15th June 2000

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The University of Ulster’s INCORE research institute has been awarded £80,000 to carry out comparative public policy research linking Northern Ireland and South Africa.

Magee College-based INCORE joins leading research foundations across the UK in forming part of the ESRC's £3.4m research programme on Future Governance, launched by Lord Falconer in London today.

The INCORE bid is the only NI funding application to be successful.

The study will focus on the development and implementation of policy in the negotiated transitions in Northern Ireland and South Africa, and will be conducted in association with South Africa's Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Two key areas of policy initiatives will be explored: in Northern Ireland, the focus will be on victims policy and policing reform, while in South Africa, the impact of the National Crime Prevention Strategy, community policing and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be investigated.

Important other factors coming under the INCORE microscope will include the reasons for the successes and failures of policy initiatives in the Northern Ireland and South African situations, involving the civil service, groups in civil society, and political skills among politicians.

The study will also examine the management of expectations, and explore how post-agreement problems might be anticipated when peace accords are being drafted.

"We're hoping to interview key people who were part of the transitions in both NI and South Africa," INCORE Research Director Gillian Robinson said.

"It's important to assess what we can learn from the experiences of each other's countries, and feed those lessons into the public policy arena.

"The grant is also a valuable vote of confidence in the work we do here at INCORE and in our ability to bring important policy insights and practices from other countries around the world to bear on each other's problems of conflict resolution."

The study is to be competed by 2001, when a book detailing the results of the research is to be published.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk