copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: A third of young people from Northern Ireland who go to university travel outside Northern Ireland, mainly to the North West of England and Scotland, and only a third of those who graduate return back home. (Brian Smyth, 2018-03-11)
Evidence (2024-01-15): As Northern Ireland strives to build a more sustainable and competitive economy, Queen’s University Belfast has made a resounding call to prioritise retaining graduate talent within the region during the Labour Party’s Annual Conference in Liverpool. [...] Queen’s University Belfast has once again been crowned the number one university in Northern Ireland, according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025. [...] The calls for action follow the new London Economics report which shows higher education institution income for students in NI is 25% less than England.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2021-10-31): The Northern Ireland Assembly has not yet passed its own legislation, unlike the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. However, there is UK climate-related legislation that extends to Northern Ireland. Elsewhere in Europe, Azerbaijan has no national climate legislation.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-03-09): Climate change: New law in Northern Ireland aims for net zero by 2050 - Published Northern Ireland will soon have its first laws to tackle climate change after MLAs at Stormont passed new, specific legislation. [...] Northern Ireland has been the only part of the UK without climate legislation.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2020-12-24): The protocol does that by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods and by having Northern Ireland apply EU customs rules at its ports. [...] But only Northern Ireland firms will avoid new regulatory checks because they will still be following EU single market rules. Northern Ireland may also be able to mitigate disruption at the English Channel ports in a way other parts of the UK cannot.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2023-01-06): There are over 300 EU legislative instruments that still apply in Northern Ireland. If these are amended or updated, Northern Ireland will be required to stay in line with those changes. This means that if the UK or EU diverge from each other in these standards, the difference in rules applying between NI and the rest of the UK could grow, with knock-on effects for GB-NI trade friction. The exact process by which Northern Ireland will remain legislatively aligned with parts of the EU acquis is not yet clear. In principle, some of this comes under devolved competence but ultimately the UK Government is responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms of this international agreement. [...] Northern Ireland also has to follow a range of EU directives as they are updated and amended– for instance around fuel duties or food safety. If the UK diverges from these standards over time it could disrupt imports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland or create competitive disadvantage for traders on one side of the Irish Sea if they face greater costs than those on the other side.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2021-11-17): In one sense, why should anyone outside Britain or Ireland care about a political breakdown of this nature? Northern Ireland is about the size of Connecticut, but with half of the population and nowhere near the wealth. It has no significant natural resources or strategic economic interests. In almost every way, it is irrelevant to the core interests of Europe’s great powers and certainly to the U.S., even if there are obvious moral and political reasons to resolve the dispute. [...] Both the U.K. and the EU have long known this but ignored the warnings, believing that whatever deal they thrashed out could be imposed on Northern Ireland without the consent of both sides of the political-sectarian divide there. This is essentially the position still taken by the EU, Ireland, and parts of the U.S. establishment, which have concluded that Johnson’s government—if it wished—could back down in its demands and reach a compromise with the EU broadly along the lines already agreed upon, and Northern Ireland’s unionists would, in the end, have to swallow it. [...] This analysis is clearly true insofar as Northern Ireland’s future does rely on a stable relationship between the U.K. and the EU, but it implicitly assumes that the tension is all the fault of Johnson. More fundamentally, though, the analysis also works in reverse. The relationship between the U.K. and the EU cannot be stabilized until the situation in Northern Ireland is resolved. And right now it is far from resolved. Northern Ireland today is a rot in the heart of the Western alliance that is being left untreated.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2021-10-30): Northern Ireland is the last place in these islands to introduce climate change legislation - and even that hasn't been straightforward. [...] Committee chair Lord Deben has said Northern Ireland has "a real issue of emissions without the ease of sequestration, which some other parts of the UK have". [...] The legislation is also likely to set targets for electrifying transport in Northern Ireland and how people heat their homes.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-09-30): The vast majority of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification) rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is very common across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5 °C (43.7 °F) in January and 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in July. The highest maximum temperature recorded was 31.4 °C (88.5 °F), registered in July 2021 at Armagh Observatory's weather station.[133] The lowest minimum temperature recorded was −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F) at Castlederg, County Tyrone on 23 December 2010.[134] [...] As of the 21st century, Northern Ireland is the least forested part of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and one of the least forested countries in Europe.[137]
