Former Alliance deputy leader to quit politics as he takes up new policy role at Ulster University

Dr Jodie Carson and former MP Stephen Farry
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Former Alliance Party Deputy Leader Stephen Farry has been appointed as the co-lead on a new Strategic Policy Unit.

The former North Down MP stepped down from his role as deputy leader of the party last month and confirmed to Belfast Live that he will step away from the party completely to ensure integrity in his new role. He will lead the unit with another senior Alliance figure, Dr Jodie Carson, who is a former civil servant and former Senior Economist at the university, and who quit her role as Special Adviser to the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs this summer.

Speaking to Belfast Live about his appointment, Dr Farry said that he hopes to bring his experience, both in the field of International Relations in which he holds his PhD and his 30-year experience in party politics, to bear.

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"The main aspect of this role is really amplifying the existing resources that the university has and a whole range of different specialities in the policy field and ensuring that we're maximising their impact in particular and their engagement with a whole range of policymakers in Northern Ireland further afield, whether you're talking to ministers, MPs, MLAs, special advisors, civil servants and particular drawing in our particular individual networks of contacts where they get the most out of that and then also be proactive in terms of essentially thought leadership.

"This is coming at a time when Northern Ireland certainly, and the rest of these islands and further afield are facing an unprecedented set of challenges. Certainly in the past 30,40,50 years, and, the need an opportunity for, this type of intervention, I think, is really opportune in terms of providing creative solutions to some of those challenges that are being faced."

Identifying his own challenges which he may face in the role, Dr Farry said that both he and Dr Jodie Carson are keen to establish their credibility and for him, that means stepping away from party politics completely.

"W e're very keen to establish our credibility at the outset and one of the things I'm very conscious of, and it's something I want to be very clear about to everyone I speak to is that as I've taken up this role, this is going to be a full-time commitment for me.

"I'm going to be stepping back entirely from party politics. A cademics can be political, but given this is a public policy role where we're engaging with people right across the political spectrum, it's important that I send out a message that I'm not riding two horses, so I'm not sort of being an academic by day and back room of the Alliance Party by night.

"I start this role officially on Wednesday, and I'm stepping back entirely from the party in order to protect the post."

This new Unit will work across campuses and faculties, complementing and harnessing the subject-specific policy centres already long-established at Ulster. With a focus on policy in practice, it will enable even greater collaboration between academia and political and governmental stakeholders and critically and impartially inform the environment for public policy discussion in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Prof Paul Bartholomew, Vice-Chancellor at Ulster University, said: “We’re very much looking forward to welcoming these new colleagues to Ulster. The Strategic Policy Unit aligns with our University strategy: People, Place and Partnership and will draw on both our existing outstanding academic expertise and our industry expertise, with Stephen and Jodie offering additional capacity to stimulate policy debate in key strategic areas for the benefit of society, both locally and globally.

"Stephen and Jodie’s considerable experience in effecting change for the benefit of communities and their extensive networks will bolster the strategic policy efforts of our already dynamic research community and help to boost our impact in finding solutions to issues affecting all of us.”

In addition to their roles in supporting the strategic aims of the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, their roles also offer new opportunities for the supporting of students working in areas relevant to public policy by sharing their experience and expertise to help the University to nurture the skills in students needed to be the next generation of policy leaders.

Stephen Farry has become the latest member of his party to leave politics for academia after Dr Patricia O'Loan stepped down from her role as North Antrim MLA to take up a role at Queen's University.

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