Alliance MLA Patrick Brown receives doctorate from Queens University

ALLIANCE MLA for South Down Patrick Brown has graduated from Queens University formally receiving his PhD in politics.

Dr Brown, who was elected to Stormont in last May's Assembly election, formally received his Doctor of Philosophy at Queen's winter graduation ceremony following three years of arduous and diligent research to acquire what for most is the highest academic qualification attainable in any field of study.

Dr Brown related the fact that whilst he always had an interest in studying for a PhD in politics, holding both Undergraduate and Master's degrees in the subject from the University of Sheffield, he wanted to take a few years out from formal education before working to earn his doctorate in the fine art of compromise.

"I started my PhD in September 2018 and I was studying the PhD full time on top of all my council duties as well. To study for a PhD you have to hold both Undergraduate and Master's degrees, which I hold from the University of Sheffield both of which are in politics.

"I always thought about studying for a PhD, however I wanted to take a few years out from formal education before pursuing it. I worked at Queens University Belfast for a year in their development office, so I spent a lot of time around the campus and really enjoyed it and I thought it was the right time to submit an application and see how it went."

"To earn my PhD my research was focused on interviewing political and civic society elites in Northern Ireland and learning their views on Universal Basic Income. This was the topic of my PhD, the role that Universal Basic Income has on conflict transformation and investigating if the introduction of A UBI would help in post conflict societies to try and heal some of the divisions in Northern Ireland.

"For this I interviewed political leaders. This consisted of interviewing someone from all of the main parties in Northern Ireland. I also interviewed various different leaders from civic society, this included CEO's and heads of charitable organisations, church's, trade unions and some Ex-combatants from either side of the divide. There were about twenty-five interviews in total included in my PhD.

"My final dissertation came to around 80,000 words, but with appendices it grew to about 110,000 in the end. So, for a PhD it is essentially a book that you are writing. I finished my dissertation in January of this year, because I wanted to get it out of the way before any Assembly election really kicked off so I could focus my efforts on the Assembly campaign. Prior to this it was definitely challenging studying for my PhD with my council duties as well. However, I enjoyed the topic I was researching and writing about so this helped me to commit myself to doing it."

"If you are doing a PhD just because there was funding available for it but it isn't an area you are passionate about then it can be a lot more difficult, however when you really care about your subject it does make it easier. I did a lot of advocacy and campaigning work around the topic of UBI so this helped as well as it provided a lived experience that I could then apply academically."

As a great philosopher once wrote knowing is not enough, we must apply, with Dr Brown keen to relate the fact that he will now use the knowledge gained through his PhD research to help inform his role as legislator if and when the Assembly does eventually reform.

"I think to an extent the introduction of some form of UBI in Northern Ireland could help to reconcile divides here. When people's material needs are better taken care of and there is a better security net for them in society with an all-round fairer and more caring welfare system, I do think this removes some of the incentives that could lead young people in particular into becoming involved in paramilitary and organised crime and this sort of activity.

"It is fairly clear from other research that poverty and deprivation drives crime, both crimes that occur out of an economic necessity, organised crime and indeed engagement in more sectarian or politically motivated crime. Organisations involved in this sort of crime are easily able to manipulate people involved in deprived situations. My main argument is that UBI is not going to stop organisations from thinking and acting in this way but it is going to potentially limit their recruitment power and their influence.

"A good example of this would be the recent stories featured in the media about paramilitary debt, people would be less likely to get into debt if they had a steady and secure form of income every month, this would then limit the influence of paramilitaries in those communities.”

Dr Brown concluded by expressing his sincerest thanks to all those individuals who helped him throughout his three years of PhD study

“For me John Barry, who was my PhD supervisor, was inspiring and we were great at bouncing political ideas off each other. He was incredibly supportive of my work and urged me on to complete it. I would also like to extend my thanks to all my family and friends that supported me throughout the process as well.”