Insight and latest updates from our team
Tough times can bring out the best in people
By ScopeNI 25 Jan 2023 Ryan Miller
Two new pieces of research lay out two sides of the cost-of-living crisis: poor mental health, and communities rising to meet the problems we all face.
Poverty isn’t just for Christmas
By ScopeNI 18 Jan 2023 Ryan Miller
Distribution of the £600 home energy payment has begun. However, for some older people in Northern Ireland, huge challenges remain as they struggle both with the cost of living and the risk of loneliness.
Does Stormont need to end designations?
By ScopeNI 12 Jan 2023 Ryan Miller
Reforming Assembly and Executive structures has been suggested several times as a way to end the current impasse. Will that work, in theory or practice? Scope looks at one suggestion: weighted majority voting.
Data is growing. How it grows is up to us.
By ScopeNI 6 Jan 2023 Ryan Miller
Does big data provide an opportunity to improve the world? Can our personal info be used for nefarious ends? The answer to both is yes, potentially. Everyone should have an educated say in how we, as a society, use data.
Eating disorders in Northern Ireland: a problem of unknown scale
By ScopeNI 16 Dec 2022 Ryan Miller
Eating disorders can devastate lives – but, here in NI, treatment services are not comprehensive and we simply don’t know how many people need help.
Academic selection is under the microscope again
By ScopeNI 8 Dec 2022 Ryan Miller
Another year’s transfer tests have just finished – will there be many more? Or, with the Independent Review of Education due to wrap up in the Spring, could academic selection at age 11 be headed for the scrapheap?
The link between loneliness and caring
By ScopeNI 30 Nov 2022 Ryan Miller
In Northern Ireland, carers are over four times more likely to be chronically lonely than people in general. Loneliness can be devastating - carers need more support.
Childcare needs support, and right now – for everyone’s benefit
By ScopeNI 25 Nov 2022 Ryan Miller
For too long, childcare in Northern Ireland has been treated as an afterthought. As inflation hits its highest rate for over four decades, the pressure on both providers and parents is coming to a head.
Bullying is a nightmare for parents – how do they help their kids?
By ScopeNI 17 Nov 2022 Ryan Miller
The idea that your child could face bullying is quite terrifying. Surveys show lots of children experience bullying. However, there are ways adults can help.
Schools are vital, but we can all help increase children’s physical activity
By ScopeNI 9 Nov 2022 Ryan Miller
A new report from the Education and Training Inspectorate found that most schools are falling short of targets for PE. That needs to change, along with many other things, to halt the decline in kids’ physical play.
Why your health really is your wealth
By ScopeNI 23 Jun 2022 Nick Garbutt
Whenever we discuss how to improve health we invariably neglect the biggest factor of all in making us ill: poverty.
How to die well
By ScopeNI 17 Sep 2021 Nick Garbutt
Everyone wants to live well. It is also important to die well.
The Roughest Form of Justice
By ScopeNI 24 Aug 2018 Nick Garbutt
Twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement so-called punishment beatings are on the rise.
Older people: "undervalued, unappreciated, patronised"
By ScopeNI 8 Oct 2015 Nick Garbutt
Claire Keatinge has plenty to say as she reflects on her four years in office as Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland.
The sticking plaster Bill that discriminates against young people
By ScopeNI 1 Oct 2015 Nick Garbutt
The Mental Capacity Bill discriminates against children and represents a missed opportunity to protect the most vulnerable, argues Eamonn McNally from the Children’s Law Centre
Tax Credits Crunch - unpicking the July budget's effect on NI
By ScopeNI 1 Oct 2015 Ryan Miller
The importance of Welfare Reform in Northern Ireland has shrunk, grown or both - depending on your views - thanks to the Chancellor's July budget. Over 100,000 homes have projected income reductions of over £1,600. Scope takes a look.
Uncertainty and the Stormont House Agreement
By ScopeNI 25 Sep 2015 Ryan Miller
Provisions for dealing with the past within the Stormont House Agreement have come in for much public criticism. Scope looks at whether confusion on the issues is related to a lack of honest dialogue with the public.
Health reform quietly gathers pace
By ScopeNI 25 Sep 2015 Nick Garbutt
Behind the headlines progress is being made in implementing the flagship Transforming Your Care programme, Scope reports.
Why Bryson should be heard in public
By ScopeNI 18 Sep 2015 Nick Garbutt
Scope editor Nick Garbutt argues that the decision to hold part of the Finance Committee's Nama investigation in private is a subversion of democracy.
If Stormont falls we'll all be the worst for it
By ScopeNI 17 Sep 2015 Nick Garbutt
The current political crisis is having unexpected consequences, Scope reports.
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