinvigorating both precarious. This is the result of many villages and their surrounding factors: out-migration, depletion of communities. But where such passion human resources, persistent structural exists, there is also the risk of burn-out. weaknesses in the rural economy, and This is particularly an issue for these the severance of economic, social and small border villages, which have a small cultural connections by nearly 30 years population base and a very small of conflict. Even the coming of relative number of players involved in cross- peace and the growing EU funds being border collaboration. made available for cross-border cooperation had, by the end of the A key focus of the KiltyCashel Project’s 1990s, done little to improve the work is the socio-economic revitalisation fortunes of this cluster of rural of the cross-border area. This includes: communities. In response, the • increasing the employability of the KiltyCashel Project was established in people in the area through the 2001 when representatives from two provision of training programmes local groups – the Kiltyclogher such as ECDL; Community Council and the Cashel • providing capacity-building training Community Association in County and rolling out courses on starting Fermanagh - came together to form a small businesses (sometimes in
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association with Leitrim Partnership); number of long-term initiatives • establishing a jobs club for local focussing on local employment, work- men and women to assist them in life balance and quality of life issues. returning to the workforce; However, despite these successes, • bringing together and supporting significant social and economic local clubs (such as Active Age); challenges remain in this area, the • developing a womens network and response to which may be hampered by associated activities; and a new, more limited funding • building bridges between the ‘lost environment which jeopardises the generation‘, that is those who have survival and sustainability of small missed out on not knowing each community-based organisations. Given other on a cross-border basis the much more restrictive guidelines for because of the ‘Troubles’. funding programmes such as EU Peace III (2007-2013), this looks like being the Both community associations are also KiltyCashel Project’s toughest trial yet. involved in their own particular activities, but given the communities’ Clones-Rosslea-Newtownbutler- close proximity to each other, these Lisnaskea invariably result in cross-border benefits. For example, the Kiltyclogher Historically strong economically, this Community Council, with the assistance grouping of small towns and established of the Leitrim County Council-led rural settlements has suffered greatly as Taskforce, secured monies from the UK- a result of the ‘Troubles’ and nearly 30 based environmental organisation, years of cross-border road closures. Groundwork, under its ‘Changing During the 1980s and 1990s both Places, Transforming Communities10’ Clones and Lisnaskea experienced initiative, to develop a children’s significant factory closures, high educational allotment and playground unemployment, and a general economic on county council-owned land. This decline. With populations of space is not only used by children approximately 300 and 950 persons from the Kiltyclogher area but also by respectively, Rosslea and Newtownbutler those from neighbouring areas across are small, well-established rural the border. settlements in south Fermanagh located The success of the KiltyCashel Project to close to Clones across the border. date has largely been attributed to its Around Rosslea, agriculture is the emphasis on complementarity rather dominant economic activity, with the than duplication. Each community village facing considerable difficulties provides, or takes responsibility for, in adjusting to the decline in different services and activities. The traditional farming. project has also identified with the emerging sustainable communities Attempts have been made locally to agenda by considering the potential of a promote economic diversification, as
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evidenced by the establishment of councillors and officials in the Clones- Enterprise Centres in Rosslea, Clones Lisnaskea area have invested time and and Lisnaskea. Manufacturing, resources in promoting cross-border construction and retail are the main cooperation, an initiative that employers in Newtownbutler. However, culminated in the establishment of the these are particularly vulnerable to Clones-Erne East Partnership in 2002. economic restructuring and global Established as a collaboration between downturn. Lisnaskea functions as a Fermanagh District Council, Monaghan retail, health, education, employment County Council and Clones Town and service centre for its rural Council, the Partnership’s primary hinterland, and contains some objective has been ‘to provide a significant manufacturing enterprises mechanism to work together on such as Lisnaskea Stainless Steel issues of commonality to achieve Fabrication. Clones has a similar profile, more effective solutions on a cross- with manufacturing and commerce as border basis’11. the main sectors of employment. As a legal entity, the Partnership has The coming of peace and the re- been able to apply for funding and to opening of border roads has paid some act as an intermediary for projects dividends, with both Clones and promoted by other organisations which Lisnaskea now beginning to attract back fit within the Partnership’s overall customers from their natural cross- strategy. In 2004 the Partnership border hinterlands. However, both published a strategic plan for the towns remain economically depressed, economic, social, cultural and with an unemployment rate well above environmental regeneration of its the respective regional and national catchment area. The plan was averages. Given this area’s proximity to formulated through an extensive the larger urban centres of Enniskillen consultation process, which engaged and Monaghan, which draw in trade community and voluntary groups, local and population, cross-border businesses, state bodies and various connectivity is recognised as an interest groups on both sides of the important issue in building critical mass border. The plan is underpinned by and generating economies of scale. agreed targets, and it identifies key strategic partners, such as Chambers of Cross-border local government links do Commerce, local business associations exist in the border region (e.g. in and community groups, for the tourism and the arts), but the degree of implementation of specific actions and cooperation varies. This is largely projects (such as a recently delivered IT attributed to the lack of formal, support programme for small matching local government structures businesses). The Partnership maintains that can engage in dialogue. However in strong linkages with bottom-up recent years local government organisations, particularly the Clones
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Community Forum, thereby ensuring celebration. The Partnership has also that it is process-oriented as well as been active in the promotion of rural task-orientated. tourism, as evidenced by the development of a walkway and fishing The Clones-Erne East Partnership has stands at Aghdrumsee, Co. Fermanagh, already been successful in delivering and and its members share the sense of local coordinating a number of projects, optimism that has emerged from the including: recent Irish government pledge to re- • The establishment of a Shadow open the Ulster Canal as far as Clones – Youth Partnership to engage a development for which the second-level students in community Partnership has lobbied. development projects; • The development of a local website The Clones-Erne East Partnership and the publication of a newsletter, represents a very important step forward highlighting and showcasing the for this area, not just in terms of cross- strengths and potentiality of the border cooperation, but also as an area, the work of community example of collaborative cross-border groups, innovations in business, and governance by local authorities. In this progress on cross-border way, the Partnership represents an cooperation; innovative approach to territorial • The provision of technical support to planning and local decision-making. Its local groups, community initiation by the local government sector associations and leaders in brokering represents a shift away from exclusively resources, enhancing public service hierarchical approaches, with agencies provision and improving local acting in isolation, to a new more infrastructure and amenities. collaborative system of local governance, which is based on inter- One of the Partnership’s most striking agency information-sharing, networking initiatives is known locally as the ‘Chairs and collaboration. However, as with the Project’. This has involved placing other models presented, the sandstone chairs in prominent locations Partnership’s future is uncertain. But in each of the towns and villages in the unlike the other stakeholder bodies Clones-Erne East aea. Each chair profiled, this is not due to the changing contains a time capsule, with essays funding environment; rather it is due to written by local schoolchildren. The the time-break that is occurring Partnership has thus engaged children between the conclusion of one EU from both traditions and from both funding programme and the start of sides of the border in compiling material the next. for this innovative project. Moreover, the unveiling of the various chairs has Sustaining the cooperation provided occasions for cross-community and cross-border interaction and Cross-border linkages between
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community and voluntary groups and In addition, the Monaghan-based Border between local government agencies Action – as a so-called EU ‘intermediary have gained considerable momentum funding body’ – plays a valuable role in over recent years, and are increasingly enabling and facilitating bottom-up based on agreed and strategic multi- development and partnership building. annual work plans, and a high degree Where partnerships include such a wide of local ownership. The stakeholder range of local stakeholders, the base is also being widened to include potential exists for them to increase local government agencies, elected regional and national linkages to representatives, local development promote the territorial competitiveness partnerships, tourism bodies and of their catchment areas. However inter- community groups. This greater business networking between small collaboration has been largely attributed border towns such as Clones and to the three EU-funded cross-border Lisnaskea, and Lifford and Strabane, has networks of local authorities and social not emerged to any considerable extent. partners: the East Border Region Variations in prices, the operation of Committee12, the Irish Central Border two currencies and perceived Area Network (ICBAN) and the North competition between small towns and West Region Cross Border Group. their traders and business interests have JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.3
tended to promote the interests of that have been fostered in this way, and individual towns rather than the to complement them by greater potential collective commercial strengths institutional and financial support from of the towns and villages working central government. While increased together on a cross-border basis. investment in large-scale infrastructural Addressing these economic and business projects is always important to promote cooperation issues remains a challenge. economic competitiveness, it is equally crucial to support small-scale and area- While the time is right for many local based collaborative approaches. areas in Ireland, North and South, to move away from funding programmes A recurring theme of interviews in these and demonstrate self-sustainability, this towns and villages is the need to is not yet the case for the border region. develop the natural and cultural locale While EU funding programmes in through, for example, sustainable particular have assisted border tourism product development. But in communities to develop economically order to capitalise on this potential, and socially, neighbouring areas, three further areas which need especially in Northern Ireland, have also investment are road and infrastructure moved forward through equivalent improvements, ICT connectivity and funding supports. The result is that cross-border and cross-community these small border towns and villages, collaborative governance along the lines relative to other locations, remain in a of the Clones-Erne East Partnership. disadvantaged position. Sustained government financial and policy support Conclusion is thus an essential factor in their long- term viability, although how likely this is Each of these case study areas faces to happen remains an open question. unique challenges: for example, the economic and skills base in Kiltyclogher- As these case study insights reveal, Garrison is very different to that of current collaborative structures in the Lifford-Strabane. However common border region involve local community issues exist, ranging from the in- leaders, volunteers and some migration of workers from Eastern entrepreneurs emerging as the main Europe and their associated impact on protagonists. Partnership processes are an area’s social structure, to the leading to increased inter-community pressures of residential development and and cross-community contacts and the potential for smaller settlements to networking, and these processes have become dormitory towns for larger brought about increased levels of social urban centres. capital in border communities. In planning for future cross-border These three studies demonstrate how collaboration, it is important to sustain different organisations and players will and build on the levels of social capital become involved in leading cross-border
