Order of Bath
Companion (CB)

Carol Patricia Moore, lately director, justice policy, Department of Justice

Order of the British Empire
Dame Commander (DBE)

Professor Judith Eileen Hill CBE, chief executive, Northern Ireland Hospice

Commanders (CBE)
Catherine Elizabeth Bell, deputy secretary, Department for Employment and Learning

Professor Jack Crane, state pathologist

Officers (OBE)
David William Best, director of finance and support services, PSNI

Darren Christopher Clarke, for services to golf

James Dobson, managing director, Dunbia

James Stephen Foster, head of corporate real estate and sourcing (Europe, Middle East and Africa), JP Morgan Chase

David Alexander Gibson, senior lecturer, enterprise education, Queen’s University Belfast

David Dunbar Mawhinney, managing director, Equiniti-ICS

Fionnuala McAndrew, director of children and executive director for social work, Health and Social Care Board

Professor James Andrew McLaughlin, advanced functional materials, University of Ulster

Reverend Wilfred John Orr, Newtownbreda Presbyterian Church

Shelagh Rosemary Rainey, chair, Belfast Education and Library Board

Reverend William Alexander Shaw, director, 174 Trust

Joanne Stuart, former chairman, Institute of Directors, Northern Ireland Division

Members (MBE)
Esther Robina Yvette Anderson, musical director, PSNI Ladies Choir

Philip Moore Bolton, director of music, Royal Belfast Academical Institution

Beverley Eleanor Ann Burns, Trading Standards Service, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

Dr Samuel John Burnside

Dr Linda Margaret Caughley, consultant histopathologist, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry

Brian Dorman

Jeffrey Edward Anthony Dudgeon

Charles Herbert Gerard Gould, chairman, board of governors, Carrickfergus Grammar School

Robert James Haughey

Dr Raman Kapur, chief executive, Threshold

Eileen May Kenny, head of quality, South West College

Lily Kerr, head of bargaining and representation, UNISON Northern Ireland

George Gordon Archibald Knowles, welfare officer, Disabled Police Officers’ Association

Renée Alice Logan, volunteer, Institute of Advanced Motorists

Flora Magee

Rosemary Magill, Women’s Aid

Anne Marie Marley, respiratory nurse consultant, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Henry Irwin Mayne, social worker, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Ann McCrea, breastfeeding co-ordinator

Patricia McDermott

Patrick McGonagle, managing director, Pakflatt Ltd

Rory McIlroy, golfer

William James McKittrick

Maura Muldoon

Robina Parkes

James Peel JP, lately assistant senior education officer, South Eastern Education and Library Board

Alderman John Mervyn Rea, Antrim Borough Council

Agnes Mary Reilly, chairman, Belfast Titanic Society

David Robinson, founder, Northern Ireland Transplant Association

Robert Moore Robinson, principal, Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt

Richard Michael Sherry

David Smith, director, customer support, South Eastern Regional College

Councillor Marion Smith, North Down Borough Council

Eileen Watson, lately teacher, Ashfield Girls High School, Belfast

Thomas Joseph Welsh

John Victor Williamson, owner, Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown

Queen’s Police Medal
Detective Chief Inspector

Kim McCauley

Acting Inspector

Alexander Penney

Sergeant Russell Vogan

The BEM returns
In the Queen’s birthday honours this summer, the British Empire Medal will be reintroduced to recognise local acts of voluntary service. It was established in 1917 but discontinued by John Major in 1993, as it overlapped with the MBE and was seen as reinforcing class divisions. Recipients tended to come from working class backgrounds. David Cameron, though, sees it a way to reward a wider range of volunteers. Presentations were made by a Lord Lieutenant rather than the Queen, and this will continue through the new system.

Peter Cheney discusses the idea with the NIO Minister.

Instead of a cover for cuts, Hugo Swire sees the Big Society as a kind of confession. The NIO Minister, who leads on the subject in the province, describes it as an admission that “big government can’t always do it, shouldn’t always do it and when it does things, it doesn’t always do it very well.”

He sums up David Cameron’s concept as a transfer of power from the state to local people so they have more of a say in how their lives are run. The fundamental belief is that “the people who do things best for their communities are those people who live in those communities themselves.”

The Minister earlier addressed the UK Association of Preservation Trusts’ national conference at the Crescent Arts Centre. The Big Society, he told delegates, had three pillars:

1. decreasing the power of Whitehall and bringing decisions much closer to people;

2. reforming and opening up public services; and

3. encouraging social action.

Ministers have been keen to stress that the Big Society already exists and they want to make it ‘bigger’.

The UK Government’s plans will have the most impact in England, where Westminster has a free hand. Elsewhere, it has financial levers but otherwise has to persuade devolved administrations. Some voluntary sector groups are supportive, others sceptical.

Cameron launched the name Big Society through the Guardian’s Hugo Young lecture, in November 2009, but has emphasised the same theme since his leadership election speech in October 2005: “We know we have a shared responsibility, that we’re all in this together, that there is such a thing as society; it’s just not the same thing as the state.”

That contrasted with Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 comment: “And who is society? There is no such thing.” Swire points interviewers to the full quote, which continues: “There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first.”

Transferring power from government, he thinks, is “rather radical” and not unique to Conservatives. Many of his party members in East Devon are involved in charities, churches and fundraising. So too are people from other political backgrounds: “We want to recognise those people. We want to support those people. We want to encourage those people and we want there to be more of those people.”

Critiques

“Our critics have to say something,” he says when rejecting Ed Miliband’s view of the Big Society as “a cloak for the small state”. Swire adds: “As a Conservative, I actually believe personally that it is the individuals who should be empowered against the state. If that’s radical, so be it.”

From the right wing, Adam Smith Institute Director Eamonn Butler says the idea is a ‘brand’ and any ‘good’ government policy will be called the Big Society. “I think that what that’s missing is the very clear things that we’re doing,” Swire responds, pointing to Big Society Capital and National Citizen Service.

“It’s actually a sort of philosophical change. It’s a mindset. It actually represents a very fundamental shift in thinking and I think, ultimately, will come to define David Cameron’s premiership.”

Charities, social enterprises, private companies and co-operatives (including those owned by public sector workers) will compete to run public services, at least in England.

The proposed Big Society Bank has been renamed Big Society Capital to distinguish it from high street banks and is due to operate from April 2012.

Big Society Capital will not make direct grants but will instead act as a wholesaler of capital, attracting funding from foundations, institutional investors, companies and private individuals, to invest in intermediary organisations. Applicants, from all parts of the UK, could approach the intermediary organisations and access capital at a more competitive rate than through a normal bank. Independent of government, the organisation will initially receive an estimated £400 million from dormant bank accounts and £200 million from HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Barclays (so-called Merlin money).

Swire was most passionate about the National Citizen Service as, after the English riots, “if there was ever a time to give teenagers a sense of belonging and purpose, it is now.”

The service, piloted in England last summer, brings together 16-year olds from different social backgrounds for a residential trip. Similarly to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, young people take part in outdoor pursuits, design a community project and carry out 30 hours of part-time social action. Ten thousand young people took part and the UK Government is discussing a Northern Ireland version with the Executive.

Whether or not that goes ahead, Swire notes that the province’s Big Society is “alive and well in myriad different forms”. Indeed, he brought David Cameron to see the ARC healthy living centre in Irvinestown back in June, a high profile illustration of Britain learning from Northern Ireland’s experience.

