Current projects

I am currently employed as a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. I am working on three key projects:

Book project

I am writing a book on the history of UK security politics in Northern Ireland. My book is under contract for publication with Bloomsbury in 2027. The book explores evolutions of UK counter-terrorism and peacebuilding policy during the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’. It introduces a new theoretical framework for historicising evolutions in political practice. And it applies this framework to trace Troubles-era policies’ roots, in patterns of Anglo-Irish politics over the longue durée. My analysis is based on mixed methods of archival and interview analysis. I use quantitative computational tools to trace patterns in British political discourse on Northern Ireland, from the latter’s creation in 1920 to the suspension of Stormont in 1972. And I use qualitative archival and interview techniques to explore intersections between these patterns of long-term political thought on one hand, and principles informing the design of Troubles-era security on the other. I have shared parts of this research in my previous peer-reviewed publications, which you can access via this link.

New research

Alongside my book, I am also conducting new research on the Northern Ireland peace process. This includes research considering the future of devolved institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement, as well as research exploring the peace process’ international contexts, and research tracing the effects of ‘peace walls’ built to contain Troubles violence. I am working on several peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations, and policy reports across these topics. And I am developing new grant proposals to fund further research on the peace process in future.

Schools outreach

I am leading a programme of schools outreach at the University of Oxford. This involves creating a new network of teachers and academics with experience teaching or researching the Northern Ireland peace process. Through the network, members will collaborate on a series of workshops and CPD conferences sharing best practice across teaching and research. And we will work together to coproduce a new collection of classroom materials for use in teaching peace talks at key stages three to five. Finally, I am writing an ebook on the Northern Ireland conflict and peace process, which is designed for secondary school teachers and students in Britain, Ireland, and Northern Ireland - and which will be submitted to the CCEA, to influence the latter’s ongoing review of Northern Irish history curricula.