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cooperation based on local elsewhere. These include overcoming a circumstances: in Lifford-Strabane it was lack of coherent and consistent the business-led Strabane-Lifford government policies across different Development Commission; in sectors on each side of the border. The Kiltyclogher-Cashel it was the new INTERREG IV programme will community-led KiltyCashel Project; and require increased cross-border in Clones-Lisnaskea it was the local cooperation among local authorities in authority-led Clones-Erne East the areas of enterprise, tourism, Partnership. infrastructure and services, and it is hoped that this will also bring about In his excellent 2007 Audit of greater coherence across the sectors in Community Development in the Cross each jurisdiction. Border Region13, Brian Harvey notes that community development has generally Another driving force for cooperation followed a path of ‘contact- will be the emerging fiscal constraints coordination-cooperation.’ The support on both sides of the border, with the of cross-border funding programmes South facing into serious funding has encouraged creative institutional shortfalls as the economic boom structures between cross-border groups conditions of recent years come to an that Harvey characterises into three end. Central and local funding types with deepening levels of authorities will need to find creative engagement: twin pairs, twin pairs with ways to finance and maintain local a coordinating committee, and services, thus strengthening the case for ‘transboundary’. The Strabane-Lifford inter-jurisdictional cooperation in order Development Commission and the to provide these services in areas with a KiltyCashel project fall into Harvey’s potential cross-border catchment. first two categories respectively. The Clones-Erne East Partnership takes Together the three case studies offer on a rather different structure in that it some key lessons for future cross-border is a network among three local programmes: authorities with linkages to local and cross-border community and • The quality and impact of local business groups. development programmes, and particularly cross-border projects, are The context for future cross-border directly linked to the level of programmes is changing. With the engagement between local Northern Ireland peace process moving authorities and local business and forward, cross-border projects will community networks. This means increasingly reflect the normal that as local government takes on a challenges of inter-jurisdictional larger role in cross-border planning and coordination that can be cooperation, it will have to develop found in other EU border regions and structures that involve and leverage
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the social and financial capital of (NIRSA) at National University of these networks. Ireland Maynooth, and an associate • Introducing area-based planning on researcher with the International a cross-border basis, including Centre for Local and Regional ‘visioning’ tools and non-statutory Development (ICLRD) spatial planning processes, can help to link sectoral programmes and Neale Blair is a Lecturer in the services that have a spatial impact. School of the Built Environment at This will also help cross-border small the University of Ulster and an towns and villages to position associate researcher with ICLRD themselves within the larger cross- border economic and infrastructural Brendan O’Keefe is a Lecturer in networks without compromising Geography at Mary Immaculate their jurisdictional competencies. College, University of Limerick • Cross-border small towns and villages increasingly recognise the Dr Chris Van Egeraat is a Research need to work in partnership to Fellow at NIRSA at NUI Maynooth, deliver integrated solutions so as to and an associate researcher with ensure their economic and social ICLRD viability. This necessitates moving from focussing on the immediate to John Driscoll is Director of the adopting a longer-term International Centre for Local and developmental approach to Regional Development (ICLRD) and cooperation. Vice President of the Institute for International Urban Development in While these three models of local cross- Cambridge, Massachusetts border cooperation do not prescribe how cross-border alliances should be REFERENCES rolled out, who should be involved or what areas they should cover, they do 1. This paper reports on the research highlight that there are many reasons to findings from the Lifford-Strabane; engage in cross-border cooperation and Kiltyclogher-Cashel(Scribbagh)- many ways of doing it. The most Garrison-Rossinver; and Clones- important conclusion is that these Rosslea-Newtownbutler-Lisnaskea examples demonstrate the necessity of case studies, which are part of a building on an identified local need and wider ICLRD research project that having that need at the core of the also includes Blacklion-Belcoo- collaborative process. Glenfarne and Castleblayney- Crossmaglen. This research project is Caroline Creamer is a Research being jointly funded by the Fellow at the National Institute for International Fund for Ireland and Regional and Spatial Analysis the Irish Government.
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2. Harvey B, Kelly A, McGearty S, 8. Rural Lift is a demand-responsive Murray S (2005): The Emerald community transport project serving Curtain: The Social Impact of the West Cavan and North Leitrim. Irish Border. Carrickmacross: Triskele While it can carry passengers across Community Training and the border, it cannot stop and Development collect people once it has crossed into Northern Ireland. 3. See http://www.borderireland.info/ 9. One possible reason for why these 4. There are old records in the Lifford conversations are not thought Courthouse which refer to Strabane necessary is that there was still District Number 1 (i.e. Strabane movement between both villages town) and Strabane District Number during the Troubles. 2 (i.e. Lifford). 10. A £60million programme supported 5. See ‘Strabane to receive further by the Millennium Commission. State aid’ in Irish Times, 4 April 1978 11. See p.13 of the Clones Erne East Area Strategy, a document produced 6. As outlined in Council Regulation by Daly & Associates on behalf of (EEC) No 2137/85 of 25 July 1985, the Partnership and published in a European Economic Interest May 2004. Grouping (EEIG) must have at least two members from different 12. While the East Border Region member states, its activities must be Committee does not cover any of related to the economic activities of the three case study areas its members, and it must result in highlighted in this paper, it does better outcomes than if the encompass the Castblayney- members were acting alone (see Crossmaglen area which is part of http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/ ICLRD’s wider study. 126015.htm). 13. Harvey, B (2007): Audit of 7. The terms of reference of the Community Development in the Strabane-Lifford Development Cross Border Region (unpublished), Commission have been rewritten to Cross Border Centre for Community facilitate this widening of its Development, Dundalk Institute of catchment area. The directors were Technology. of the opinion that the catchment of Lifford and Strabane had become too small so it was increased to include ‘near-abouts’ such as Convoy.
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Staff of the Centre for Cross Border Studies with the city of Armagh in the background. From left to right: Patricia McAllister, Andy Pollak, Patricia Clarke, Mairead Hughes, Joe Shiels.
THE CENTRE FOR CROSS BORDER STUDIES
March 2008
The Centre for Cross Border Studies, founded in September 1999 and based in Armagh and Dublin, researches and develops cooperation across the Irish border in education, training, health, ICT, business, public administration, agriculture, planning, the environment and a range of other practical areas.
The Centre is an independent company limited by guarantee (UK charity no. XR 31047) and is owned jointly by Queen’s University Belfast, Dublin City University and the Workers’ Educational Association (Northern Ireland). Its principal financial contributors in the past year have been the EU Peace Two programme and the Irish Department of Education and Science. The Centre has also raised a large proportion of its income through sponsorship and selling its research and consultancy services to government and other agencies.
Controversy about relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the constitutional field now obscures less than ever before the broad consensus that exists in both jurisdictions about the value of cross-border cooperation on practical issues. This holds that a low level of contact and communication across the Irish border damages the well-being of both parts of the island, and there is a clear need to identify and overcome the present barriers to cooperation and mutual understanding.
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PURPOSE programmes and organisations which have a strong education, The pragmatic view, that cooperation research and development should take place where it brings real dimension; benefits to both parts of the island, is • Provide training programmes for weakened by an additional factor: there public officials and others in North- has been too little research to date on South cooperation in Ireland; how this practical cooperation is to be • Provide sources of comprehensive achieved, and how the outcomes of and accurate information about such research should be developed. The North-South and cross-border Centre for Cross Border Studies – itself a cooperation in Ireland. unique expression of cross-border cooperation – provides an objective, university-based setting for policy WEBSITES research into and development of such cooperation. CCBS HOUSE WEBSITE
The Centre is a policy research and www.crossborder.ie development institute, whose purpose is to: Usage of the Centre’s website • Identify gaps in cross-border has increased information, research and mutual greatly since 2003, learning in Ireland; the first year for • Commission and publish research on which statistics are issues related to opportunities for available. Since and obstacles to cross border 2004 the number cooperation in all fields of society of unique visitors and the economy; and the number • Host events at which research of visits have each increased by findings can be discussed and over 270%. The number of page views, disseminated, and at which policy while a little more erratic, continues to formation in the area of cross border show an upward trend, while the cooperation can be developed; average number of hits more than • Present the findings of such research doubled in the five year period up to the and development projects to the EU, end of 2007. Visitors came the two governments, the Northern predominantly from the United States, Ireland Executive, employer, trade followed by the Republic of Ireland, union and social partnership bodies, Britain, and the rest of the EU. and the wider public; • Manage and provide administrative support for cross-border
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Year Unique Visits Page Hits (Monthly average) Visitors views
2003 1619 2161 4802 14373 2004 1453 2084 9178 18981 2005 2566 3603 8127 24747 2006 3481 4915 10149 30534 2007 3969 5432 12041 32207
BORDER IRELAND the keystone for information provision that will enable us all to meet future www.borderireland.info challenges, be they economic, social or educational. I would encourage everyone who wishes to benefit from a cross-border approach to their activities to make use of this invaluable website.”