Down to specifics

The Big Society is often written off as woolly and waffly but detailed policies are now taking shape. The National Citizen Service and the Big Society Capital Group are the two highest profile examples to date. In May, the Cabinet Office released its giving white paper, which highlights the following UK-wide schemes:

• Cutting inheritance tax from 40 to 36 per cent where 10 per cent or more of an estate goes to charity (takes effect from April 2012);

• Charitable giving through ATMs, being explored by banks, building societies and cash machine operators (operational later this year);

• JustTextGiving launched by the mobile phone industry (in May) after a challenge from government;

• The Do Some Good app for iPhones;

• The independent Philanthropy UK service encouraging more giving from wealthy individuals

(to receive £700,000 from government to develop its work).

Innovative pilots include the Round Pound scheme, allowing shoppers to round up their bills to the nearest pound and donate the difference to charity, and the Spice initiative (pioneered in south Wales) which thanks volunteers with a small gift e.g. off-peak swimming, spare theatre seats.

Community and voluntary groups across the UK can also apply for Big Society Awards. Winners receive a signed certificate from the Prime Minister and are invited to a networking event and 10 Downing Street reception.

The British Empire Medal (see page 7 in this edition) is being reintroduced to reward volunteering.

All UK Government ministers have pledged to volunteer for a day in the community. Swire had an army of NIO “weeders, sweepers, painters and cleaners” and was open to suggestions for projects.

More info: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/big-society

Less than a year before the USA chooses a new President, Jim Naughtie finds that many Americans no longer believe in the American Dream. The BBC Today Programme presenter has covered every presidential election since 1988 and is discussing the current state of US politics after speaking at the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.

“Many Americans, say aged between 30 and 50, are profoundly sceptical of the idea with which they grew up, that it was almost an inheritance of theirs that every generation would be better off than the one before,” he comments.

That idea of constant progress was treated as an “absolute fact” that “made you an American” but now rings hollow in the Rust Belt and across the South. Indebtedness to China and Japan are major worries. Together, those countries hold around 45 per cent of US foreign debt.

“The idea that America no longer rules the waves is one that [has] really taken hold,” Naughtie reflects with some regret. “It’s extremely hard to use the word pessimism in relation to the States because it’s the most optimistic country in the world. And there will be a huge amount of rhetoric [this year] about ‘the Americans will bounce back, we’ll do it, that’s what we are etc. etc.’ but I think underneath that there’s a real lurking fear that it’s no longer true.”

A decade of conflict since 9/11 has added to that fear. Realising the threat of terrorism was a “profound shock” and Americans are “slightly bewildered” that they are no safer after the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions. Around 6,200 US troops have died and 47,000 have been injured in both campaigns.

An old saying goes that voters don’t make up their minds after baseball’s World Series is over, which makes for a lot of deciding in the last week of October.

Obama will undoubtedly have to “carry the can” for unemployment, pay cuts and repossessions on his watch and there is now a “sense of quite steep disillusionment” among young people.

Turning to the Republican side, Naughtie adds: “There is absolutely no doubt that the person that the White House fears most is Mitt because he is competent. He is actually more personable than he was in the last campaign.”

Mitt Romney avoids the false conspiracy theories about Obama and instead paints him as “rather a nice guy” who wants the same things as him but “doesn’t know how the world works”. To win the primaries, though, Romney will play to the Tea Party with right-wing rhetoric.

“It’s beyond me to imagine that they could nominate Rick Perry but it’s not impossible,” Naughtie adds. While the Texas Governor is a “seasoned politician,” he has shown a “real lack of grip” on the Middle East, among other issues.

Romney’s weaknesses are his liberalism, faith and wealth. As Massachusetts Governor, he introduced a nearly universal health insurance plan. Many evangelicals “regard Mormonism as a cult” and it’s also “very easy to portray him as a very rich, smooth, Wall Street corporate fat cat, largely because that is indeed what he is.”

Although Americans frequently talk about freedom, enterprise and the American Dream, “very rich folks from Wall Street are not the flavour of the month” at the moment. However, Naughtie’s hunch is “if the Republican Party is serious about winning the election, they should nominate him.”

His own experience of America goes back to studying at Syracuse, upstate New York, back in the mid-1970s. He clearly regrets the polarisation and growing cynicism in its society, which in turn causes serious political damage.

The American constitutional settlement assumed that parties in Congress would search for consensus but his sources in Washington are “very gloomy about the prospects of any administration and Congress being able to sort out some of the deep-seated problems because the ideological rift is so profound now.”

Partisan talk shows and radio reflect the prejudices of their audiences, who are “not interested in hearing another point of view”. An ex-army colonel and Tea Party activist whom he met in Kentucky only listened to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Getting answers

Hearing that makes him more proud of British radio’s style: “We have managed to preserve in this country the idea of the interview as being something that is an opportunity for people to hear their concerns, their questions, being put and answered.”

For almost every interview, his rule is: “You work out what the one thing is you want to know or you’ve at least got to be determined to get at, and everything else is a bonus.”

Going with the conversational flow is better than sticking to a plan. An alert interviewer who listens to the answers can pick up something intriguing, unexpected or surprising.

Naughtie sums up: “In a good interview, the person being interviewed has always had an opportunity to put their case across, assuming they’ve got one, but the question that most of your listeners want to hear asked has been asked and answered.” The art of it is “letting people feel that they really have learnt something, that light has been cast on something.”

On radio, it’s hard to avoid interrupting a down-the-line interview and eye contact makes the process much more straightforward. “Politicians and experienced people know it. When they’re actually there, it’s much better for us and it’s much better for them too,” he comments.

Realistically, some BBC services to the public will be hit by cuts. That said, he thinks that austerity is forcing to BBC to “think very hard” about its core values and what it does best.

“The BBC can never win because it’s got to try to please everybody, which is impossible,” he quips. With News International on the defensive, when it could otherwise be criticising the licence fee, this is “rather a happy coincidence.”

Reactions to Sands’ death

A compelling weekly bulletin from the Northern Ireland Office (file NIO/12/194A) describes the first week of May 1981 in grim detail. The medical prognosis of the hunger strikers had a direct bearing on the security situation outside the jail.

“As anticipated in the last bulletin Sands’ condition became critical at the weekend when he lapsed into a coma on Sunday morning [3 May],” it records. “He did not regain consciousness before his death at 01.17 hours early on Tuesday 5, the 66th day of his fast.”

Secretary of State Humphrey Atkins regretted a “needless and pointless death” before adding: “We should not forget the many others who have died.” Atkins urged the people of Northern Ireland to “recognise the futility of violence and turn their faces away from it.” A press statement from republican prisoners blamed the British Government “primarily” for his death but also condemned “politicians and other leading people” for their alleged “timidity and lack of courage”.

The document goes on to report “rioting for most of the day in Belfast” on 4 May and “heavy petrol bombing of RUC targets plus factories, commercial premises and a Methodist church” after Sands’ death. An RUC officer was shot dead in North Belfast on 6 May and an INLA terrorist killed by his own bomb.

A “marked increase in shooting incidents overnight” (6-7 May) suggested that “[IRA] terrorist action will be stepped up to maintain the campaign impetus.”

Robinson’s prison hostage offer

Peter Robinson was prepared to take a government offer to loyalist prisoners holding four prison officers hostage, according to NIO notes (file CENT/1/10/91). The incident happened at Crumlin Road jail and was discussed at a meeting at Stormont Castle starting at 9.15pm on 11 December 1981.

Robinson met NIO Minister of State Adam Butler as part of the Ulster Loyalist Prisoners’ Rights Committee. He warned that “the prison might be burnt down” and said he had been “shouting up to some of the prisoners taking part in the protest and had been told the hostages were being well treated.”

