PhD researcher Leah Rea has been named as joint winner of the Richard Chapman Prize for Best Doctoral Paper and the Public Administration Committee's Annual Doctoral Workshop. Leah attended the Workshop in Nottingham Trent University on 14 September 2022. She presented on her paper, "(Un)conventional administration: positioning the Sewel Convention in the administration of abortion services in Northern Ireland". Leah's paper examined the positioning of the Sewel convention in the administration of abortion services in Northern Ireland.
The paper explored the impact of shifting political interpretations and applications of the convention on the reform and subsequent delivery of abortion services in the timeframe 2018-2022. Leah was announced as a joint recipient of the Richard Chapman Prize for Best Doctoral Paper at the close of the workshop.
Leah’s PhD research explores the impact of constitutional conventions established by devolution settlements, and the progression of minority language rights standards in Northern Ireland in the context of the Irish language. Her supervisors are Dr Anne Smith and Dr Mark Simpson.