At the beginning of February 2007, Border Ireland had documented (online) the details of 3,255 North-South and cross-border activities, 1,566 organisations, 1,370 publications, and 2,067 individual contacts (people).
With funding from the EU Peace II programme, the Centre initiated Border Border Ireland is the first ever online Ireland to centralise the very large searchable database to provide amount of uncoordinated and access to the full range of fragmented information about North- information on North-South and South cooperation and the Irish border cross-border issues in Ireland, region. This has involved the creation of covering education, health, an information capture strategy and agriculture, transport, the strong working relationships with a environment, tourism, culture, network of over 200 information mobility issues, business and providers from all government community development. departments, North and South; the managing authorities for all EU Formally launching it in March 2006, the programmes; relevant charitable Irish Minister for Finance, Mr Brian foundations on the island; research Cowen TD, said: “This website will be coordinators in all higher education
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The launch of www.crossbordermobility.info in Ballymascanlon, Co Louth, by (from left to right) Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, Mr Martin McGuinness MP MLA, First Minister Rev Dr Ian Paisley MP MLA, and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD institutions, and key community and A second 2006-2008 phase of the voluntary, and business leaders. project is currently being implemented through support provided under the Border Ireland is available online at Peace II Extension Programme. The key www.borderireland.info where people objective for this second phase is to can register free and search through the develop Border Ireland as the recognised information by year, sector and location, portal for information on and and view an organisation’s history of communication about cross-border co- involvement in cross-border cooperation. operation on the island of Ireland. By December 2007 Border Ireland had The independent evaluation of Border recorded nearly 25,000 visitors with over Ireland Phase 1 (May 2003-June 2006: 800 organisations registered as users of David Clarke Consulting) highlights its the system. work as the ‘product of the highest standards in information sourcing and IT Border Ireland is also developing a range management expertise on the island’. It of interactive facilities. These include an calls the website ‘one of the most RSS-fed cross-border media centre, an important projects supported under the online moderated discussion forum, an Peace II Programme in terms of its email alert system and a range of potential long-term impact beyond the materials to support cross-border period of the Programme’s support, as decision-making. For instance, Border an increasingly significant and valuable Ireland now provides a regularly online resource tool for the collation updated e-zine which highlights recent and sharing of information and good additions to the system, media reports practice relating to cross-border on cross-border issues and short sectoral development and cooperation’. briefing papers which summarise cooperation in key areas such as
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transport, economic development, Ireland Department of Finance and agriculture, culture, environment, health Personnel, and funded by the EU Peace and education. Two programme.
The Centre has also used the Border The website was officially launched on Ireland database in partnership with the 30 October 2007 at a meeting of the International Centre for Local and North/South Ministerial Council in Regional Development (ICLRD) and the Ballymascanlon, Co. Louth by the First National Institute for Regional and Minister of Northern Ireland, Rev Dr Ian Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) at NUI Paisley MP MLA, the Deputy First Maynooth to develop Mapping Minister, Mr Martin McGuinness MP Programmes, an online spatial mapping MLA and the Irish Minister for Foreign initiative to show the locations of cross- Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD. border infrastucture funded through the EU’s INTERREG and other programmes. The new public information website – the first of its kind on the island of MOBILITY WEBSITE Ireland – is structured around the four themes of Commute, Work, Live, Study. www.crossbordermobility.info It includes in-depth information on a range of areas in both Irish jurisdictions, including taxation, social security, job seeking, qualifications, health, education, housing, banking and telecommunications. The website content is continuously being updated in consultation with Borderwise, the cross-border advice and information service provided by Citizens Advice Northern Ireland and the Citizens Information Board in the Republic of Ireland. In early 2007 the Centre for Cross Border Studies was commissioned by There will be a public launch of this new the North/South Ministerial Council to website in Dublin and Belfast in spring develop a new online information portal 2008, followed by a marketing to provide useful citizens information for campaign to raise its profile among the people crossing the border to live, work, general public in both jurisdictions, to study or retire. This new cross border be undertaken by a major PR and mobility website was created with marketing company. technical assistance from DID, the web and design team of the Northern
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A NOTE FROM THE NEXT DOOR These columns have been reported in NEIGHBOURS the Irish Times, Irish News, Derry Journal, Northern Standard (Monaghan), Since September 2006 the Centre has Scotsman, Glasgow Herald, Sunday Post been sending an opinionated monthly (Scotland) and on RTE, BBC Scotland, e-column, A Note from the Next Door Border Television and local radio stations Neighbours, to a growing audience of in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland subscribers: over 6,000 at the last count. and northern England. They also appear These Notes have provoked enthusiastic on the celebrated website Slugger feedback and debate. O’Toole (http://sluggerotoole.com)
The Notes so far have covered the The columns can also be accessed at following issues: whether North-South www.crossborder.ie/home/index/ndn/ind cooperation actually works to bring ex.php about reconciliation between people in the two jurisdictions; the inaccurate CURRENT RESEARCH AND reporting of North-South cooperation in EXCHANGE PROJECTS the media; the possible re-opening of the Ulster Canal; the importance of EU Immigration Emigration Racism and funding to cross-border cooperation in Sectarianism Schools Project Ireland; the need for Northern Ireland to The Immigration, Emigration, attract back its highly educated and Racism and Sectarianism skilled emigrants; how Ireland, North (IERS) Schools Project is a and South, could play a distinctive role two year project which in combating world hunger; hopes after started in September 2006 the March 2007 Northern Ireland and is managed by the election; Rev Ian Paisley as a champion Centre for Cross Border of North-South cooperation; the Studies and funded by contribution of Norwegian human rights the EU Peace II Extension lawyer, Torkel Opsahl, to the peace Programme. It has process; the need for civil society groups brought together 300 in both Irish jurisdictions to talk to one children aged 9-14 from 12 another; a possible high-speed rail schools – six Protestant and Catholic bridge between Northern Ireland and schools (upper primary and lower Scotland; the row over families across secondary) in County Antrim and six the Donegal border sending their Catholic and Protestant schools (upper children to Derry schools; why higher primary and lower secondary) in Louth education students don’t cross the and Monaghan – to learn about the border to study any more; the cultures associated with Protestantism resurrection of Clones; and whether the and Catholicism and with the new Irish border region could become the immigrant communities who are best border region in Europe. becoming numerous in both regions.
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The Irish children are also learning that professional attitudes of the teachers, they have something important in and seeking evidence of the common with each other and with the incorporation of peace and new ethnic community children: they reconciliation elements into their are all from societies which have seen teaching practices as a result of the large-scale emigration. This project has exchange. produced a set of high-class teaching materials for the 9-14 age group in both Pride of our Place jurisdictions entitled ‘People are People all over the World.’ The project The final report of Pride of coordinator is Marie Hoeritzauer. our Place, a cross-border local environmental studies North-South Student Teacher project for primary schools Exchange Project (Phase 2) – which is the last of the Centre’s 2002-2006 EU The immediate aim of this EU-funded funded schools action project (2006-2008) is to build on the research projects – was experience of the successful first phase published in April 2007. of the North-South Student Teacher The report was compiled Exchange project (2002-2005) in order by project researcher Mary Burke of to provide evidence, through a fourth St Patrick’s College Drumcondra. The year of exchanges feeding into a Chief Inspector for Northern Ireland, Ms longitudinal research study, of the need Marion Matchett, described the project’s to mainstream a system of trainee final showcase event as “a wonderful teachers doing a key part of their event, made all the more so by the teaching practice in schools in the other children’s enthusiasm, interest and Irish jurisdiction. The external evaluator expertise.” The Deputy Chief Inspector called the first phase ‘a courageous, for the Republic of Ireland, Mr Gearóid inclusive and groundbreaking exchange’ O Conluain, said he had been ‘very and ‘an experience that has been impressed with the high standard of the transformational’ for the student presentations and the enthusiasm that teachers involved. The second phase’s pupils and teachers brought to the research study is being carried out by Dr project. I am confident that projects of Maeve Martin of National University of this nature play an important role in Ireland Maynooth and will report by increasing mutual understanding June 2008. She is exploring the impact North and South, which will lead to of the whole project (phases one and greater harmony and cooperation in two) on the more than 100 young the future.’ participating teachers. She is examining whether the exchange has impacted in a lasting way on the personal and
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Crossing the Border: New former staff members of the Centre: Relationships between Northern Andy Pollak on North-South educational Ireland and the Republic of Ireland co-operation; Dr Patricia Clarke on North-South health co-operation; and Dr In 2004-2006 the Centre was involved Eoin Magennis on the working of the in a large-scale collaborative research ‘Common Chapter’ of the two project (‘Mapping Frontiers, jurisdictions’ development plans. Plotting Pathways’) commissioned by the Higher CURRENT TRAINING PROJECTS Education Authority and funded by the EU Peace North-South and Cross-Border Public Two programme, between Sector Training Programme University College Dublin (Institute for British-Irish Between April and June 2007 the Studies and Institute for Centre – together with its partners, the Study of Social Co-operation Ireland and the Chartered Change), Queen’s Institute of Public Finance and University Belfast (Institute of Accountancy (CIPFA), Northern Ireland’s Governance and Centre for International leading provider of training to the public Borders Research), the Centre for Cross sector – organised a fourth training Border Studies and Democratic course for civil and public servants Dialogue. This project focussed on three working on North-South and cross- main themes: a comparative study of border issues in North-South bodies, borders with an emphasis on the government departments and other creation and consolidation of the Irish public agencies in the two Irish border; the Irish border as a social, jurisdictions. This brought to 100 the economic and cultural divide; and number of officials who have taken pathways for promoting cross-border these courses since they were started in contact, co-operation and mutual January 2005. A fifth course will take understanding. place from May to September 2008.