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-11-06): When COP26 was held a year ago in Glasgow, Northern Ireland was the only part of host nation the UK that did not have climate change legislation in place. [...] The big change, of course, is that climate legislation is now in place in Northern Ireland. [...] Northern Ireland's first Climate Action Plan coming from the bill is due to be published at the end of December 2023.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2020-12-31): But because of special arrangements for Northern Ireland, it will have a different experience from the rest of the UK. [...] "Whilst Northern Ireland will no longer be part of the EU, people born and raised here that choose to be Irish citizens will still be EU citizens," he said. [...] Northern Ireland will not face these non-tariff barriers as it will effectively remain within the EU's single market for goods.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-03-09): Climate change: New law in Northern Ireland aims for net zero by 2050 Northern Ireland will soon have its first laws to tackle climate change after MLAs at Stormont passed new, specific legislation. [...] Northern Ireland has been the only part of the UK without climate legislation.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-10-09): Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, lying in the northeastern quadrant of the island of Ireland, on the western continental periphery often characterized as Atlantic Europe. Northern Ireland is sometimes referred to as Ulster, although it includes only six of the nine counties which made up that historic Irish province. [...] Northern Ireland occupies about one-sixth of the island of Ireland and is separated on the east from Scotland, another part of the United Kingdom, by the narrow North Channel, which is at one point only 13 miles (21 km) wide. The Irish Sea separates Northern Ireland from England and Wales on the east and southeast, respectively, and the Atlantic Ocean lies to the north. The southern and western borders are with the republic of Ireland.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2023-02-28): Northern Ireland, which remains part of the UK customs territory, is subject to a set of EU rules relating to the single market for goods and the customs union. However, the protocol poses a practical problem: It introduces a system of checks and controls at points of entry for goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK or any other third country. These goods are subject to EU customs duties unless there is no risk of them entering the EU. [...] The retention of certain European laws and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland was one of the main sticking points of the protocol for the unionists. The Windsor Framework provides for the creation of a "brake" available to the Northern Ireland Assembly. If 30 MPs from different parties object to the implementation of a new European law on goods in the province, they will be able to call a vote to block it, modeled on a provision that already exists in the 1998 peace agreement. However, this emergency mechanism will not take away the European Court of Justice's final say on the rules governing the single market still in force in the province, insisted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In the end, "less than 3%" of European laws will continue to apply in Northern Ireland, London argued.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2020-12-31): The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier explained this during a speech in Belfast in 2020. "Whilst Northern Ireland will no longer be part of the EU, people born and raised here that choose to be Irish citizens will still be EU citizens," he said. [...] Northern Ireland will not face these non-tariff barriers as it will effectively remain within the EU's single market for goods.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2023-12-18): The Climate Law includes measures to keep track of progress and adjust our actions accordingly, based on existing systems such as the governance process for Member States’ national energy and climate plans, regular reports by the European Environment Agency, and the latest scientific evidence on climate change and its impacts. [...] Member States which did not submit a draft updated NECP or submitted one several months after the deadline only receive recommendations under the European Climate Law. [...] These are recommendations under the European Climate Law for Member States which did not submit a draft updated NECP in time for the Commission recommendations in December 2023. You can find all recommendations on NECPs on the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) page.