The subtitle says everything that needs to be said about the aims of this publication. TSO Ireland and Lagan Consulting deserve the gratitude of all users of Northern Ireland official information as there has been no single authoritative source of such information for the best part of 20 years.
Those who have worked in this field for some time will remember the Ulster Yearbook. This invaluable official guide to Northern Ireland appeared from the 1920s until 1985 when the decision was taken to cease publication, in spite of protests from librarians and others. There were partial attempts to fill the gap. The UK Civil Service Yearbook provides useful information on government in Northern Ireland. For some years the excellent Aspects of Britain series existed. Not only did it include a useful volume on Northern Ireland but the different subject volumes devoted just as much attention to Northern Ireland and Scotland as to England and Wales. Thus, inquirers could confidently be referred to the relevant volumes on, for example, planning or the legal system. However, inexplicably, production stopped in 1997, around the time the present government took office and for some years there was nothing.
So this new extremely comprehensive publication is the more welcome. It does what the Ulster Yearbook did and rather more, as coverage goes beyond the sort of information on government included in the older series. It is arranged in 13 chapters with a concluding reference section. Chapter one consists of a survey of “the place and its people”. It begins with a brave attempt at that most difficult task, a comprehensive and impartial summary of the history of Northern Ireland. This anonymous survey is reasonably successful and factually accurate, although some of the statements will strike individual readers as debatable. It is strong on the politics of education and on financial relations between the UK government and Northern Ireland. The historical summary is followed by a shorter geographical introduction with short profiles of major towns. Some of these are remarkably frank. Citizens of Ballymena may feel aggrieved that the drug problems that have bedevilled their community are mentioned while the profile of Craigavon passes over in silence the disturbances around the annual march to Drumcree.
The next three long chapters describe political and administrative structures. Chapter two deals with the government and politics of Northern Ireland. The areas of responsibility of both Stormont and Westminster are briefly described. This area, especially the description of Excepted and Reserve Matters, could do with expansion. Contact details of Northern Ireland's Westminster MPs are also given as well as membership of the Northern Ireland Select Committee. Future editions should consider expanding the reference to the Northern Ireland Grand Committee and giving details of the UK parties’ shadow teams on Northern Ireland. The part of this chapter devoted to the Northern Ireland Assembly is particularly strong. The functions of its different parts are clearly described. Addresses and telephone numbers are given for individual Assembly members (but not e‐mail addresses). Political parties are also well covered. All registered parties are listed, including such obscure bodies as the Children's Party and the Flauntit.Net Internet Party. Full contact details are given for the more significant parties. Usefully, all elected representatives are listed, with party strengths in each District Council. Election results back to 1999 are set out in detail. Chapter three is devoted to Government Departments and Agencies. Structures are set out clearly with organization charts. The contact listings are good. Office addresses are given and also named individuals with full contact details, including e‐mail addresses and phone numbers. Chapter four outlines the local government structure. Politics and administration are especially well covered throughout the Yearbook. To give one example the committee membership of every councillor is included.
These chapters form a very useful guide to the whole complex area of Northern Ireland administration. I would make some suggestions that might improve the layout. The legal system and policing deserve a separate chapter. The courts are placed rather awkwardly in the chapter on government departments, followed by coverage of policing and details of the legal professional bodies. These last could easily be overlooked here. Details of the District Policing Partnerships are placed in the reference section at the end. It is useful to have this information set out here and it is a pity that it should be so inconspicuous and so far from the rest of the policing information. Another area that could be looked at concerns Westminster government departments operating directly in Northern Ireland. The Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise are covered in the section on business. The Home Office and the Passport Office are omitted. All these organizations are worthy of a separate section.
The next four chapters look at public administration by subject. Chapters five and six describe health, housing, the social services and education. Here again, the main strength is in the local detail. Contacts are given for individuals and branches within each of the Health and Social Services Trusts and in the local offices of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The narrative parts of these chapters describe both the structures and the various government initiatives affecting them. Official publications librarians might find it useful to direct inquirers to these sections where various reports are clearly summarised. The local economy and business situation are set out in chapters seven and eight, with much valuable contact information on official agencies, major companies and the financial sector generally.
Chapter nine examines Northern Ireland's relationship with the European Union, listing both local representatives on European bodies and European organizations working within the Province. The narrative material is particularly useful here. Once again there is valuable information at the very local level, with full membership and contact details given for all the Local Strategy Partnerships operating in each District Council area.
Chapters ten to thirteen move into rather different areas with useful directories to the media and lifestyle and tourist information. Chapter eleven consists of a very comprehensive listing of representative groups and associations ranging from churches to sports clubs. This will be very useful in reference libraries. Chapter thirteen is intended for visitors to Northern Ireland. There is much useful information here but it is more fitting for a guidebook than for a publication like this. While librarians will find what is included here helpful I cannot imagine this book otherwise reaching the sort of visitors for whom it was intended.
The concluding reference section is something of a hotchpotch. There is a reprint of the Belfast Agreement. Much of the rest of the material might better be placed in the body of the text. I have referred already to the District Policing Partnerships. The road and rail map placed here would be better within chapter thirteen.
The old Ulster Yearbook had a bibliography, something that would be worth reviving here. While, as I have said, official supports are summarised, they are not cited very well. A subject listing of major policy documents, with details of where they might be obtained and a list of general material for further reading would add value to an already very valuable work.
The Northern Ireland Yearbook started from the basis of the old Ulster Yearbook and has become close to a local Whitaker's Almanac! All reference libraries within Northern Ireland and reference collections elsewhere requiring information on Northern Ireland will find it an essential tool.