On 21 February 2008 the Taoiseach, Mr There are currently over 700 officials Bertie Ahern, launched a book of essays working directly in North-South and out of this project entitled Crossing the cross-border co-operation on the island Border: New Relationships between of Ireland. There are few opportunities Northern Ireland and the Republic of for such people to undertake induction Ireland, edited by Professor John or training courses to work in this new, Coakley of University College Dublin complex and sensitive area. and Professor Liam O’Dowd of Queen’s University Belfast, and published by Irish The courses, which take place over five- Academic Press. Three of the 13 essays six days during a four month period, in this book are by staff members or feature four modules: North-South co-
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President Mary McAleese, Dr Martin McAleese, Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Pat McCarthy, Belfast City Council Chief Executive Peter McNaney, and Special EU Programmes Body Chief Executive Pat Colgan with organisers and participants at the third North-South public sector training course awards ceremony in Belfast City Hall, 22 February 2007.
operation in the public and NGO North/South Ministerial Council joint sectors; North-South public finance and secretaries, Mary Bunting and Tom governance issues; North-South Hanney; head of the Northern Ireland economic and business co-operation; Review of Public Administration, Greg and cross-border co-operation at local McConnell; director of the Institute of authority and community level. President Public Health in Ireland, Dr Jane Wilde; Mary McAleese presented the graduates Fermanagh businessman and former of the third course with their certificates GAA president, Peter Quinn; chief at a ceremony in Belfast City Hall on 22 executive of the Northern Ireland February 2007, and the Permanent Community Relations Council, Dr Secretary of the Northern Ireland Duncan Morrow; director of the Department for Employment and Community Foundation for Northern Learning, Dr Aideen McGinley, did the Ireland, Avila Kilmurray; Professor John same at the end of the fourth course on Bradley, formerly of the Economic and 21 June (standing in for the Head of the Social Research Institute; and the chief Northern Ireland Civil Service, Mr Nigel executives of four North-South bodies – Hamilton). Liam Nellis from InterTradeIreland, Pat Colgan from the Special EU Programmes The programme features prestigious Body, Martin Higgins from the Food guest lecturers including Sir George Safety Promotion Board and Derick Quigley, chairman of Short Brothers Anderson from the Foyle, Carlingford (Bombardier Aerospace Group); and Irish Lights Commission.
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On 25 October 2007 nearly 40 graduates of the course came together at a hotel in County Louth to launch The Wind across the Border, a handsomely produced compilation of the six best written assignments carried out by teams of trainees (paired on a One of the winners of the 2007-2008 North-South basis) from the four courses Universities Ireland-IBEC-CBI North-South Masters to date. In his foreword to the book, the bursaries, Ashlyn Kessopersadh from Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Templeogue, Dublin, pictured at the awards Dermot Ahern TD, said: ‘What these ceremony in Dublin Castle with the Chairman of CBI Northern Ireland, Mr Brian Ambrose. young public servants are doing is truly pioneering. Here is the pith and substance of what good government is UNIVERSITIES IRELAND meant to be about. These essays all outline fresh new ideas, clearly laid out, about how practical cross-border and all-island cooperation can make a real difference to improving the lives of the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland.’ The Centre acts as the secretariat for CURRENT ADMINISTRATION Universities Ireland (UI), set up in PROJECTS 2003 to promote cooperation and collaboration between the nine The Centre has filled an important niche universities in Northern Ireland and by providing administrative support to the Republic of Ireland. Its chairman North-South and cross-border initiatives, for the 2008-2010 period is Professor particularly in the field of education. Richard Barnett, Vice-Chancellor of Many cross-border projects are sustained the University of Ulster. largely through EU funding and the commitment of enthusiastic individuals, In the past year the two main initiatives and when the money and enthusiasm taken under the auspices of Universities runs out their absence of a proper Ireland have been the formation of the administrative structure often dooms Irish-African Partnership for Research them to early closure. The Centre offers Capacity Building and the successful this cross-border administrative two-phase bid to the Irish Government’s structure, and a detailed knowledge of development cooperation agency, Irish support mechanisms in both Irish Aid, and the Higher Education Authority, jurisdictions, which can ensure such for s 1.5 million to fund its first three projects’ longer-term sustainability. years of work; and the expansion of the annual North-South Masters bursary
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scheme from two to eight bursaries in health and education, and the cross- collaboration with the Joint Business cutting themes of ICT and gender. Council of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) and the The Partnership is funded as a pilot annual Confederation of British Industry project under the Programme of (Northern Ireland). Strategic Cooperation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research • THE IRISH-AFRICAN PARTNERSHIP Institutes (2007-2011). It is organised FOR RESEARCH CAPACITY under the umbrella of Universities BUILDING (IAPRCB) Ireland, which also provides some matching funding. The Irish-African Partnership for Research Capacity Building The Partnership will be launched by brings together all nine universities on President Mary McAleese on the the island of Ireland and four African opening day of its first four day universities – Makerere in Uganda, workshop at Dublin City University on Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, Eduardo 8-11 April 2008. Mondlane in Mozambique and University of Malawi – in a unique, The co-chairs of the IAPRCB’s Steering high-level partnership to develop a Committee are Professor Jane Grimson coordinated approach to Research of Trinity College Dublin and Professor Capacity Building (RCB) in higher Eli Katunguka-Rwakishaya of Makerere education institutions in order to University; the chair of its Executive make an effective contribution to the Committee is Professor Ronnie Munck reduction of poverty in of Dublin City University, and its those countries. administrative leader is the Centre for Cross Border Studies. The project manager, Dr Niamh Gaynor, is based at Dublin City University. IAPRCB staff starting work in February-March 2008 are Dr Eimear Barrrett, a postdoctoral fellow in health based at Queen’s University Belfast; Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo, a postdoctoral fellow in education based at Mary Immaculate The IAPRCB aims: College, University of Limerick; Yoaxue • to build the capacity for Lin, a web portal manager based at development research in Irish and TCD; and Caitriona Fitzgerald, a part- Northern Irish universities; time administrative officer based at • to build the capacity for research in DCU. CCBS events organiser Patricia the four African universities in McAllister has been seconded to work
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part-time for the Partnership to organise development research work, its six workshops. identifying key areas of expertise, and supporting inter-university The project’s methodology centres partnerships. around: 4. The development of a set of metrics • A pilot foresight exercise to establish for monitoring the RCB process, research needs in the four African including the number of researchers, countries and the Irish and Northern postgraduate degrees awarded, Irish universities’ capacities to work funding received, publications, in partnership to meet those needs; partnerships, and destination of PhD • Six four-day themed workshops graduates (quantitative metrics); (three in Ireland – the first in April and attitudes and barriers 2008 – and three in Africa) to recruit (qualitative metrics). and involve stakeholders, design and 5. Conclusions and recommendations carry out the foresight exercise, run for building sustainable RCB in a pilot summer school, and discuss African universities, and in and agree a final report. development research in Irish and Northern Irish universities (with a The project consists of six work particular focus on the processes packages: involved in RCB). 1. A stakeholder consultation among 6. Project management and staff. The the 14 participating institutions (and project is overseen by a Steering external agencies such as donors) Committee representing all 14 HEIs; using workshops, focus groups, a smaller Executive Committee to structured interviews and e- manage it on a day-to-day basis; consultation; and an International Advisory Board 2. The foresight exercise to identify (to be chaired by former Irish and prioritise areas of existing, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dick emerging and potential HEI research Spring) to provide support from strength (particularly in health, international experts in development education, ICT and gender) where research. For staff see above. future investments will realise tangible social and economic • NORTH-SOUTH MASTERS benefits for the participating African BURSARIES countries. In particular it will identify key areas of research for poverty In 2007-2008 there were bursaries reduction. for eight students under this 3. An all-island development research expanded scheme (there had been web portal to link the Irish and only two in previous years): six African partners in a virtual s20,000 bursaries to students community for showcasing Ireland’s undertaking a Master’s course in a
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business-related subject requiring • OTHER INITIATIVES location to the other Irish jurisdiction, and two s 15,000 A series of meetings with bursaries to students doing the Universities UK, the representative same in a non-business related body of British universities, was subject. The former were 50% initiated in September 2004 in sponsored by individual Northern Dublin, with a follow-up meeting in and Southern businesses (under the London in January 2006. A third auspices of the IBEC-CBI Joint meeting will take place in Dublin on Business Council), which co-funded 14 March 2008, at which the students doing Master’s degrees by presidents and vice-chancellors will coursework or research in ecological discuss matters of mutual interest in management, finance, fire safety the areas of business-university engineering, landscape architecture collaboration, university funding and and nutrition. The two non-business research, and European related winners did Master’s degrees developments. in comparable ethnic conflict and mapping the Irish border. Last year’s Innosport Ireland. In collaboration sponsoring firms were Arthur Cox, with InterTradeIreland, UI sponsored a BT, CSA Group, Dublin Port, Healy seminar in Dublin in November 2007 Group and RPS Group. The to bring together university expanded scheme was launched in researchers and industry specialists in March 2007 by the Director General the sports technology area, the first of the Confederation of British event of its kind in Ireland. The aim Industry, Richard Lambert, a world of this Innosport Ireland initiative was authority on university-business to produce an all-island application to collaboration. the next EU Framework Programme in sports innovation and technology In 2007-2008 the six business- (i.e. performance devices and related bursaries will be sponsored monitoring, sports accommodation, by Arthur Cox, Belfast City Airport, sports nutrition and sporting goods, CSA Group, Dublin Port, Healy footwear and clothing). Group and RPS Group. For the first time, those eligible will include Irish Universities Ireland is funded by an and Northern Irish students at annual levy paid by the nine universities, universities in England, Scotland and and by grants from the Department of Wales; and students doing the first Education and Science in Dublin, the year of a Ph.D. The deadline for Department for Employment and applications is 2 May 2008. Learning in Belfast and InterTradeIreland in Newry.
