ESRI Newsletter | January 2025

Dear Reader,

The publication of a new macroeconomic model for Northern Ireland, developed by the ESRI and NIESR with financial support from Ibec, marked an exciting start to 2025. This new model will allow us to understand the economic issues facing Northern Ireland in an integrated way and will facilitate the examination of the effects of different policies on households and businesses. We hope this will be a useful tool for policymakers in Belfast, Dublin and London.

We also launched the latest report in our Shared Island series, which examined child poverty across the island of Ireland. I was struck by its finding that both jurisdictions had a similar child material deprivation rate of 24% in 2022-2023. Reducing child poverty must be a priority for governments on both sides of the border. The report highlights a range of welfare, educational, and labour market supports to address this issue.

We also published the Annual report on migration and asylum 2023, with the European Migration Network (EMN) Ireland. This comprehensive report features an overview of the latest migration data, policy and operational developments, research, and case law from 2023. While challenges in reception and processing for international protection and displacement from Ukraine continued, most migration is still for employment, education, and to join family.

It has been a great start to 2025 for us. Thank you for your continued support.

Professor Alan Barrett
Director