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Environmental governance in Northern Ireland has been highly problematic and the subject of intense criticism. Since the collapse of the devolved government in January 2017, environmental policy development and urgently needed processes of environmental governance reform have stagnated. Combined with the continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, this situation has the potential to exacerbate an already challenging governance context and the severe environmental consequences of political inaction are already becoming clear. This article will reflect on how future environmental governance arrangements in Northern Ireland might develop in light of both distinctive local challenges and reforms that have been proposed for other parts of the UK post-Brexit. Its central theme is the potential for the distinctive environmental governance vulnerabilities present in Northern Ireland to be compounded by Brexit. It concludes that a process of reform centred on the development of common frameworks, underpinned by environmental objectives, principles, rights and duties and enforced via meaningful accountability mechanisms would help strengthen environmental protection even where the political will or power is lacking. Such a process of reform could help address both existing environmental problems and potential environmental governance gaps posed by Brexit, as well as providing valuable lessons for other jurisdictions facing major environmental governance reform or contending with the practical implications of governance without a functioning government.

Article 19 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires states to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to a range of support services, including personal assistance. The Convention is an agreement between state parties and the UN. However, in practice, disability services are often implemented at the local level. Drawing on the findings of qualitative research in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, this paper examines a paradox whereby states commit to ensure access to support services, but decentralize responsibility to autonomous and independent local governments. A multi-level governance framework is applied to analyse the findings of qualitative inquiry with policy-makers, local government officials and leaders of independent living organizations in all three Nordic countries. A multi-level analysis highlights the tensions and contradictions between decentralization and human rights commitments., CC BY 4.0

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires statesto ensure that disabled people can choose where and with whom they live with access to a rangeof services including personal assistance. Based on qualitative research of the implementationof Article 19 in Nordic countries, this paper focuses on Sweden, which was at the forefront ofimplementing personal assistance law and policy and has been the inspiration for many Europeancountries. Instead of strengthening access to personal assistance, this study found that since theSwedish government ratified the Convention in 2008, there has been an increase in the numbers ofpeople losing state-funded personal assistance and an increase in rejected applications. This paperexamines the reasons for the deterioration of eligibility criteria for accessing personal assistance inSweden. The findings shed light on how legal and administrative interpretations of “basic needs”are shifting from a social to a medical understanding. They also highlight a shift from collaborativepolicy making towards conflict, where courts have become the battleground for defining eligibilitycriteria. Drawing on the findings, we ask if Sweden is violating its obligations under the Convention., CC-BY 4.0

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires states to provide personal assistance services. This article is based on qualitative research in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, carried out between 2012 and 2013. The overall study focused broadly on the implementation of Article 19. This article, however, reports findings based on a particular group of participants within the larger study: non-disabled parents who coordinate personal assistance schemes for their adult son or daughter. The article examines the various ways in which the parents, the majority of whom were mothers, negotiate principles of independence, choice and autonomy for their adult son or daughter who requires intensive support, including assistance with communicating. The aim is to explore, in the context of the Convention and the principles of the independent living movement, how to acknowledge and conceptualise personal assistance schemes that require another person to manage on behalf of the user.

Objective: The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the extent of suicide ideation, psychological maladjustment and views of mental health service support in a sample of secondary school pupils. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a purposive sample of participants (n=93) recruited from a secondary school located in the south east of Ireland. Participants completed a Background Information Questionnaire (BIQ); the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ); and the Reynolds Adolescence Adjustment Screening Inventory (RAASI). Results: Approximately ten percent of participants displayed high levels of suicide ideation whilst one third reported having previously had suicidal thoughts; one quarter reported psychological adjustment difficulties, although these varied by age and sex. Participants' drug use and their levels of parental closeness were both individual factors that significantly predicted both suicide ideation and psychological adjustment. Females reported higher levels of parental closeness than males. Forty percent of respondents rated mental health support services as insufficient to meet their needs. Conclusion: The findings raise serious concerns about the extent of suicidal thoughts amongst young people in Ireland; they also highlight a potentially important role for parents in this regard. Further research should ascertain national prevalence rates whilst appropriate school-based mental health education/promotion and support services should also be implemented.