If the committee members could meet the prisoners and take an offer from the Government, he expected that the warders would be released. A Mr McDonald, also on the committee, was “concerned [that] the irresponsible element in the prison would take over completely.”

Butler insisted that third parties could not negotiate with protesting prisoners. “It was a matter for the prison authorities to handle,” as had happened in Great Britain. However, the committee “bore a heavy responsibility if they had the prisoners’ trust and it was essential that they should try to encourage and influence the situation to reduce tension.”

Robinson countered that another NIO Minister, Lord Gowrie, and “all sorts of people” had gone to the Maze to ask the hunger strikers to call off their protest. He warned that if anything happened to the warders, “it would be on the Minister’s conscience.” Ulster Unionist John Carson, a UUP councillor and former North Belfast MP, added: “Protestant feelings were running very high especially when it seemed that Republican prisoners had won all their demands, whilst Loyalist prisoners were being ignored.”

Butler suggested that the committee make an appeal on radio to end the protest, but this was rejected as ineffective. After two and a half hours, both sides agreed that the committee would tell prisoners, through a loud hailer, that they could meet elected representatives if the protest ended; the Government would announce a review of conditions at Crumlin Road for remand prisoners; Lord Gowrie would meet “conforming prisoners” at an early opportunity.

The prison officers were subsequently released.

Leading profiles

Frank profiles of political and church figures by NIO staff (file CENT/1/10/36A) indicate their fears that moderate figures were being overshadowed by loud hard line voices.

Ian Paisley “gained his reputation as a fundamentalist preacher with violently anti-catholic views” in the late 1950s and was “far removed from the old traditional middle class unionism”. His majority in North Antrim was “impregnable”.

Catholic Primate Tomás Ó Fiaich was clearly resented: “His public pronouncements tend to gain him notoriety, believing in a phased British withdrawal from the North. He rejects violence, but has on occasion been far from helpful on the prisons issue.” The main Protestant church leaders, all seen as ecumenical, were viewed much more positively.

John Hume had been “an effective Minister of Commerce” and is described as: “Altogether an academically minded, moderate politician.” Jim Molyneaux is curiously listed third out of the four main political leaders, perhaps reflecting NIO frustration: “Rather lacking in populist appeal, his lack of flair may have contributed to the UUP’s steady loss of support to the DUP.”

The DUP had narrowly overtaken the UUP, in first preferences, at the local elections on 20 May (26.57 per cent to 26.56 per cent), more than doubling its vote from 12.7 per cent in 1977. “Not a charismatic man, but an effective leader” was the summary for Alliance’s Oliver Napier.

In economic terms, Northern Ireland was a “uniquely distressed region of the UK” with “exceptionally high unemployment” (17.6 per cent and 101,522 persons in May 1981) and a “high degree of dependence on declining staple industries”. Several factories were at risk of closure, according to official predictions, and the futures of “Shorts and especially Harland and Wolff are not assured in the longer term.”

‘Catholic support’ for shared college

Many Catholic teachers supported a shared teaching training centre, but feared speaking out “because it might harm their job prospects.” The claim was made by Mr Mallaghan from All Children Together (a pro-integrated education group) when it met Education Minister Lord Elton on 26 February 1981.

The interim Chilver report, in June 1980, called for a Belfast Centre for Teacher Education, which would include a Catholic college, Stranmillis College and Queen’s University’s School of Education on the Stranmillis site. According to the official note (file ED/13/2/544), Mr Mallaghan “suggested that the Roman Catholic Church had orchestrated a response to the report and that many people were not aware of what was in it.”

The Minister was sceptical about public demand as he had received “no such approaches” from members of the public. Lagan College was opened in September 1981 as the first formally integrated school, with 28 pupils. That said, several schools had educated Protestants and Catholics together earlier in Northern Ireland’s history e.g. the mill schools of County Down.

Hunger strike support assessed

The hunger strike had generated “substantial international interest, notably in the US, the Holy See and Western Europe” (file CENT/1/10/36A). The UK had “encountered no difficulties from allied governments over the hunger strike, although it remains to be seen whether President [Mitterrand] will succumb to left wing pressure in France.” Mitterrand’s government included ministers from the French Communist Party.

May was a turbulent time in Europe. Bobby Sands’ death (5 May) was followed by the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II (13 May) which, the NIO surmised, “has probably had the indirect effect of reducing sympathy abroad for terrorist prisoners in Northern Ireland.” However, officials expected interest to revive when the European Commission of Human Rights (a legal tribunal) declared two complaints by prisoners to be admissible.

Some US television coverage had been “unhelpful” but there had been “some attempt at balance” in recent days. The southern Irish and French media were “notably hostile”.

The Taoiseach (at that time Charles Haughey) had urged the British Government to be “flexible on prison conditions” but was also “careful not to associate himself with the prisoners’ demands for political status.” The briefing warned that “Provisional Sinn Féin sympathisers” could take six seats in the Irish general election, which was held on 11 June. Two Anti H-Block candidates were subsequently elected (hunger striker Kieran Doherty and fellow prisoner Paddy Agnew). Haughey was unable to form a government and was succeeded by Garret FitzGerald. Doherty died on 2 August 1981.

In the USA, dockworkers announced a 24-hour boycott of British ships entering US ports on 7-8 May and Irish bars in New York were closed for two hours as a mark of respect (file NIO/12/194A). The East German Communists described Northern Ireland citizens as “suppressed and subject to discrimination”. Anti-British pickets and arson attacks were reported in several countries.

Why do we need the GI strategy?

Trevor Steenson

The Northern Ireland Geographic Information strategy is very similar to strategies in Europe and the rest of the world in that it is trying to co-ordinate the use and dissemination of geographic information.

There’s a lot of spatial and non-spatial data in government which has a great value. There’s also a high cost if we don’t use it correctly i.e. collecting it many times, not re-using it, not being able to match it and combine it.

In the UK we don’t have a mandated spatial data infrastructure. We have to rely on co-operation of the data holders, and that’s what the strategy is trying to address.

Joep Crompvoets

In Europe there are 20 strategies like this and I was very impressed with this strategy. It is comprehensive. The issues that you are tackling are really wide, for example, business and case studies of GI in practice.

Mick Cory

Across the world, not just in Europe, the UK strategy is recognised as being an exemplar of what a strategy could do. I’d like to think that Northern Ireland is leading in the UK in the development of this GI strategy.

There are challenges with implementation, particularly in ensuring significant senior ownership for it. The implementation of GI strategies in Japan, Australia and Canada are advanced in this regard.

John Wilkinson

In terms of leading LPS for the past four years, I’ve seen the huge value that can be released in having a GI strategy and making use of the spatial data and information. My role is championing this at departmental board level and also amongst the Permanent Secretaries Group in Northern Ireland.

Over the last 12 months we had one of our GI targets – the delivery of Inspire – as a key target within the departmental business plan. A year ago, we renewed the Northern Ireland Mapping Agreement on the use of GI and spatial data across all of the departments.

More recently, I’ve been involved in the development of next year’s business plan. I’ve talked to colleagues about getting GI onto the forward strategy for the department, and making sure that we keep this on the agenda.

How has the use of GI data changed over the years?

Paul Crisp

The big change has been opening new channels into GI data outside the old proprietary technology routes. Organisations that own the data should see that once they invest that effort into it, they can recoup the costs and can add new value by being able to combine it with new data sets.

It is important to understand the currency, accuracy and the access and licensing considerations around that data, rather think too much about the technology.

Terence Brannigan

The biggest issue for the private sector is being aware of what data exists and having access to it. That kind of data has exceptional value in the market place. We need to make it accessible, but because it has value, there is an opportunity for government to offset cost by charging for that information.

