'Vital resource' on Northern Ireland launched
As the 24 November deadline for the restoration of devolved government in
Northern Ireland looms, a new website has just been launched, which makes
all 93,000 pages of the NI Parliamentary Papers produced between 1921 and
1972 available online for the first time.
Created by the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) at King's
College London and the Centre for Data Digitisation Analysis (CDDA) at
Queen's University Belfast, the new resource casts a unique and
valuable light on political developments within Northern Ireland. The
papers were previously held by various institutions as reference only
copies, and with no comprehensive subject index were inaccessible and
difficult to use.
Now Stormont papers offers users the opportunity to access this
important and intriguing collection of papers and to search by key subjects
or people, many of whom are st"This timely
new website will both bring the history of Northern Ireland to life and
bring it to a new audience."ill involved in the ongoing
political discussions today.
Explaining the rationale behind the project, Dr Paul Ell, Director of the
CDDA at Queen's said: "The 92,000 pages of parliamentary
discussion on Northern Ireland from post-partition in 1921 to the
establishment of Direct Rule in 1972 were a vast virtually untapped
resource that paid specific attention to social and economic matters of
importance and debate, many of which remain of great significance today.
"Access to the papers was very limited and as the resource is the
primary source for following the development of Northern Ireland, the CDDA
at Queen's felt it was vital that it be made available to the wider
community.
Sheila Anderson, Director of the Arts and Humanities Data Service added:
"There is no wider community than that offered by the Internet and now
anyone can access this site to find out how issues such as health,
education, social services, local trade, agriculture, law and order,
planning and industry developed in Northern Ireland.
"This timely new website will bring the history of Northern Ireland to
life and bring it to a new audience. A myriad of colourful information is
available on political figures and their opinions, several of whom are
still featuring strongly on the political scene today."
Further information on the work of the CDDA at Queen's is available
at CDDA and information on the
Arts and Humanities Data
Service is available at AHDS