Website: www.universitiesireland.ie
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STANDING CONFERENCE ON were on ‘Teacher Education TEACHER EDUCATION, NORTH AND and Schools: Together SOUTH (SCOTENS) Towards Improvement’ in 2006; ‘Teacher Education for Citizenship in Diverse Societies’ in 2005; ‘The Changing Contexts of Teacher Education, North and South’ (with a particular emphasis on The Centre also acts as the Teaching Councils) in secretariat for the Standing 2004; and ‘Challenges to Teacher Conference on Teacher Education, Education and Research, North and North and South. This was set up in South’ in 2003. 2003 by a group of senior teacher education specialists from SCoTENS has also provided seed universities, colleges of education funding for all-island conferences on and other education agencies in social, scientific and environmental both jurisdictions. The 2007-2008 education (four), initial teacher joint chairs of SCoTENS are Dr Pauric education, citizenship and diversity Travers, President of St Patrick’s education (two), educational research, College Drumcondra, and Dr Tom special educational needs (two), social Hesketh, Director of the Regional justice education in initial teacher Training Unit in Belfast. education (two) and the competences approach to teacher professional SCoTENS’ 2007 annual conference, development; for North-South research ‘Teaching in the Knowledge Society’ projects on the social/national identity of was held in November in Malahide, Co young children in the border region, ICT Dublin. The keynote speakers were in teacher education, children with Professor John Furlong, Director of the profound and multiple learning Department of Education at University difficulties, student teacher exchanges, of Oxford; David Istance of the OECD’s student perceptions of history, Centre for Educational Research and geography and science, school-based Innovation in Paris; Eamon Stack, Chief work in colleges of education, the Inspector at the Irish Department of professional development of teachers Education and Science; Dr Roger Austin, working with students with special Senior Lecturer in Education at educational needs, examining University of Ulster; and Keith Bartley, assessment procedures for trainee Chief Executive of the General Teaching teachers, and universities’ role in Council for England. continuing teacher professional development; and for a North-South Previous SCoTENS’ annual conferences ‘toolkit’ for teachers and trainers
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working in the area of linguistic and International Centre for Local and intercultural education (which was Regional Development (ICLRD). The launched as an all-island primary school ICLRD is a North-South-US resource in December 2007 by the N. partnership to explore and expand Ireland Minister for Education, Caitriona the contribution that planning and Ruane MLA, and the Irish Minister of the development of physical, social State for Integration Policy, Conor and economic infrastructures can Lenihan TD). make to improving the lives of people in both Irish jurisdictions. The SCoTENS website (http://scotens.org) highlights, in The partner institutions are: the National particular, resources on special Institute for Regional and Spatial education and citizenship education. Analysis (NIRSA) at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth; the SCoTENS is funded by annual grants School of the Built Environment at the from the Irish Department of Education University of Ulster; the Institute for and Science, and the Department for International Urban Development in Employment and Learning and the Cambridge, Massachusetts; Athlone Department of Education (Northern Institute of Technology, and the Centre Ireland). A significant proportion of its for Cross Border Studies. Each of these funding comes from institutional partners brings together complementary subscriptions from universities, colleges expertise and networks – North and of education, teaching councils, South, East and West – to create a education trade unions, education unique, all-island centre that is more centres, curriculum councils and other than the sum of its parts. The ICLRD is bodies involved with teacher education. very open to involving other academic It also receives grant aid from the and research institutions in its activities. Nuffield Foundation. The director of the ICLRD is John Driscoll, who is also a Vice-President of INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR LOCAL the Institute for International Urban AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Development.
The ICLRD • Provides independent, expert, joined-up research, thinking and policy advice on cross-border and all-island spatial planning and local and regional development issues (economic development, transport, housing, environment, service provision, etc); The Centre administers the • Offers capacity building programmes
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for communities and local, regional and national government representatives and officials; • Acts as a catalyst and conduit to bring relevant actors, North and South, together to work on common goals; • Promotes international cooperation and exchanges. Speakers and chairpersons at ICLRD annual conference, Armagh, January 2008 (from left to In January 2008 the ICLRD right): Mr Liam Nellis, Chief Executive, held its annual conference in InterTradeIreland; Mr Batt O’Keefe TD, Irish Minister of State for Housing, Urban Renewal Armagh (in association with and Developing Areas; Mr Conor Murphy MP InterTradeIreland) MLA, N.Ireland Minister for Regional under the title ‘Fostering Development; Mr Feargal McCormack, Co-Operation for Local and Chairperson, International Centre for Local and Regional Development. Regional Development through Cross-Border Implementing Sub-Regional Spatial Planning’. Nearly Strategies 150 people attended. The conference was opened A 2006 report outlined the basis for jointly by Mr Batt O’Keeffe TD, Irish Newry and Dundalk linking as a ‘twin Minister of State for Housing, Urban cities region’. An ICLRD research team, Renewal and Developing Areas, and Mr supported by an InterTradeIreland- Conor Murphy MP MLA, N.Ireland chaired steering group, is working with Minister for Regional Development. the respective Chambers of Commerce Conference presentations (available at and local authorities to identify projects www.iclrd.org) included how to that would support such a linked sub- implement and finance a collaborative regional approach, including: spatial framework on the island of • Building a twin cities sustainable Ireland; how to deliver a cross-border energy community, supported by sub-regional strategy for Newry- Dundalk Institute of Technology as a Dundalk; how small cross-border towns third level centre of excellence in can be reconnected and revitalised; and sustainable energy, to position the role of housing in building Dundalk and Newry as island sustainable communities. exemplars; • Exploring the concept of a Geo-Park The ICLRD’s work addresses three linked to the outstanding geological spatial scales: EU and all-island, sub- features of the Mournes, the Cooley regional and local. The conference Mountains, Slieve Gullion and presentations were based on three Carlingford Lough; research projects: • Marketing the Newry-Dundalk
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region as a centre for internationally Castleblaney-Crossmaglen. The team, tradeable service operations based together with practitioners, will present at the heart of the Dublin-Belfast findings in summer 2008 based on a economic corridor; number of common objectives: • A joint town centre regeneration identifying mutual benefits for strategy for Newry and Dundalk to participating towns and villages; promote both towns as places developing connectivity on the basis of where people want to visit, settle socio-economic development; and and work; emphasising relationship building and • Strong infrastructure connectivity to mutual understanding. support a competitive and sustainable development model for The project research team consists of the twin cities region. Brendan Bartley, Caroline Creamer, Justin Gleeson and Dr Chris Van Egeraat, The project research team comprises NIRSA, National University of Ireland Professor Alastair Adair, Professor Jim Maynooth; Dr. Neale Blair, School of the Berry and Professor Stanley McGreal, Built Environment, University of Ulster; Dr School of the Built Environment, Brendan O’Keefe, Mary Immaculate University of Ulster; College, University of Limerick; and John Professor Francois Vigier, John Driscoll Driscoll, Institute for International Urban and Erick Guerra, Institute for Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts. International Urban Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Dr Chris Sustainable Communities van Egeraat, NIRSA, National University of Ireland Maynooth. High-quality affordable housing and sustainable communities, closely linked to Enhancing connectivity in Small good services and employment, are a Cross-Border Towns requirement in any society. In societies divided by religion, class and income, the A key challenge for many border region challenge to provide them on an small towns and villages, characterised integrated basis takes on an extra by their peripheral location and the dimension. Through case studies in impact of the border, is how to build a Antrim, Enniskillen, Derry, Sligo, Cork and future based on cross-border Adamstown (Co Dublin), an ICLRD cooperation. An ICLRD research team research team is exploring issues of has been working with local officials religious, ethnic and income segregation and community representatives in five of in housing in both jurisdictions. these cross-border areas: Lifford- International experience and emerging Strabane; Kiltyclogher- best practice will also be addressed by Cashel(Scribbagh)-Garrison-Rossinver; looking at examples from Europe and the Blacklion-Belcoo-Glenfarne; Clones- United States. Roslea-Newtownbutler-Lisnaskea, and
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The research team comprises Paddy across the island based on census data Gray, Michaela Keenan and Professor for the Republic of Ireland in 1991 and Stanley McGreal, School of the Built 2002 and for Northern Ireland in 1991 Environment, University of Ulster; and 2001. The Atlas provides an Krzysztof Nawratek, NIRSA, National important baseline for the future, University of Ireland Maynooth; and especially in 2011 when the censuses in John Driscoll and Professor Francois both Northern Ireland and the Republic Vigier, Institute for International Urban of Ireland occur at the same time. Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Spatial planning and analysis conference Evidence-based Spatial Planning In November 2007 in Dundalk, the ICLRD, the National Institute for Evidence-based spatial planning and the Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA), demand for high quality data on an all- the National Centre for island and regional basis are increasing. Geocomputation, the All-Island Research To support this demand for cross-border Observatory and the Regional Studies and all-island information, ICLRD and its Association held a conference on partners, along with the All-Island Supporting Evidence-Informed Spatial Research Observatory, the National Planning and Analysis – Towards the Centre for Geocomputation (both at Development of Spatial Databases on NUI Maynooth) and the Regional Studies the Island of Ireland. Attended by over Association, undertook two initiatives in 100 people, the conference presented 2007: the findings of two earlier seminars at University of Ulster and NUI Maynooth The Atlas of the Island of Ireland - on spatial indicators needed to assist in Mapping Social and Economic high quality analysis for evidence-based Change. planning and policy.