I don’t think the private sector would have any issue with that. It’s about access to information and understanding what information is there, how you can use it and the power of that information.

Trevor Steenson

Terence is right. People don’t know where the data is or whether there are licensing implications. Even if they do get data, they can spend a lot of time having to cleanse it.

A lot of the thirst for data has been driven by the smart phone market. Half-a-billion smart phones were shipped this year and this will rise to 1.5 billion in 2015. In America about 50 per cent of the use is connected with location-based activity.

Google led the way on the widespread use of mapping. Our frustration is why the good spatial data that’s available from government is not so widely used.

Mick Cory

The Location Council’s user group includes members from the public and private sectors, academia and the third sector. It’s interesting that all of those sectors see the potential in GI. Some are quite new to the scene but as soon as it’s presented in terms of the opportunity, they are keen.

There’s quite a lot of movement at UK Government and EU level on open-data initiatives. That’s about repositioning government and how it should break down some of these barriers to access such as pricing, licensing and technical challenges, such as ensuring that the standards are being dealt with appropriately and that information received fits together and makes sense together.

Licensing, pricing and accessibility are still seen as the significant barriers. Technology has moved on; now it’s about reducing the organisational and institutional barriers that exist.

Joep Crompvoets

When I was reading the strategy, what struck me was how to govern this? You have highlighted three ways of governance in the product management: by hierarchy, by networks and by market.

By hierarchy, there are a lot of rules. I like the approach of networking corporations. The markets, as a governance mechanism, are quite weak in this strategy. I would like to see more about how the markets can facilitate an environment where we meet the markets.

Trevor Steenson

The Northern Ireland Mapping Agreement means that it is free at point of use for government departments. That’s fine within government, but it doesn’t get it to the wider sectors. The difficulty is that the update and maintenance of the mapping has to be paid for.

Where some other initiatives involving free data have succeeded, the data itself has quickly become out of date. If the data is going to be used effectively, it has to be up-to-date and accurate, and that’s difficult in free or low-cost licensing models.

Mick Cory

Within the UK Location Programme’s user group there is a real expectation that data should be free. Where government is already paying to collect data for its own business purpose, what is the argument for not making it available for free elsewhere? Particularly in these straitened times where you wish to encourage the development of the economy.

The key thing is deciding whether government is paying fully for its data collection needs today. Reflecting on the users’ perspectives on this, where government enters into the market, sometimes government gets confused between its public purpose and these revenue generating measures. There are examples across the world where the revenue generating activities create commercial behaviours that actually distract from the public purpose of what the agency was set up to do.

Many users, particularly in the third sector, have concerns about the Government making money in this way because they are, particularly in today’s Big Society agenda, being expected to provide things on a not-for-profit basis but having to pay commercial rates in order to access the information that is of value to society.

Paul Crisp

One of the things we are interested in is opening up new channels for land and property data and new revenue creating opportunities potentially for our LPS partners. At the same time we’ve got confidentiality and copyright issues. The existing access routes in also have revenue streams that pay for that service to the people of Northern Ireland and pay for the maintenance of the assets; so there’s a balancing act.

People are coming to the Land Registers and saying: “We’d love to look at your data through Google Earth or through this other map that we’ve built: if only we could get at it, if only we could licence it.”

To be honest, access to a live picture of the Land Registry or Ordinance Survey large-scale map base is quite easy on the internet because so many interoperability standards have been adopted by third-party vendors, such as Google, ESRI and Oracle.

Is this part of a wider trend? Clinton’s Digital Copyright Bill in 1998 moved the value from the publishing to the telecoms industry i.e. people have value and lose it.

Terence Brannigan

Business understands that if there is value, we expect a cost.

You have to let them know the information is there and explain to them what it can do for them. Then, you need to make it accessible and have a reasonably straightforward way of paying for it.

By not changing, I believe the information will not get the maintenance or recognition it deserves and will not be valued in the way it should. The private sector won’t leverage it in the way they could either.

Mick Cory

A vital point is the ability to explain the potential and government should incentivise creativity and innovation in the use of information.

Selective availability on GPS signals was removed by President Clinton in 2000. Look at the explosion in navigation applications since. Up until that point, it was not in the public interest to free up access to those signals.

Mapping agencies had been talking for 15-20 years before that about the potential of navigation systems but had failed to come up with an application. Releasing GPS-selective availability is a classic example of where innovation can generate economic value.

Paul Crisp

It also generates problems, of course. You can now get a very accurate reading of where you are on the Earth’s surface and the mapping agencies and Land Registry have been challenged with position improvement. They’ve got to get their data as good as the signals. That requires huge investment.

Trevor Steenson

The cost and licensing of data is just one particular strand. The UK Government have recognised the value locked up in government data. Northern Ireland may be slightly behind in that although our ministers are now starting to realise the benefit of getting data into wider use.

Most of government data has a locational element and we hope to leverage that in the GI strategy.

John Wilkinson

There needs to be a clear view of the direction of travel. I agree with Mick’s point in terms of what are you doing this for and what’s the value?

The delivery mechanisms through LPS, the Land Registry, HMLR and OSGB are all very different. For example, in terms of investment in IT, you need the capital to do that. Those four bodies have different capital allocations and different capital investment strategies. There’s so much variation and I am slightly concerned at the speed at which this is all moving.

Paul Crisp

The big change has been the explosion in mobile devices and new tools like Google Earth. BT could certainly do more with its own spatial data assets. My interest has ended up moving away from the consuming applications and to the quality and availability of the data – the brand and reputation of the organisation is part of this. For example if you want a reliable source of news, you’ll go to the BBC. The web hits will follow the quality.

Joep Crompvoets

What I find striking is the poor link with the users. We did a survey for the Commission and asked all the national contact points in Europe about whether they had a precise idea of the use of infrastructure and information. They have no clue, in general. They are so involved in establishing and implementing it but not about use.

Mick Cory

The Inspire Directive is possibly one of the most significant enablers in that it legislates and forces public authorities to make information available through a standard infrastructure. However, it’s a Directive to meet environmental information needs for the EC. The infrastructure is being created by data publishers but the users’ voice is not clearly being articulated.

Trevor Steenson

I’ve heard the same charge levelled at the data.gov.uk portal. There is a lot of data available but at the moment it’s difficult finding out just what data is most appropriate for a particular use. Metadata is the key to discovery.

Where are we going to in the future? Are we at an inflection point?

Trevor Steenson

A lot of the future requirement for spatial data is going to be driven by social applications because more and more of those type of applications are linking to spatial data. With government releasing its data and recognising that it is good to open up data there is also a recognition that the best way for people to understand the data is in a spatial context because people can immediately relate to it.

We are very fortunate in Northern Ireland in that the education sector has realised the power of GI, not just in geography, but across the whole curriculum, and have put initiatives in place to educate the children of today. It will deliver the skills in 10 years time but in the meantime we have a skills gap.

Paul Crisp

I know BT’s investing quite heavily into research in linked data and the map then becomes an index to the data not a thing in itself. Standards, once they become embedded, become forgotten about. Like the light bulbs in this room, for example. You can buy a light bulb from any vendor and plug it in and it should work. That will start to be the case with access to information as well, and it will be the quality and the performance of the data that get that counts.

Terence Brannigan

What the public sector needs that information for and the way in which it needs it will often be very different from the private sector. From a private sector perspective, creating value from a revenue stream will allow you to keep the data right up to date and bring in the right kind of infrastructure behind it to keep the power of it going. You’ve got a great brand because data’s very important only if people believe it to be correct and true.

