A Balanced Approach to Labour Reform: Minister Archibald’s Vision for the Good Jobs Bill in Northern Ireland
The policy position announcement by Minister Caoimhe Archibald on the Good Jobs Bill is a significant and pragmatic step toward addressing some of Northern Ireland’s most pressing labour market issues. The measures proposed by the Department of Economy are the product of extensive consultation and...
Strengthening Trade Union Rights: Why Collective Employment Relations are a route to a stronger economy
The Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill has the potential to be the cornerstone of the current political mandate in Northern Ireland. When Stormont returned, political attention turned - as it often does - to the big-ticket items: budget black holes, public finances, the broken health system, and...
More and Better Jobs - New Economic Model: Pillar 2
The latest NERI Long-Read by NERI Co-directors, Tom McDonnell and Paul Mac Flynn is the 12th in the Long-Read series and the 3rd in a series describing a proposed framework for a new economic model. As necessary and desirable as they are, high levels of labour force participation and full employment...
Presenation & video from the NERI Seminar - Productivity in Ireland's Domestically-Owned Market Economy: a Comparative Survey
The NERI seminar titled Productivity in Ireland's Domestically-Owned Market Economy: a Comparative Survey was presented by Chris Smart, NERI economist. It took place on Wednesday 26 March 2025 at 15.30 as an online Zoom event. Please find the presentation and video from the NERI seminar. Lecture...
Presentation & video from the NERI Seminar 'The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment Relations - A European Study'
The NERI seminar titled 'The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment Relations - A European Study' was presented by Mr. Kevin P. O'Kelly, Industrial Relations & EU Social Policy Researcher. It took place on Wednesday 5 November 2025 at 15.30 as an online Zoom event. Please find the...
Good Jobs, the key to tackling Economic Inactivity in Northern Ireland
In this blog, NERI Co-director, Paul Mac Flynn discusses jobs in Northern Ireland. In a column at the end of last year I wrote about the fact that recent revisions to the Northern Ireland labour market data show that our employment situation was actually a good bit better than we first thought...
Exploring Working Hours Disparities in Europe
The NERI seminar titled 'Exploring Working Hours Disparities in Europe' was presented by Albian Krasniqi, PhD researcher and lecturer at TU Dublin. It took place on Wednesday 12 February 2025 at 15.30...
13th Annual NERI Labour Market Conference - presentations & videos
The 13th Annual NERI Labour Market Conference in association with the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre provided a forum for the presentation of research papers on labour market issues (North and South of Ireland & international). It was held in Ulster University, York Street, Belfast, BT15...
The Myth of Unintended Consequences: The Case for the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill
As discussions around the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill gain renewed momentum in the New Year, one term has entered into the lexicon of discussion: unintended consequences. It evokes caution but often without solid evidence to support it. What if improving employment rights makes businesses less...
Ireland is an outlier in wage inequality among high income European economies and it's getting worse
In this blog, NERI economist Ciarán Nugent discusses the Structure of Earnings Survey and the new data that was published this week for the year 2022. The Structure of Earnings Survey is a large-scale enterprise sample survey conducted every four years across EU members and several other European...