CROSS BORDER OPENINGS
The Centre is also a partner with the Open University in Ireland and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) in Cross Border Openings (CBO), an EU- funded project which offers 500 free places on a return to study programme for socially and educationally This pioneering atlas, launched in disadvantaged people on both sides of November 2007, presents a set of the border. The project also involves the detailed, full colour maps on population, provision of training on cultural diversity housing, transport and the economy issues, and joint work with the trade
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union movement to promote the independent research centres in Ireland concept of workplace learning in and Britain: Queen’s University Belfast, general and workplace learning University of Ulster, Dublin City University, agreements in particular. University College Dublin, National University of Ireland Galway, National The CBO project has played a leading University of Ireland Maynooth, St role in developing a strategic partnership Patrick’s College Drumcondra, Stranmillis between the Open University in Ireland University College, the Institute of Public and the ICTU, which mirrors the UK- Administration, Belfast City Hospital, wide agreement between the Open Dundalk Institute of Technology, the University and the Trades Union London School of Hygiene and Tropical Congress unionlearn programme – this Medicine and the Centre for Cross Border offers new learning opportunities and Studies itself. The research assignments progression routes for trade union under the North-South public sector members. CBO has also offered learning training project (see page 103) also opportunities to significant numbers of involved civil and public servants from refugees, asylum seekers and migrant both jurisdictions. workers. In November 2006 it organised a conference in Belfast on the The Centre has published the following educational needs of migrants on both research projects: sides of the border, and plans a further conference in Dublin in April 2008 to The Evolution of Telecom promote workplace learning and learn Technologies: Current Trends and from European experience in this area. Near-Future Implications (2001) A number of case studies of COMPLETED RESEARCH PROJECTS developments in mobile and wireless telephony across The Centre has commissioned 15 cross- the Irish border from a border research projects in the fields of research team led by two telecommunications developments, of Ireland’s leading health services, disadvantage in specialists in information education, EU funding programmes, retrieval, data analysis and local government links, mental health image and signal promotion, waste management policies, processing: Professor local history societies, animal health, the Fionn Murtagh, then of euro, sustainable development, diversity Queen’s University in early years education, science and Belfast, and Dr John Keating of National citizenship education, public sector University of Ireland Maynooth. The training and hospital services. project was sponsored by eircom.
These projects involved researchers Cross-Border Co-operation in Health drawn from 13 universities, colleges and Services in Ireland (2001)
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A study of the past, present and A study by Professor Brigid potential for future co-operation in Laffan and Dr Diane Payne health services across the Irish border by of the Institute for British- a research team led by Dr Jim Jamison, Irish Studies at University formerly director of the College Dublin, which Health and Social Care analysed the interaction Research Unit at Queen’s between the North-South University Belfast, and Institutions set up under including Professor Martin the Good Friday McKee of the London Agreement – notably the School of Hygiene and North/South Ministerial Council Tropical Medicine, Dr and the Special EU Programmes Body - Ciaran O’Neill of the and the EU’s funding programme for University of Ulster, and cross-border co-operation, INTERREG. Ms Michelle Butler of the Institute of Public Administration in Cross-Border Co-operation in Local Dublin. Government: Models of Management, Development and Ireland’s Learning Poor: Reconciliation (2001) Adult Educational Disadvantage and A study by Professor Derek Birrell and Cross-Border Co-operation (2001) Amanda Hayes of the University of A study of the needs of the more than a Ulster of the different kinds of cross- million people on the island who left border links between local school with few or no qualifications by authorities, including one- Dr Mark Morgan of St to-one linkages, local Patrick’s College, government cross-border Drumcondra, and Mr Paul networks, and cross-border McGill, formerly education partnerships involving correspondent of the other agencies. It also Belfast Telegraph. They analysed the project concluded that current management methods policies in both used, the views of the jurisdictions were far councillors involved and removed from a vision the involvement of the European Union. of lifelong learning which allows people of all ages The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Crisis and social classes equal access to and the Irish Border (2002) education and training. A study of the cross-border dimension of the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease Creating Living Institutions: outbreak by the Centre’s research EU Cross-Border Co-operation after manager, Dr Patricia Clarke, with the Good Friday Agreement (2001) comments from the Departments of
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Agriculture in Belfast and Ireland Maynooth, provided the basis for Dublin. Issued exactly a the first all-Ireland register of local year after the original history societies. They identified 330 outbreak in England, the societies, but estimated that a complete report’s findings were list would exceed 500 societies, North praised by the two and South, involving an active Ministers, Brid Rodgers membership of perhaps 28,000 persons. and Joe Walsh, as “extremely valuable” in Towards a Green Isle? Local helping the Departments Sustainable Development on the to formulate actions to deal with animal Island of Ireland (2004) health emergencies. A study of local sustainable development as carried out Promoting Mental Health and Social (through the Local Agenda Well-being: Cross-Border 21 process) by local Opportunities and Challenges (2002) authorities and social This is a two-part study by partners throughout a team from National Ireland, by a cross-border University of Ireland Galway team comprising Geraint led by Dr Margaret Barry Ellis and Dr Bill Neill of the and Ms Sharon Friel. It Queen’s University Belfast’s examined a number of School of Environmental Planning, and cross-border projects in the Dublin-based researchers Una Hand and areas of postnatal Brian Motherway. It found that 54% of depression, public local authorities on the island had awareness of suicide, begun a process of LA21, but stressed cancer support services, the that the main challenge is to move from mental health of young men and mental debate to action. health in rural communities. The study also looked at the comparability and Diversity in Early Years Education compatibility of mental health data North and South: Implications for sources in the two Teacher Education (2004) jurisdictions. The aim of this EU-funded study was to identify the The Local History Project: difficulties facing teachers Co-operating North and and children in areas of South (2003) inter-community conflict This study, by Dr Jacinta and tension on both sides Prunty, Dr Raymond of the Irish border with a Gillespie and Maeve view to developing a Mulryan-Moloney of framework for preparing National University of young teachers working
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with children in the early years. It was minority ethnic groups in Northern carried out by researchers at St Patrick’s Ireland, Republic of Ireland and College Drumcondra in Dublin and Scotland. It had a particular focus on Stranmillis University College in Belfast, how Northern Ireland’s public authorities Mairin Kenny and Helen McLaughlin, could learn from their nearest under the direction of Philomena neighbours. The research work was Donnelly and Louise Quinn. carried out by a partnership led by the National Consultative Committee on Citizenship and Science: Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) in The Connecting Axes Dublin, together with Piaras MacEinri (2005) from University College Cork, the The final report of the EU- Institute for Conflict Research in Belfast, funded Citizenship and and Organisation and Social Science Exchange (CaSE) Development Consultants in Edinburgh. Schools project looked at how a group of 12-14 year The Wind Across the Border (2007) old students in 16 schools This report brought on both sides of the together six award winning border deepened their research assignments understanding of the dynamic carried out by pairs and relationship between science and teams of officials as part citizenship. The students explored of the North/South and subjects such as air and water pollution, Cross-Border Public waste management, GM and fair trade Sector Training foods, renewable energy and energy Programme. They were efficiency. Much of the cross-border on the proposed work centred on a shared Web resource. reopening of the Ulster Canal; an all-island service Improving Government for the recycling of waste fridges and Service Delivery to freezers; expanding the CAWT- Minority Ethnic sponsored eMed renal information Groups (2006) system to the whole island; an all-island This study, funded by visitor pass for heritage sites; setting up the Office of the First a cross-border training and accreditation Minister and Deputy system for installers of renewable energy First Minister Northern technologies; and cross-border sharing Ireland (with additional of patient electronic records. funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the British Council), Removing the Barriers: An Initial examined how public services such as Report on the Potential for Cross- health, education, policing and Border Cooperation in Hospital employment support are provided to Services (2007)