Mick Cory

Inspire is creating the infrastructure through which this will be accessible. And part of that is that there will be recognised core reference data that everybody requires, and that is the definitive authoritative source of government-created data. Mapping is a classic example of that.

As information’s becoming available on this infrastructure, people are realising there are other obstacles such as licensing.

In Open Street Map, lots of enthusiastic individuals go around and create an alternative map. If they had access to the authoritative map, they would still be enthusiastic and use GPS to collect information on top of that map; that would be far more powerful.

Paul Crisp

A very good example of benign crowd sourced enthusiasm is all these 3-D models that people have built within Google Earth right round the world, but they’re actually sitting slightly above or slightly below the surface of the Earth or not quite aligned with the true street map. So they might be beautiful but they’re not useful. If they were aligned with the true base map, that would open up a whole new world.

How do you see the governance developing?

Trevor Steenson

Often GI strategies have been led by one enthusiastic individual. They move on and somebody else comes in their place. With this latest strategy, we’ve tried to put governance in place that takes it beyond the individual, additionally, if the user is not represented the strategy will not achieve its aims.

John Wilkinson

The future’s going to be dictated not just by the demand and the use but also the ability to supply. In terms of refreshing the mapping, we’re going to do that more quickly with the new camera.

What advice would you give about engaging the private sector?

Terence Brannigan

If you own something that has a value, then you need to get out there to realise that value. The only way to do that is to engage with the private sector, but in a very broad sense, and understanding: “Who will it have value to and in what forms?”

That value can be anything from making you more efficient, to making you more competitive and making value for you in terms of a product, or it can give you an edge in the marketplace. It’s actually understanding what that can do for you as an organisation. You need to engage on a sectoral basis because the private sector will not easily understand what you’ve got and how you can use it.

Mick Cory

Some of the big retail outlets are very smart in the use of GI. The whole Nectar system is underlined by a huge amount of spatial analysis. They get it.

Terence Brannigan

The people who already have significant advantages are, in the main, external private sector parties but yet our home-grown talent are not getting use of that data because they don’t know that it exists, how to access it or understand the value.

Mick Cory

My vision for it would be to release that creativity in the small to medium enterprises (the apps and so on) and encourage people to develop those opportunities, and I think there’s a lot of potential for the economy there.

What one issue is key for the future development of GI?

John Wilkinson

Enabling the use through training, development and spreading knowledge and awareness.

Mick Cory

Incentivising people to actually start to use the information. Create a small innovation fund. Put it out there.

Paul Crisp

Recognise the value of the public sector in data quality and delivery. Addressing (gazetteers) is a role that government organisations should look at taking on.

Joep Crompvoets

I see an e-government world and a GI world, and we can both learn from each other. The GI sector is very strong on sharing and so is government. Why not integrate those initiatives?

Trevor Steenson

Northern Ireland has a great advantage in that it’s small enough to enable us to engage locally and it’s therefore easier to bring people on board. I would like to see the same investment of resources in shared data as we see in shared services.

Terence Brannigan

In these economic times, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that for things that don’t have a recognised value, there is a risk of them withering on the vine. I would be concerned about a lack of continuing investment that would be required to keep this at the leading edge. If you release the value, you create the opportunity for the ongoing investment.

Bruce Robinson has been at the forefront of efforts to transform the Northern Ireland Civil Service over many years. Before getting the top job at NICS he was involved in economic development, starting in the IDB and then as Permanent Secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

Looking back on the change programme you led over the past few years, what are the highlights for you?

The major achievement has been to create the shared services and the effective running of the 12 departments from single platforms. That those key share services are now fully operational and embedded is terrific.

NI Direct is an excellent platform to take the further development of government services, delivered to the citizen, forward into the future. This will mean considerable change. There is no doubt that NI Direct has been a success and there is a next generation of service delivery to be done through that. The potential to keep service delivery both highly effective for the citizen and also highly efficient for the tax payer.

What are the difficult aspects of leading large scale change projects?

On large scale change projects a lot of hard work goes in before you start to see the benefits, so the challenge is on the one hand to recognise it’s a long-term process and, if you like, hold your nerve and on the other hand not to be insensitive to the feedback you are getting.

We did change things mid-stream in a number of areas. More around how we sought to engage staff in the process and we were very open to that and often you are doing that with incomplete feedback.

One of the toughest pieces was having the conviction to hold off on implementing HR Connect in the summer of 2009. It was due to go live in July and we held off until January [2010] and that was a tough call. We did get it right when we did launch, although it was very difficult and was only possible because of the testing validating we had done in the interim.

How have these investments changed the delivery of public services?

[There is] a greater sense of service-wide approach to issues now. Previously there was a departmental focus on how things happen. There is now a greater appreciation of doing things on a service-wide basis. At the core of that is, I have always felt, that our system is far too small to be able to justify investment in technology and systems at a departmental level – only at a NICS level.

The quality of service delivery to the citizen, I was convinced, needed the technological platforms and the support and infrastructure to deliver a really high quality public service.

I didn’t see any way of doing that without significant investment, not just in technology but also in our people. It seemed to me that any step change in the quality of service required investment, and that could be self-financing by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of what we are doing. It didn’t have to come at a significant price. Both of these goals were attainable.

How has the partnership with the private sector worked in delivering the projects?

We always had a vision of what we were trying to do and in that sense we were able to convince our private sector partners. We were ambitious and they felt we were committing significant resources to the programme. I do look back on it with considerable satisfaction.

Why did you undertake should a huge change programme when perhaps there wasn’t the obvious driver? Particularly as times were good.

I guess it comes back to some sort of sense of desire to see services in Northern Ireland to be as good as anywhere else in the world [and] a professional pride in seeing things done exceptionally well. I also felt there was an opportunity to create a Civil Service that people would be proud to serve in.

Over the past decade there has been a huge challenge around cost efficiency in service delivery in government systems.

On a large scale sets of projects such as these, at a particular point in time you may not be making as much progress as you would like but I do think over the five-year time frame we have seen substantial improvement in virtually all of the metrics. Certainly the investment has been justified.

There is now a new set of challenges and a new environment. Some very significant changes such as welfare reform, and the project management skills are there to deliver such changes.

Reflecting on your time in IDB and then DETI, what sticks out as regards developing the local economy?

The definition of an optimist is to have been involved in selling Northern Ireland as an investment location in the 1980s and 90s. It certainly had its challenges but selling here will always have considerable challenges.

There isn’t a significant local market, so therefore in your suite of attractions, you are missing quite a valuable one. For example, if you thing of investments in India or China, they are as much about the thought they are going to become highly significant markets for any products. Whereas we can never really offer that sort of opportunity.

This is about, and always has been about niche marketing and understanding what the customer is after and us being flexible to do that. The short lines of decision-making are our competitive advantage.

[I am] disappointed about one thing. In the late 1990s and early 00s we seemed to be closing the gap in terms of GVA [with GB]. It was about ’93 to 2000 that we did start to close the gap for about five years. There was a bit of a credit crunch around ’97 which didn’t happen here because I guess our property prices had not really gone out of line. I would really [have] liked to understand better what was really happening during that period and I did have a strong sense that a significant build in exporting across a number of sectors was behind that.

Fundamentally that is what we have to see. We have to build our international competiveness and the drive to improve efficiency is relentless. I was always very struck by companies during that period, companies like AVX, who were facing

10 per cent per annum reductions in selling prices year-on-year as manufacturers of electronic components and they were able to cope with that over a very sustained period. The challenge is right across the economy and it is not just for the private sector but also for government and its cost base.

Do you have any strong views on the corporation tax issue?