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-01-20): 7. To date, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom and Ireland without specific Climate Change legislation setting out a pathway for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. [...] - Establish a system of Carbon Budgeting - Place a responsibility on local authorities to produce Climate Change Action Plans every 5 years 46. There is presently no specific Climate Change legislation in NI. However, as part of the 2020 New Decade, New Approach agreement, the NI Executive made a commitment to bring forward a Climate Change Act to give environmental targets a strong legal underpinning, as well as developing a new Energy Strategy and reviewing policies in light of the Paris Agreement. [...] 152. FSB welcome Climate Change legislation for NI and highlighted that a recent survey revealed that small local businesses desire policy certainty regarding their climate obligations. The important role that these enterprises can play with regards reducing emissions and facilitating green innovation was discussed and that there is an opportunity for business growth in the transition towards a green economy.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2019-03-28): Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change, Speakers Warn during General Assembly High-Level Meeting [...] A civil society representative echoed Ms. Robinson’s focus on youth, noting it has taken worldwide protests by young people to combat special interests that seek to uphold the status quo. This is a year for practical solutions, including realistic carbon funding.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-04-22): The regulations in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland cover all EEE, cables and spare parts, with some exemptions including: [...] Northern Ireland continues to follow the EU exemptions system. [...] OPSS has been appointed by Defra to enforce the regulations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-07-31): Polling shows that the UK public has no appetite for climate division. The Climate Change Act 2008 grew out of a consensus across UK politics in relation to climate change. The framework it established has proven its effectiveness, with the UK having met all its carbon budgets to date. That consensus also helped previous UK Governments to play a leading role in international climate diplomacy and accelerate actions worldwide, but it has begun to fray. There is an opportunity to rebuild that consensus across Parliament, and for the governments of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to work to achieve common climate goals. [...] - Northern Ireland: emissions in 2022 were 21.6 MtCO2e, which is almost 3% lower than in 2021 and 26% below 1990 levels. [...] - The Northern Ireland Executive needs to set its emissions targets and publish its Climate Action Plan.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2023-10-18): - A last-resort mechanism called the Stormont Brake allows the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly to prevent the application of new or amended EU laws. The mechanism can only be triggered if at least a third of Assembly members from at least two political parties request it. [...] While Northern Ireland is no longer part of the EU, its people who choose to be Irish citizens are still EU citizens. That means they can continue to move and live freely within the EU and the UK has committed to upholding their rights. [...] The European Commission has launched four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom for not complying with significant parts of the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-02-16): Like the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland is no longer part of the EU customs union, the basis for common tariffs on all goods entering the bloc. That means customs checks are necessary. However, to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, those checks instead take place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain; this, in effect, creates a new border in the Irish Sea. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland—but not the rest of the UK—continues to follow many of the EU’s single-market regulations, allowing the land border with Ireland to remain open. Additionally, the protocol is aided by a separate Ireland-UK agreement that allows free movement of people between the two countries. [...] To break the impasse and address unionist concerns, in early 2023 the EU and the UK government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struck a new deal known as the Windsor Framework. It created a "two-lane" system in which goods staying in Northern Ireland are exempted from checks while those destined for Ireland are still required to undergo inspection. It also gives Stormont the ability to veto some EU regulations, among other measures. Unionists nonetheless maintained their opposition for nearly a year, arguing the framework did not go far enough. But the DUP relented after the January 2024 update offered several additional compromises, including further reducing border checks, reaffirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional role in the UK, and earmarking nearly $4 billion in new funding for the revived Stormont government. [...] This BBC explainer delves into the details of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the proposed Windsor Framework.