Erinvale
The comparator ‘better off’ case study, Erinvale, is a suburban area on the outskirts of Belfast, including part of the Finaghy electoral ward, as highlighted in the map below. Erinvale has a population of 1587 in 688 households and is of predominantly Protestant community background (71 per cent) although three per cent of the population identifies as having an ‘other’ religious background, higher than other case studies. 24 per cent of households contain dependent children. Housing tenure is 89 per cent owner occupation, two per cent social housing, and eight per cent private rented. Of the owner occupiers, 41 per cent have mortgages. Thus the tenure structure is (intentionally) very different from the other case studies. The built form is mainly semi-detached housing built for sale around 60 years ago, in an area off Finaghy Road South accessed via Erinvale Avenue. The area is popular due to its accessibility to Belfast (including a direct bus route) and also to Lisburn. There are local shops on the main road and good local schools and sporting facilities. Unemployment is low at three per cent and economic inactivity due to long-term sickness or disability is four per cent; 33 per cent of residents have some kind of long term health condition. There is no community ‘centre’ as such but there are churches, schools, neighbourhood watch and sports clubs nearby.
Research activities in Erinvale are being coordinated by Dr Jenny Muir from Queens University Belfast (j.muir@qub.ac.uk / 028 9097 4835) and Aimee Ambrose (a.ambrose@shu.ac.uk / 0114 225 6297) from Sheffield Hallam University, please do not hesitate to contact them if you have any queries about our work in the area.