The issue is quite complex and one of the difficult pieces on corporation tax is that it is going to be quite costly and I think there is no law of gravity here that says inevitably the benefits will outweigh the costs. It is likely to be quite a reduction in public expenditure and that will definitely happen and it is not as clear cut that the public sector growth will outweigh that. In principle it has quite a considerable potential but there is quite a tough bit in playing that out and that’s what makes it a tough call politically.

How has the nature of public sector changed since you first joined it?

I joined at 30, which was comparatively late and unusually because of this I had two years’ probation to do. There have been two big changes. One as a result of devolution, with local ministers, has been a very significant and a very positive change. Devolution is a much more responsive system. The other big change is the development of professional skills within the Civil Service and that has been too long in coming. That’s not the case now and I think we have become much more professional.

How has leading a public sector organisation changed?

Leadership is more difficult nowadays because of a bigger spread of complexities. There are more demands around cost of delivery that wouldn’t have been the same in the past. One of the hardest things in the public sector is to understand what to stop doing and that is a really difficult area. Helping ministers understand what is a priority is always difficult, particularly in the present financial climate. That is the nub of any resource allocation discussion and decision. In today’s climate it’s inescapable.

Looking to the future, what do you think is the biggest challenge facing the public sector?

The economic situation is by far the biggest challenge. Public expenditure is going to be under pressure for quite a period of time and it’s evident now that the economic prospects for at least the next 18 months are quite flat. In this context the pressures on elected representatives are going to be very significant.

I also think some of the changes the Coalition Government are introducing are going to be very demanding, particularly with welfare reform. There are significant professional reputational risks in implementing huge technological and systems changes.

Ministers have insisted they will deliver on the new Programme for Government, after a poor track record over the last four years. However, the process has already been dominated by delay with the draft published six months after the May election.

A final version will only be ready after 22 February 2012, when consultation ends.

Northern Ireland’s grindingly slow political system compares badly with direct rule. Furthermore, the province risks being left far behind as global competitors recover from the recession.

This draft Programme for Government was published later than the 2007 version (17 November compared to 27 October). Scotland had its final programme on 7 September and Wales on 27 September. The current UK and Irish Governments both agreed their programmes in nine days.

The DUP and Sinn Féin claim that the process is harder in a five-party Executive but it was reasonable to expect more speed after four years’ experience in government.

Significantly, the legislative programme, setting out exactly what laws the Executive will introduce, is missing. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness published this alongside the draft in 2007 but ministers are still working on it. Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the British Isles without one.

Delivery on the last Programme for Government was modest at best. An official progress report up to 30 September 2010 showed that just six out of 66 promises had been fully kept:

• free public transport for over 60s;

• a careers advice service for disabled people;

• the Project Kelvin telecoms link to America and Europe;

• introducing employment and support allowance;

• central Belfast’s new sewer project; and

• helping “up to 4,700” farmers meet the Nitrates Directive by 2009 (DARD offered 4,360 grants and 3,933 farmers completed projects).

In addition, the Executive froze the regional rate, streamlined the Health Service and stopped water charges. The programme’s key failures, partly caused by the recession, included:

• a rise in child poverty (after an unrealistic target to halve it in two years);

• no single education authority (originally due in 2009);

• no merger of local councils (due by 2011); and

• the delayed Belfast rapid transit project (where work was due to start this year).

Forty-four per cent apathy in the Assembly poll was interpreted as a sign of contentment by some MLAs but clearly indicated falling interest in Stormont.

Introducing the programme, Peter Robinson focused on economics and integration while McGuinness took up its themes on poverty and the environment.

Robinson called for the “full and enthusiastic participation and support of people across society, including the public, private and voluntary sectors” but later added that this was “not a fixed and final document” with room for improvement.

The deputy First Minister said that all politicians had to raise their game on the economy, and equality was a key factor in economic growth. McGuinness looked forward to seeing more “shared spaces” and promised to bring forward labour-intensive schemes in the accompanying Investment Strategy.

McGuinness had just run for the presidency of Ireland but the programme contains no plans to expand the North/South Ministerial Council. A review started in July 2007, following the

St Andrews Agreement, and decisions are due in June 2012.

The stamp of the Civil Service is clear in the language. Many issues will be addressed rather than problems solved. Ministers mentioned a child poverty reduction pilot study, non-departmental members of stakeholder forums, and interventions to deal with multi-generational poverty.

agendaNi provides a full analysis of the document over the following pages.

Tom Elliott said that the UUP had stayed the course on corporation tax while other political reactions to that policy “ranged from lukewarm to sceptical to downright hostile”. Alasdair McDonnell questioned what a “poverty outcomes model” would mean on the Shankill, Falls and Lower Newtownards roads.

David Ford championed it as a “major improvement on previous programmes for government”. The debate, though, was limited by a lack of opposition.

Opposition

Alliance can take some credit for the shared future focus in the document but its decision to enter the Executive leaves the Assembly with three opposition MLAs to 105 in government.

Jim Allister sensed “politburo politics” as Speaker William Hay only allowed questions from government parties. OFMDFM confirmed that impression by refusing to respond to criticism from Allister or Steven Agnew. Their parties represent 22,511 voters.

For the record, Allister would have asked why the public should have confidence in the programme given the “unmet targets and undelivered promises” in the last one.

Agnew welcomed the aim to cut CO2 emissions by 35 per cent by 2025, but noted that this was the lowest target for any UK region. He questioned the Executive’s commitment after cutting funding to the Carbon Trust, which advises businesses on reducing CO2 emissions.

“Too little, too late, too slow and too timid” was ICTU’s dismissive verdict.

“There is no grand vision and little hope for thousands of families across Northern Ireland,” said its Assistant General Secretary Peter Bunting. He called for ministers to put more pressure on UK Government to change course, and questioned when the economy would be a resignation issue.

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, the Northern Ireland Conservatives described the document as a “marketing exercise … much of which consists of old announcements which have been repackaged.”

The debate will continue over the next two months but time is short and the public expects results.

Once the final programme is signed off, the Executive has three years to prove it can bring about real change for Northern Ireland residents facing increasing hardship.

Stephen Farry sees his brief as a “huge opportunity” despite DEL being the last department handed out under d’Hondt. “It was very much something that was in our minds because we regarded DEL as being a major economic department,” the Alliance Party Minister comments, “and indeed a department that’s actually central to the long-term economic transformation of Northern Ireland, particularly through skills.”

Pressed on Alliance’s Assembly manifesto commitment to abolish DEL and merge it into a single economy department, he says there’s a “parallel discussion” on reforming government. However, he reiterates that as the system stands, Alliance saw DEL having a “central importance” to the economy.

“We never really regarded the tuition fees issue as being a reason not to choose DEL, which seemed to be the approach taken by some other parties,” Farry remarks. The 15-page section on skills in the Assembly manifesto confirms that choice.

His first responsibility is to ensure investment in the skills required for a “changing and growing” economy. He is admittedly entering office in a “very challenging time” with the economic downturn but also has his eye on how to “rebuild and rebalance” the economy, which he hopes will include the devolution of corporation tax.

Farry continues: “To all of that, skills are important, whether you’re talking about some of the more immediate problems in terms of basic employability skills … right through to discussing what are going to be the future skills needs of the economy in the context of an opportunity to get a lower rate of corporation tax, because that in itself will change the environment in which we’re operating.”

Fees

Of course, his most significant decision to date has been freezing tuition fees for local university students, subject to rises in line with inflation. There was a “considerable urgency” to take the decision. A consultation had been started by his UUP predecessor, Danny Kennedy, on 15 March and finished on 10 June. Farry and his officials “rapidly sat down after that” and put together an initial paper on the way forward for the Executive.

