The Shared Island unit is progressing a comprehensive research programme to provide high quality, evidence-based analysis across a range of areas to inform Government policy priorities and public discussion on building a shared island and consensus around a shared future.

Further information on the research programme is available here. 

Cuireadh ón gComhairle Náisiúnta Eacnamaíoch agus Shóisialta chuig imeacht leis an Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD ar 12 Aibreán:
 
Invitation from the National Economic and Social Council to an event with the Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD on 12 April:
 
You are invited to attend the launch of a new report to Government by the National Economic and Social Council on ‘Shared Island: Shared Opportunity’ taking place on Tuesday, 12th April from 09:45 – 13:00. This is a hybrid event: you are invited to attend in person at the Dublin Castle Conference Centre and there is also an option to join online – please register at the link below.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin T.D. will deliver the keynote address and discuss the findings and recommendations of the NESC report to Government on the Shared Island.

The event will be moderated by journalist, Tommie Gorman, and feature a number of interactive panel discussions on the Council’s recommendations on deepening cooperation on the island across economic, climate and biodiversity, social policy and well-being concerns.

A full programme for this event is available here.

This launch event will be of interest to policy makers, business, environmental, community and voluntary organisations, practitioners, local authorities, academics and interested individuals across the island.

If you are unable to attend, you are welcome to pass on this invitation to a nominee/nominees in your organisation who would be able to participate.

As part of the Government’s Shared Island Initiative, the Department of the Taoiseach requested the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) to undertake research and to produce a comprehensive report on the Shared Island, to inform the development of the Shared Island initiative as a whole of Government priority. Extensive consultation and research informed the report.

The Council’s Shared Island: Shared Opportunity report and launch event on 12 April is a culmination of work over the last year, where NESC published two Council Reports, six Secretariat Papers and one Background Paper on the Shared Island, see NESC's website at www.nesc.ie.

Registrations after 4pm on Friday 8 April should be emailed to 
events@grooveyard.ie

On 31 March, the Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS) announced that three new education projects have been awarded funding under its research partnership with the Shared Island unit.

The projects will publish research on the theme “How we teach: acknowledging, understanding and learning with others and from others on a shared island". These are North-South research partnerships with contributions from international experts, which will undertake action-based research on enhancing understanding across communities through education.

The three projects which have been awarded funding are:

• SRASI: Shared Responsibility Across a Shared Island: Teaching social justice in initial teacher education – led by Prof. Ann MacPhail, University of Limerick, and Dr. Paul Mc Flynn, Ulster University, Coleraine.  
• CRiTERiA: Cultural Responsivity in Teacher Education: Research in Action – led by Dr. Patricia Eaton, Stranmillis University College, Belfast, and Dr. Martin Brown and Dr. Paddy Shevlin, Dublin City University, in collaboration with Dr. Manuela Heinz, National University of Ireland, Galway, and Prof. Joanne Hughes, Queen’s University Belfast.  
• EDUCATE: Educating about Difference Uniting Classrooms and Teacher Education – led by Dr. Patricia Kieran, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, and Dr. Stephen Roulston, Ulster University, Coleraine, in collaboration with Dr. Emer Nowlan, Sandra Irwin Gowran and Vera Shanahan, Educate Together, Séamus Conboy and Megan Whyte, Education and Training Boards Ireland, Cliodhna Scott-Wills, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, and Dr. Matthew Milliken, Ulster University, Coleraine.

Research funded under this call is due to be published in autumn 2023, and findings will contribute to enhanced understanding and professional and policy development, on a shared island basis, and internationally.

Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD welcomed the announcement of the projects, each of which will receive up to €25,000 in funding.

Further details about the projects and the Shared Island - SCoTENS research partnership is available here.

On 2 March, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD, announced the award by the Higher Education Authority of over €37 million in funding to sixty-two collaborative research projects between academics and institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland, under the first round of the North-South Research Programme.

The North-South Research Programme is a collaborative scheme funded through the Government’s Shared Island Fund and administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

The awards range in value from €200,000 over two years to €4 million over four years and successful collaborations were awarded under three strands:

• Strand I: Bilateral researcher-researcher projects,

• Strand II: Emerging hubs of excellence and

• Strand III: Partnerships of scale.

Funding under the programme is being awarded through two funding calls. Details of the second call will be announced in 2023.

More information on the North South Research Programme is available here.

The Shared Island Dialogue series was launched in October 2020 to foster constructive and inclusive civic dialogue on all aspects of a shared future on the island.

The series is intended to provide a focus for people to engage on an inclusive basis on a shared future on the island, which can be a starting point for broader and deeper discussions in civil society.

On Friday 1 April, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD delivered the keynote address at a John and Pat Hume Foundation dialogue event on the theme of "Building Common Ground".

The event was part of a series of discussions being organised by the Foundation to explore how we enhance relationships in Northern Ireland, on the island and between Ireland and Britain.

The address was followed by a panel discussion with Kevin Murphy, Chief Executive, the Playhouse Theatre, Derry; Mary McKenna MBE, technology entrepreneur; and, Brian Dougherty, community worker with the North-West Cultural Partnership.

If you missed the discussion, it is now available to watch back here.

The ninth Dialogue in the Shared Island Dialogue series took place on 24 February on the theme "Breaking down barriers and tackling shared challenges: Sport cooperation on the island" in the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena. This hybrid event was the first dialogue to have an in-person audience with people also choosing to join the discussion online. 

Over 140 current and former sports stars, sports organisations, clubs, community groups and health and wellbeing professionals came together to examine the role that sport plays in building and improving community relations, and discuss how to enhance cooperation through sport across the island.

Minister for Sport Jack Chambers TD took part in the event on behalf of the Government delivering an opening address and providing some concluding remarks. The Minister was also interviewed by moderator, Irish Times sportswriter, Joanne O'Riordan on the topics and themes of the Dialogue.

There were two panel discussions as part of the Dialogue, which addressed the topics Building Community Relations Through Sport and Tackling the fall in Youth Participation in Sport – what to do?.

Discussion focused on the positive role sport plays in breaking down barriers and building relationships between communities North and South; how we can best engage people in sport particularly young people and those from minority communities; and opportunities for improved collaboration between clubs, organisations and communities on the island.

Attendees also got a taste of the work of Sport Ireland, which supports athletes from all corners of the island to raise the profile of Irish sport on a global stage.

The first Dialogue of 2022 and the eighth Shared Island Dialogue of the series took place on 20 January 2022 on the theme "Tourism on the shared island: Building on past success to create a sustainable future".

Over 160 people took part in the online dialogue representing tourism agencies, organisations, interest groups and civil society stakeholders, from North and South, to examine the success of tourism cooperation on the island of Ireland and explore how best to enhance opportunities for domestic and international visitors in the years ahead.

The Dialogue also featured a guest address from Dr Howard Hastings OBE, Chairman of Hastings Hotels, who outlined the opportunities he sees for further cooperation North and South to boost tourism across the island.