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This short report compared cooperation, for the Northern the planning of hospital Ireland office of the Irish Congress service reorganisation, of Trade Unions (December 2007) North and South. It noted • A review of policy recommendations that there are different from the five research projects strategies in the two commissioned by the Higher jurisdictions, with Northern Education Authority under the Ireland placing greater 2004-2006 Cross-Border Programme emphasis on travel time for Research contributing to Peace and the Republic on the and Reconciliation: Intergenerational size of the catchment population. The transmission and ethno-national authors, independent Belfast researcher identity in the border area; Equality Dr Jim Jamison and Dr Michelle Butler, and social inclusion; Mapping Senior Lecturer in UCD’s School of Frontiers, Plotting Pathways; E- Nursing Midwifery and Health Systems, consultation; and Virtual Research point to the clear scope for joint Centre for Point-of-Care Technology hospital planning and rationalisation in (February 2007) the border region to benefit the health • An overview of the activities of the of the population. Common Chapter of the Republic of Ireland’s National Development Plan COMMISSIONED STUDIES AND and Northern Ireland’s Structural EVALUATIONS Funds Plan for the Special EU Programmes Body – in partnership The Centre has carried out studies and with FPM Chartered Accountants evaluations for government and (February 2007) other public agencies and social • A report on public attitudes to the partner organisations. These have development of cross-border health included: services, with particular reference to • An evaluation of the cross-border GP out-of-hours services, for CAWT GP out-of-hours service for the (January 2007) Cooperation and Working Together • A report on education and skills in (CAWT) cross-border network of the North West, for the Irish health authorities (due in June 2008) Department of Education and • A study of postgraduate flows from Science and the Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland to Northern Department for Employment and Ireland higher education institutions, Learning (2006) for the Irish Department of • An Evaluation of the Education for Education and Science Reconciliation Project, for the City of (January 2008) Dublin Vocational Education • How the trade union movement can Committee (2003-2005) become more involved and • A Review of Cross-Border Mobility influential in North-South Information Provisions in the South
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of Ireland, for the North/South authority in the field. As the Centre’s Mobility Information Group (2003) research programme has developed, • An Evaluation of the Upstate these seminars have moved from Theatre Company’s ‘Crossover’ studying broad policy fields to cross-border community drama examining more focussed areas which project (2002-2004) have been the subject of specific • ‘Towards a Strategic Economic and research projects and commissioned Business Research Agenda for the work. Cross-border seminars and study island of Ireland’, for days have been organised in the InterTradeIreland (2002) following areas: • A report on public feedback to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers/Indecon • Agriculture Obstacles to Mobility study, for the • Education North/South Ministerial Council • Tourism (2002) • Information and Communication • A study into the feasibility of Technologies extending University for • Health Services Industry/learndirect to the Republic • Mental Health Promotion of Ireland, for University for • Developments in Telecom Industry (2001) Technologies • An evaluation of the Co-operation • Local government links and Working Together (CAWT) • Foot and Mouth disease cross-border network of health • School, Youth and Teacher boards and trusts, for CAWT(2001) Exchanges • A ‘scoping study’ of North-South • European citizenship education School, Youth and Teacher • The euro Exchanges, for the Department of • Business research Education (Bangor) and the • The North-South Consultative Forum Department of Education and • Ageing Science (Dublin) (2001) • Border region history* • Border region regeneration* SEMINARS AND STUDY DAYS • Waste Management • Economic co-operation* The Centre holds regular seminars and • Planning and mobility in the North study days in Armagh, Dublin and in the West* border region to examine strategic areas • Science and Citizenship of interest to North-South policy makers. • Information provision These bring together groups of policy • Housing and sustainable makers, senior practitioners and communities academics to discuss a research paper • Education and Skills in the North prepared by the Centre under the West chairmanship of a distinguished • Mental Health Research
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• Personal Banking for Employment and Learning (Belfast) • Web 2.0 aspects of online cross- and the Department of Education and border information Science (Dublin). The first of these, in October 2002 in Armagh, was on * For the Mapping Frontiers, Plotting ‘Ireland as a Centre of Excellence in Pathways project Third Level Education.’ This conference, which was attended by the CONFERENCES presidents of seven of the nine universities on the island of Ireland, was The first major conference organised by addressed by several world authorities the Centre, jointly with the Centre for on higher education. These included International Borders Research (CIBR), Professor Malcolm Skilbeck, the OECD’s was held at Queen’s University Belfast in former Deputy Director for Education; autumn 2000 under the title ‘European former US Secretary of Education, Cross Border Co-operation: Lessons Richard Riley; the Director-General for for and from Ireland.’ This Education and Culture in the European international conference was opened by Commission, Nikolaus van der Pas, and the Irish President, Mary McAleese, and the Chief Executive of the English was addressed by a wide range of Higher Education Funding Council, Sir distinguished speakers, including the Howard Newby. then First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble; the Deputy First Minister, In May 2003, the second conference Seamus Mallon; the then RUC Chief was held in Cavan on ‘International Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan; the Education: A Capacity Builder for the head of the EU’s cross-border INTERREG Island of Ireland?’ The keynote programme, Esben Poulsen; the speakers were Lindy Hyam, Chief international emergency Executive of IDP Education Australia, communications expert, Professor a world leader in international Edward Johnson; Ambassador Hermann education and development services, von Richthofen of the German-Polish and Neil Kemp, director of the Governmental Commission; and the Education UK Division of the British then SDLP leader John Hume. Council. The conference Participants came from 13 countries to was chaired by Sir discuss cross-border co-operation in five George Quigley. areas: administrative institutions, security and policing, business and the In November 2003, the economy, the environment, and culture third conference was and the arts. held in Belfast on ‘Widening Access to The Centre has also organised six North- Third Level Education South conferences on aspects of higher on the Island of education on behalf of the Department Ireland: Towards
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Better Policy and Practice’. The seminal Lambert Review of University- keynote speakers were Dr Arnold Business Collaboration for the British Mitchem, President of the Council for Government. The conference was Opportunity in Education in Washington opened by the Irish Minister for DC, a champion of access to higher Education and Science, Ms Mary education for low income and disabled Hanafin TD, and the Northern Ireland Americans for 35 years, and Samuel Minister for Employment and Learning Isaacs, Executive Officer of the South and Education, Ms Angela Smyth MP. African Qualifications Authority. Other speakers included the Presidents of Queen’s University Belfast and NUI The fourth conference – Maynooth, Professor Peter Gregson and entitled ‘Cross-Border Professor John Hughes, and leading Irish Higher Education Co- entrepreneurs Dr Chris Horn and Dr operation in Ireland Hugh Cormican. and Europe’ – was held in Cavan in May 2004. The sixth conference was This examined examples held in Malahide in March of good practice in 2006 with the title cross-border higher ‘What role for Higher education elsewhere in Education in the Europe, notably in the Oresund Development of the region of Denmark and southern 21st Century Sweden (with keynote speaker Professor Workplace?’ The keynote Linda Nielsen, Rector of the University of speakers were the Board Copenhagen), and the EUCOR network Chairman of the Intel between French, German and Swiss Corporation, Dr Craig Barrett; the universities in the Upper Rhine region. Directors General of the Confederation The conference was co-chaired by Sir of British Industry and the Irish Business Kenneth Bloomfield and Noel Dorr. and Employers Confederation, Sir Digby Jones and Turlough O’Sullivan; the The fifth conference was Education and Training Officer of the held in Belfast in June 2005 Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Peter under the title ‘Higher Rigney; the Chief Executive of Forfás, Education and Business: Martin Cronin, and the President of Beyond Mutual Dublin City University, Professor Incomprehension’. Ferdinand von Prondzynski. The The keynote speaker was conference was opened by the Secretary Richard Lambert, member General of the Irish Department for of the Bank of England’s Education and Science, Brigid McManus, Monetary Policy and the Permanent Secretary of the Committee, former editor of the Northern Ireland Department for Financial Times and author of the Employment and Learning, Dr Aideen
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McGinley. The event was organised in and the Royal Astronomical Society). collaboration with the IBEC-CBI Joint Thanks for the success of this initiative Business Council. are particularly due to the director of the Armagh Observatory, Professor Mark SCHOOLS SCIENCE CONFERENCE Bailey, and Observatory staff and students. In March 2007 the Centre joined with Armagh Observatory to organise BOOKS ‘Discover the Stars at Armagh: a Cross- Border Schools Science Conference.’ In 2001 the Centre This brought together 260 students published, in association from secondary schools in Belfast, with Cork University Armagh, Dublin, Dundalk, Drogheda, Press, a series of short Dungannon, Kilkeel, Cookstown, books containing essays Fermanagh, Monaghan and Westmeath by leading writers on to engage in two days of astronomical key issues of interest to activities in Armagh. The days started both Irish jurisdictions: with a lecture from Dr Robert Walsh of • Multi-Culturalism: the University of Central Lancashire the View from the followed by a cycle of ‘hands on’ Two Irelands by activities in the Armagh Observatory’s Edna Longley and Human Orrery and Astropark and the Declan Kiberd, with Armagh Planetarium. a foreword by President Mary Other partners were the Royal School McAleese Armagh (where plenary sessions were • Can the Celtic Tiger held) and Armagh Planetarium, and the cross the Irish Border? by John event was funded by the Northern Bradley and Esmond Birnie, with a Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and foreword by Peter Sutherland Leisure and the Irish Department of • Towards a Culture of Human Rights Education and Science. The event was in Ireland by Ivana Bacik and designed to attract students aged 13-14 Stephen Livingstone, with a towards science and scientific thinking foreword by Mary Robinson at a critical stage of their academic careers. A 32 page booklet was WHAT THEY SAY produced for the participating schools by Observatory students and staff What the Centre for Cross Border (edited by Dr Miruna Popescu) along Studies is doing is really important. We with a wide range of educational hope that you will provide analytical and materials (provided by organisations research support to what we’re trying to such as NASA – the US National do in the British-Irish Intergovernmental Aeronautics and Space Administration, Conference, pushing forward a