“To my mind, the issue of tuition fees, and what level they would be at, wasn’t actually my starting point,” he adds. “My starting point was about ensuring that we were properly funding our local universities and ensuring that they were internationally competitive because the future of our economy, particularly when we talk about a knowledge economy, depends upon investing in a number of key drivers.”

Skills and R&D are two of those main drivers. Higher education accounted for £161.8 million (or 31 per cent) of Northern Ireland’s R&D spend in 2010, up from £143 million in the previous year.

It was “critical” to maintain levels of investment in the two universities “and to do anything other than that would undermine our whole economic narrative”. Simply keeping fees to inflation, and therefore reducing the cash flow to universities, would mean people benefitting from a “cheaper education but getting a cheaper product”.

The final deal involved transferring funds from other departmental budgets (except health, education and justice) and £6 million from the Executive to create 540 new student places in STEM subjects.

While Alliance was politically flexible (opposing “unfair rises” in tuition fees rather than any rise), he notes: “It was clear going into the election and afterwards that there was a political consensus in Northern Ireland. We didn’t want to increase fees above the level of inflation.”

The budget he inherited assumed fees of £4,500 and the real debate was how to close that funding gap. Passing that on to the universities would have had “catastrophic consequences” for them and the economy.

Fairness

It is put to him that Alliance’s real starting point is a commitment “in principle to abolishing tuition fees for Northern Ireland students, as in Scotland, at the earliest opportunity.” The apparently populist quote is contained in its 2010 general election manifesto, which could be interpreted as binding up to 2015.

Farry counters that “in an ideal world we wouldn’t have tuition fees” and claims that the reference covered a different financial context. “You also have to bear in mind that that was a manifesto for Westminster and decisions that we’re taking in Northern Ireland are in response to decisions that are being taking at a UK-wide level,” he states.

“Obviously if the UK Government had not gone down the line of a major increase in tuition fees, we would be in a much different context in Northern Ireland vis-à-vis what happens in the rest of the UK.”

The Minister is also a member of one of those governing parties, the Liberal Democrats. Alliance and the Lib Dems have a “very close relationship” but make decisions independently “so we are not beholden to their policies, and while we share a philosophy, we don’t always endorse the same policy direction.”

Alliance has for years called for Northern Ireland to become more outward-looking but it was willing to allow higher fees for students from Great Britain, which may deter migration. Those students will be charged £6,000 at the University of Ulster and £9,000 at Queen’s. He rejects the ‘deterrent’ argument, pointing out that the first priority under devolution was to make decisions according to local circumstances.

“If we didn’t take a decision to have a different fee level for GB students, we would have had a massive influx of students from GB coming here based on price rather than [the] quality of the institutions,” Farry states. This would have “potentially flooded the local market” and resulted in more Northern Ireland students moving across the Irish Sea “with the danger that we wouldn’t have got a critical mass of them back again.”

When a £4,500 limit for GB students is suggested, he questions the revenue that would be raised from that move. Farry also contends that those students are “not actually being asked to pay more to go to Northern Ireland” when they compare local universities with their competitors in Britain. He is also “very much open” to encouraging people to study in Northern Ireland.

Skills

On skills, the main priority is to match skills to what the economy needs today and in the future. He stresses the need for flexibility as “you can only anticipate so far” ahead.

The province has a mixed picture, with a considerable number of people either achieving high skill levels (though less than other competing regions) or having low levels of qualifications or none at all. Farry warns: “In that context, that is a missing opportunity because some people are not having the opportunity to develop to their full potential and your economy also suffers as a consequence from that.”

An updated strategy, entitled ‘Success through Skills – Transforming Futures’, was launched on 25 May but no implementation plan had been published by the time of interview in mid-November. Farry defends the gap, claiming that it was important to set the direction of travel “rather than having a vacuum” and he wanted the final plan to “tie together everything the department is doing”.

“There’s a lot happening in terms of higher education,” he continues, citing the fees decision, proposed increase in places and a forthcoming separate higher education strategy. “One thing you can’t criticise the department for is inaction. There’s been a lot of activity generated.”

The Minister therefore wants observers to judge his performance after his first year rather than his first six months. By May 2011, Farry expects to have a set of strategies covering skills, higher education, educational maintenance allowance and young people not in employment, education or training (the so-called NEETs).

In an implicit criticism of the UUP, he contrasts that “volume of product” with the output in previous years: “I’m not sure if it’s an issue of the Ulster Unionist Party or if it’s an issue of timing, I just know I inherited a lot of consultation documents that required decisions and then require strategies to be finalised.”

A higher education strategy is close to his heart given his academic background. Centrally, he wants local universities to remain internationally competitive and increase the teaching of STEM subjects. Degrees could be delivered more flexibly than the 3-4 year model, and he wants to encourage more work placements.

Future challenges

Funding is a “constant battle” and while he is pleased with his settlement in the Executive, Farry notes that universities in Great Britain will be able to raise additional funds through fees.

“The last thing I want to do is micro-manage the universities,” he says, “but equally, as an Executive and also as the department, we have a responsibility to ensure that public money is used towards public interest outcomes [i.e. upskilling and improving Northern Ireland’s research base] so we will have a natural dialogue with universities around the type of direction of travel we want to go down.”

Welfare reform, in his view, is one of the major challenges facing the entire Executive. Universal credit could incentivise some work for job seekers without a tax or benefits penalty.

DEL’s new work programme, to operate from April 2013, will focus on paying contractors by results. It will be hard to transplant that model from Great Britain but Northern Ireland’s coherent size is an opportunity. The real danger is that Northern Ireland recovers more slowly, thus limiting the number of new jobs for the unemployed.

Asked for his motivation as Minister, he replies: “It’s all about making a difference.” Farry concludes: “It’s not about getting office. It’s not about just getting elected. I mean, those are only a means to an end. It’s about taking the opportunity to apply your vision, your ideas, as to how things can be done differently and done better.”

Profile: Stephen Farry

Stephen Farry was first elected to the Assembly in 2007 and was a councillor for Abbey on North Down Borough Council from 1993 until 2011. He was previously Alliance’s General Secretary (2000-2007) and spoke on justice and finance in the Assembly’s last term.

Academically, Stephen studied politics at Queen’s University Belfast and obtained a PhD (also from Queen’s) on the United Nations in the post-Cold War era. He has also worked with two Washington-based think tanks: as a trainer for the National Democratic Institute in Croatia, Bosnia and Romania; and a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. Married to Wendy, his interests are quizzes (having appeared on University Challenge in 1994), reading history and biography, and travel.

Getting the best deal out of CAP reform for local farmers is Michelle O’Neill’s main priority as the European Commission prepares to publish its proposals. In addition, she wants to encourage more growth in the prospering agri-food sector at a time when the rest of the economy is stalling.

The plans will be announced on 12 October, after which DARD will consult on the way forward. She recognises the concern among farmers about some of the leaks and the draft proposals, particularly around the definition of “greening” and the budget.

O’Neill shares a common approach to CAP with the Republic’s Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, who is also due to hold the relevant presidency in the Council of Ministers when the decision is taken (January-June 2013).

“Obviously, he’s a very good key ally to work with,” she comments. “We’re also obviously working with Defra, and our Scottish and Welsh colleagues, but we wouldn’t necessarily share the view of Defra in their approach to Europe and to CAP.”

A nominal freeze in the CAP budget has been proposed but she is wary of that changing throughout the negotiations: “We just have to be fighting very strong, using every avenue that we have to get the best deal for our farmers locally. They’re very, very dependent on the money that comes from CAP.”