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-02-08): The results of our analysis should serve as a wake-up call for European policymakers about what is at stake in the 2024 European Parliament elections. The implications of this vote are far reaching for the geopolitical direction of the European Council and European Commission from 2024 onwards. The next European Parliament can be expected to block legislation necessary to implement the politically difficult next phase of the Green Deal – impacting the EU’s climate sovereignty – and push for a harder line on key issues for other areas of EU sovereignty including migration, enlargement, and support for Ukraine. National governments will feel constrained by the way these elections shape domestic debates, affecting the positions they can take in the European Council. This is likely to bolster the growing axis of governments around the European Council table that are attempting to limit the EU’s influence from within – those of Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden, and likely a PVV-led government in the Netherlands.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-03-02): The Northern Ireland Assembly has not yet passed its own legislation, unlike the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. However, there is UK climate-related legislation that extends to Northern Ireland. Elsewhere in Europe, Azerbaijan has no national climate legislation. Speaking as part of a panel discussion about COP26 on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence programme on 31 October 2021, John Barry claimed (at 47:48): "We [Northern Ireland] are the only part of Europe at this stage without climate change legislation." [...] The Northern Ireland Assembly has not made laws specific to climate change, beyond amending a couple of statue regulations.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2022-06-14): See all EU institutions and bodiesDo something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it! [...] EEA, 2019a, Climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Europe, EEA Report No 4/2019, European Environment Agency. [...] European Climate and Health Observatory, 2022e, Climate change and health: the national policy overview in Europe.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2023-09-15): Since 2019, all EEA member countries have a dedicated adaptation policy in place (Figure 2). In 2023, ten countries reported an adopted national climate law covering adaptation aspects. The different colours in Figure 2 reflect a large variety in policy approaches but hide an even larger variety as NAS or NAP do not have the same scope, content or structure in different countries (and these even change within a country over time). [...] A more detailed assessment of these can be found in the report Monitoring and evaluation of national adaptation policies throughout the policy cycle (EEA, 2020). In 2024, together with the ETC CA, the EEA will further develop its knowledge on the different policy instruments (including climate laws, NASs and NAPs), how they are adopted and execute power, the obligations they contain, and the reporting and updating mechanisms.
Claim: Northern Ireland is the only part of Europe that does not have climate change legislation. (John Barry, 2021-10-31)
Evidence (2024-07-17): Ireland has been a member of the EU since 1973. As a member, it incorporates all EU legislation into national legislation and applies all EU regulatory standards and rules. Ireland is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and follows all WTO procedures. [...] For additional information about Ireland’s legislation and IP points of contact, please see WIPO’s country profiles at https://www.wipo.int/directory/en/details.jsp?country_code=IE 6. Financial Sector [...] Bureau of Economic and Business AffairsBureau of European and Eurasian AffairsInvestment ClimateInvestment Climate StatementsIreland
Claim: The murder rate in Belfast was sixth highest in a list of cities in Europe (according to 2010 data). (maps4u, 2020-07-08)
Evidence (2020-07-08): Available data shows other cities with higher homicide rates. Data for some other cities was not and is not published. By any reasonable definition, homicide rates in Belfast are not among the highest in Europe today.
Claim: The murder rate in Belfast was sixth highest in a list of cities in Europe (according to 2010 data). (maps4u, 2020-07-08)
Evidence (2024-10-08): The head of Belfast and Lisburn Women’s Aid has hit out at the "shocking" levels of femicide in Northern Ireland after a fourth woman was murdered in the last six weeks. Mary Ward, a 22-year-old mother of one, was found dead in her south Belfast home on Tuesday October 1, the 24th woman killed in the north since 2020 according to the charity. [...] Kelly Andrews, CEO of Belfast and Lisburn Women’s Aid, described the latest murder and the number of women killed here recently as "shocking".
Claim: The murder rate in Belfast was sixth highest in a list of cities in Europe (according to 2010 data). (maps4u, 2020-07-08)
Evidence (2024-07-03): The homicide rate in Northern Ireland in 2022/23 was 12.6 homicides per million population, compared with 11.6 in the 2020/21 reporting year. The homicide rate was highest in this provided time period in 2002/03, when there were 26.5 homicides per million people. Homicide rate per million population in Northern Ireland from 2002/03 to 2022/23 [...] Police Service of Northern Ireland. "Homicide Rate per Million Population in Northern Ireland from 2002/03 to 2022/23." Statista, Statista Inc., 24 Nov 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/384944/homicide-rate-northern-ireland/