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Secondary school students from both sides of the border at ‘Discover the Stars at Armagh: a Cross-Border Schools Science Conference,’ March 2007. significant North-South agenda on a President Mary McAleese, purely practical basis, and looking at the February 2005 concept of an all-island economy. We need to maximise the benefits of this It is essential that North-South co- cross-border work, identifying what will operation is not the exclusive preserve and will not succeed. This is not an of the politicians or the public sector. academic exercise – its practical Other actors in the North-South arena outcomes are almost limitless. In – the private sector, trade unions, the economic terms this is a pretty small farming sector, the voluntary and island which should be looking community sector, the universities and outwards towards the global economy other educational institutions, to name rather than inwards. We need to be but a few – have a critical role to play encouraging cross-border cooperation also in this process. This is where the to gain the maximum benefits for role of the Centre for Cross Border Northern Ireland in that global Studies has been, and will continue to context. This is very rich and fruitful be, so important and valuable. You have territory for the Centre to be carved out a very useful role in working in. complementing the work of the new North-South institutions created by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Agreement, and serving as a kind of Rt Hon Peter Hain MP, February 2007 interface between the public sector in both parts of the island and non- The Centre for Cross Border Studies governmental practitioners in the field. always takes a very fresh and innovative approach, bringing together sources of The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, energy on both sides of the border that February 2005 used to be back to back but are now in an extraordinary dialogue. The continued excellence of the research
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carried out by the Centre brings to mind One the Centre’s key achievements the words of John Ruskin: “Quality is during 2007 was the launch of the never an accident. It is always a result of Cross Border Mobility website intelligent effort.” (www.crossbordermobility.info) which was developed at the request of the Nigel Hamilton, Head of the Northern NSMC. The website provides a wide Ireland Civil Service, March 2006 range of information for people who wish to cross the border in either The Centre for Cross Border Studies direction to work, study and live. The makes a hugely valuable contribution to Centre continues to develop the establishing the evidence-based research information on the website and monitor needed to underpin mutually beneficial its usage. cross-border cooperation. Mary Bunting and Tom Hanney, NSMC Over the years it has established an Joint Secretaries, February 2008 unrivalled expertise across a wide variety of economic and social issues of direct 2005 EVALUATION QUOTES relevance to cooperation and collaboration. It has brought together by Brian Harvey (Brian Harvey Social policy makers, researchers, academics Research, Dublin) and others involved in dealing with the practical issues to share experiences and ‘Clients of the Centre appraised its work identify solutions. as more than competent, demonstrating the highest levels of professionalism, The Centre’s research findings have coupled with commitment and helped to inform the development of invariable courtesy. Expert opinion policy in key areas such as health and likewise gave a high assessment of the education. It is an important resource Centre’s performance, admiring its for a wide range of public bodies, quality, output, impact, relevance, value including through information sharing for money, working methods, expertise, and focussed training programmes. In vision, tact and diplomacy.’ many areas the Centre, through its research work, has helped identify the ‘Comments were: “its projects are way forward and demonstrated the always very thorough”; “doing a great synergies and benefits to be harnessed job in challenging circumstances”; “the from North-South cooperation. director has an excellent grasp of what is necessary to move things along”; Following the historic political “nothing more important than north- developments in 2007 and the renewed south reconciliation”; “contributes a meetings of the North/South Ministerial significant amount of information to the Council (NSMC), the Centre’s work wider policy arena”; “does important continues to play an important role. work and deserves more exposure”.
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Centre for Cross Border Studies director Andy Pollak addresses a seminar on 'Training in cross-border professions' at the Mission Opérationelle Transfrontalière (MOT) European conference in Lille ('Cross-Border Territories: Day to Day Europe') , 8 November 2007. From left to right: Professor Luís Dominguez Castro, University of Vigo, Spain; Dr Joachim Beck, Euro Institute, Kehl, Germany; Mr Hynek Boehm, Institut Euro Schola, Czech Republic; Mr Pollak; Mr Jean Pierre Pruvot, CCI Lille Métropole, France.
The Centre was considered to be better than anyone else could, bringing professional, reliable and worked hard. an ever wider range of people into co- Its staff were “a pleasure to deal with”. operation – “not just border people, but They did a “tremendous job”, provided as far south as Cork”. “good support and service”, “they do what they have to do – and more.” All ‘All had a sense that the Centre had the staff were good – “but that comes performed well on minimal staffing and from the values set down from the resources. “It is transparent, managing director at the top”. They were an extensive programme, working “efficient, focused, interested and within tight timeframes and with a small believed in what they were doing”. number of staff“.
‘Several commented that the Centre ‘One organisation, whose work had went beyond what was expected, been facilitated by the Centre, spoke “treating the project pro-actively, enthusiastically of the Centre’s bringing fresh energy and commitment, commitment to arranging cross-border finding imaginative ways to work contacts and promoting relationships around problems”. between groups that had hitherto little contact, making the comment that: ‘The Centre was admired and respected “Once the relationship was established for its commitment, energy, political and got going, the Centre walked even-handedness and ability to open quietly away. It didn’t try to hog the doors to people who might not limelight or build an empire but let them otherwise be in contact with each other. get on with it”. It has oiled the wheels of co-operation
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Board Members and Staff
Dr Chris Gibson (chair), chairman, Foyle Meats Group and Wilson’s Country Ltd; chair, Northern Ireland Civic Forum Chris Gibson Dr Pauric Travers (vice-chair), president, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra
Dr Jane Wilde, director, the Institute of Public Health in Ireland
Professor Liam O’Dowd, director of the Centre for International Borders Research and professor of sociology at Queen’s University Belfast Pauric Travers
Paul Nolan, director of education (undergraduate programmes), Queen’s University Belfast
Stevie Johnston, director, Workers’ Educational Association (Northern Ireland)
Professor Ronaldo Munck, strategic theme leader for Patricia Clarke internationalisation, interculturalism and social development, Dublin City University
Richard Jay, director of education (postgraduate programmes), Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Dermot Diamond, director, Science Foundation Ireland-funded ‘Adaptive Information Mairead Hughes Cluster’, National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University
The director of the Centre is Andy Pollak, formerly religion and education correspondent of The Irish Times, and in the early 1990s coordinator of the Opsahl Commission.
Andy Pollak
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The Centre’s research manager is Dr Patricia Clarke, formerly a senior researcher with the London Ambulance Service, and its ICT leader is Joseph Shiels, a former software developer with Fujitsu and consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The Centre’s finance manager and administrator is Mairéad Hughes. The director’s PA and events organiser is Patricia McAllister. The senior information officer is Mark Kirkpatrick. The education project coordinator (Immigration, Emigration, Racism and Sectarianism Schools Project) is Marie Hoeritzauer. A new administrative assistant, Eimear McAnespy, started work at the beginning of March 2008.
Patricia McAllister Joseph Shiels Marie Hoeritzauer Mark Kirkpatrick
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EXTRACTS FROM 2006-2007 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The unaudited accounts for 2006-2007 are detailed below. The independent external auditors are PriceWaterhouseCoopers and they have indicated their willingness to continue in office. The 2006-2007 accounts audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers will be available from the Centre for Cross Border Studies in April 2008.
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2007
2007 2006 Income and expenditure £ £
Incoming resources Grants Receivable 335,269 300,986 Other income 413,142 317,011
Total incoming resources 748,411 617,997
Resources expended Direct charitable expenditure 660,025 574,824 Administrative expenses 13,805 9,427
Total resources expended 673,830 584,251
Surplus for the year 74,581 33,746
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BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 JULY 2007
2007 2006 Notes £ £ Current assets Debtors 9 402,262 239,862 Cash at bank 200 200 402,462 240,062 Creditors: amounts falling due 10 (164,479) (76,660) within one year Net current assets 237,983 163,402
Funds Unrestricted 11 76,741 42,168 Restricted 11 161,242 121,234 237,983 163,402
NOTES
Debtors 2007 2006 £ £ Other debtors and prepayments 59,014 81,508 Amounts due from The Queen’s University of Belfast 343,248 158,354 402,262 239,862
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 2007 2006 £ £ Accruals & deferred income 164,479 57,186 Other creditors - 19,474 164,479 76,660
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Funds Balance at Balance at 1 August Incoming Resources 31 July 2006 expended expended 2007
££ ££ Restricted funds 121,234 335,269 (276,928) 179,575
Unrestricted funds 42,168 413,142 (396,902) 58,408
Total funds 163,402 748,411 (673,830) 237,983
Unrestricted funds are amounts which are expendable at the discretion of the Board in furtherance of the aims of the Company.
Restricted funds are amounts which are expandable only in accordance with the specified wishes of the sponsor. The restricted funds consist of grants and awards for specific projects or administrative functions carried out buy the company.
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CONTACT DETAILS
MAIN OFFICE
The Centre for Cross Border Studies 39 Abbey Street Armagh BT61 7EB Northern Ireland
Tel (028) 3751 1550 Fax (028) 3751 1721 (048 from the Republic of Ireland)
DUBLIN OFFICE
The Centre for Cross Border Studies Room QG11 Business School Dublin City University Dublin 9 Ireland
Tel (01) 7008477 Fax (01) 7008478 (00353-1 from Northern Ireland)
E-mail addresses: [email protected] Andy Pollak [email protected] Mairéad Hughes [email protected] Patricia Clarke [email protected] Joseph Shiels [email protected] Patricia McAllister [email protected] Mark Kirkpatrick [email protected] Marie Hoeritzauer
Websites: www.crossborder.ie www.borderireland.info
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