O’Neill has presented DARD’s proposals in person in Brussels. CAP is now subject to co-decision between the Council and the European Parliament, and she and Coveney plan to host a meeting of all 15 of the island’s MEPs, to ensure that they speak with the same message.

Growth

Agri-food has performed well despite the recession and remains a major economic sector with 55,000 employees and a £3.7 billion annual turnover. In addition, the Republic has 150,000 agri-food employees and a £20 billion turnover.

“This sector seems to be the shining light. This sector’s the one that’s giving hope,” the Minister remarks. The Focus on Food strategy has, in her view, been successful since its launch in June 2010 but she wants to take this support further by setting up a strategy board, which will set targets for 2020. The board will be formed as early as possible in 2012.

Her thinking is influenced by the southern Food Harvest 2020 strategy, although journalists have also termed it ‘Milk 2020’ for its emphasis on dairy e.g. a doubling of milk production by that date. The Minister hopes that the North can follow this example and increase its export market.

Within agriculture, her priority is to eradicate brucellosis by 2014. The Republic is already free, northern rates are “already on a downward trend” (down from 1.1 per cent of herds in 2008 to 0.4 per cent last year) and she expects to reach that target. There is a three-year time lag between testing and the declaration.

Much more work is needed to eradicate bovine TB, found in 5.1 per cent of herds last year. DARD is researching the link between infection in badgers and cattle. She cautions against a cull, unless scientific evidence supports that decision.

The all-island animal health and welfare strategy, agreed by the North/South Ministerial Council in March 2010, will be “key to helping us prevent and reduce disease … and increasing trade across the island” and therefore making the industry more sustainable.

DARD is also putting a considerable effort in updating farm maps, covering over 150,000 fields. The Land Parcel Identification System Improvement Project is due to be completed in 2012. It cannot happen any sooner, she emphasises, due to the “sheer volume” of the work and the need for farmers to check the new maps. This follows on from the €33.7 million single farm payment disallowance, imposed last year after the European Commission found faults in existing maps.

A rural white paper

Rural development was a major interest for Michelle Gildernew and O’Neill plans to bring forward a white paper by the end of 2011. This follows on from a manifesto commitment from Sinn Féin, in March 2007, and Gildernew ensured that cross- party support for the move in the Executive. A consultation document was published in March 2011 and O’Neill is now following this up with other ministers.

“It’s about rural rights and rural protection,” she explains. “And it’s about getting departments to work together and always being mindful of the need for looking at the impact that certain policies will have on rural communities.”

When it is put to her that this is a hard sell, given that Northern Ireland’s centre of gravity is in the more urban east, she points to the “Executive buy-in” rather than individual lobbying from her. All the parties also want it to deliver in their MLAs’ constituencies.

The consultation showed that people found the initial wording vague and wanted more definitive targets; the final version will include over 90 actions.

“We wouldn’t have gone through this whole process for anything that’s aspirational,” she states. “It has to be a deliverable, achievable document.”

To take one concrete step, the Minister is “absolutely committed” to moving DARD out of its urban headquarters: Dundonald House. A project team has been established and £13 million set aside for that purpose. The Department of Finance and Personnel is also involved, as it runs the Civil Service estate. She hopes to bring a paper on locations to the Executive before Christmas.

“This is about setting a way in terms of bringing high quality public sector jobs into the rural community and the knock- on effect will be significant for any local economy,” she reiterates. “We’ve an opportunity to set the way here and I’m not going to let it pass by.”

It is put to her that decentralisation has had mixed results in the Republic, and she is keen to learn from those mistakes and do it better. Rural MLAs will naturally lobby for DARD to be located in their constituencies but the decision will have to be based on “straightforward criteria” and a “logical reason”.

Fisheries, by comparison to agriculture, is a small sector (with around 600 fishermen) but one with a high profile. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) review is due to report in late 2012. DARD is “working very closely” with the industry to get the best quotas in the annual negotiations, in November and December. Prawns are the province’s main catch and stocks are good. She expects this to be “very intense,” based on Gildernew’s experience, with talks continuing into the early hours of the last 2-3 days.

Sinn Féin was criticised for not taking an ‘economic department’ such as DETI this time round. However, O’Neill contends: “The best economic department at the minute is this one because [of] the strength of the agri-food sector and the fact that it’s continuing to grow and has a really positive future.”

Equality and unity

O’Neill is one of three Sinn Féin MLAs for Mid Ulster, having been elected in 2007. She was Deputy Chair of the Health Committee in the last Assembly and was a constituency worker for fellow MLA Francie Molloy prior to her election. From 2005 to 2010, she was a councillor for the Torrent area on Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council.

Getting involved in Sinn Féin fitted naturally with her republican politics. Her father was a councillor and she was inspired by his example of “looking after the community around you”.

She enjoys walking and spending time with her two children (Saoirse and Ryan). The united Ireland she wants for them is “one where they’re treated as equals and they feel equal in everything that they do … where we know that the people that are looking after us have got your best interests at heart.”

Asked if equality has replaced unity in Sinn Féin’s thinking, she disagrees. Many inequalities, in her view, still need to be challenged and party policy focuses on meeting social need. The party wants to see a “new Ireland” (united and equal) and is starting a “national conversation” on how to achieve that rather than replicating the deeply unequal South.

Ireland will be gripped by a lively and intense presidential race in the run-up to polling day on 27 October. The first presidential poll since 1997 sees the widest field of candidates to date (seven) aiming for high office, among them Martin McGuinness.

His success is far from guaranteed. David Norris also appeals to the protest vote, Gay Mitchell and Michael D Higgins have party machines. Mary Davis, Seán Gallagher and Dana Rosemary Scallon (a Derry woman) can claim to be independent outsiders. Close scrutiny of his IRA past is inevitable.

The McGuinness candidacy demonstrates Sinn Féin’s growing confidence and the South’s strategic importance to the party.

In the 1997 Irish general election, Sinn Féin polled a mere 2.5 per cent, rising to 6.9 per cent ten years later. This year’s poll delivered a 9.9 per cent share (220,661 first preferences) and 14 TDs.

While elected only by southern voters, he or she is President of Ireland (not the Republic) and is therefore expected to have a northern role, following Mary McAleese’s example. If elected, McGuinness would take this further although many unionists and constitutional nationalist will still be uneasy about his history.

The presidency and the Irish state were once irrelevant to the republican movement. The IRA considered itself “the legal and lawful Army of the Irish Republic”. Sinn Féin voted to recognise the Oireachtas in 1986 and Stormont in 1998. Sharing power with the DUP at Stormont has given the party respectability but it risks becoming part of the establishment.

Republicans want to stress their radicalism again, especially as its ministers start to make spending cuts. Sinn Féin’s achievements in government have been relatively modest and have depended on agreement with the DUP. The North/South Ministerial Council covers the same areas of co-operation and cross-border bodies as it did in 1999. Dissidents are recruiting disillusioned young republicans in Lurgan and Derry.

On paper, the presidency is mainly symbolic and defers to the Government. However, as the President is elected in his or her own right, the Government lets the incumbent work on their chosen themes. Furthermore, the President can intervene directly in southern politics by referring bills to the Supreme Court or refusing to dissolve the Dáil.

In the longer term, the presidential election offers a potential vehicle for unity. The next is due in late 2018, near the centenary of the last all-island general election. If the Irish Government went ahead with overseas voting rights, it would be obliged (in fairness) to extend the franchise to Irish citizens in the North. An all-island poll would add a new and unknown factor into the political process. For nationalists, this would be unity in practice while unionists would resent the eroding of the union.

More immediately, a decade of centenaries promises to make the next presidential term a dynamic one for the man or woman chosen to represent the island.