Before entering higher education as a lecturer I was a community and youth worker in Belfast in both a voluntary and professional capacity. A number of positions included that of community education organiser and anti-sectarian research and training officer; as such during this period I was involved in a number of anti-sectarian, diversity and community relations projects. This entailed both undertaking research and delivering training in areas relating to prejudice reduction and conflict resolution. Stemming from this work I became involved in various community adult education initiatives which meant working in partnership with trade union and unemployment groups. With other colleagues I am a founder member of ‘Panarts’ Northern Ireland a community based arts project set up to encourage young people to explore their experiences and cultural differences in a divided society through the performing arts. Today ‘Panarts’ remains committed to it’s community and schools based cultural diversity work but now also organises a major annual international music festival in Belfast. See www.panarts.org.uk

Previously I was a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Irish Studies at the Queen’s University, Belfast researching oral history accounts and experiences of political activists and trade unionists in Belfast’s munitions factories during the Second World War. I was also a tutor in contemporary Irish history and politics.

I have also been a lecturer in Sociology and Irish Studies at St. Mary’s University College, Strawberry Hill and Sociology and Community Youth Work at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland.

While at the University of Ulster I was a member of the Programme Board for the ‘Youth Work in Contested Spaces’ Project, which was a joint project between the University of Ulster, Youth Action Northern Ireland and Public Achievement. This was a three year partnership project involving academics, policy makers and practitioners. The project involved researching and sharing ideas on working with young people in conflict and post conflict environments. This project took my research to South Africa, Israel and Palestine, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia as well as Northern Ireland.

Also during this period and also after joining the University of Southampton I was the Research Co-ordinator and Consultant for the ‘Catalyst Partnership’ Area Based Strategy project. This project was a joint initiative between Youth Action Northern Ireland and YMCA Ireland to involve young people in peer research regarding youth provision in three key locations in Northern Ireland. The findings of the young people involved were to inform the Area Based Strategy for youth provision for the next decade.

I have also worked in various parts of Africa teaching research methods, most notably Zambia where I am the European representative for the Chawama COBET Community School Project in Lusaka.