Hey all!
I'm writing a dissertation on the economy of Northern Ireland in the 1950s, and I've come up short with useful sources; primary and secondary. This is likely due to the vastly more important events of the 1940s and 1960s overshadowing this decade. So, I need some help.
Anything you know of on the era would be great; better still if it's focusing on the economy or even the pots-war British Welfare State as a whole. I wasn't sure if this question belonged here, but the mods said I could ask it.
Thanks all!
I don't know where you are studying or what kind of access you have to sources. If you can get to Belfast, there is more available in hard copy than online.
There is a good summary by Graham Brownlow, 'Business and Labour Since 1945' in Liam Kennedy and Phillip Ollerenshaw, Ulster since 1600: politics, economics and society which references a lot of sources.
I wrote a chapter on social policy for the same book (Peter Martin, 'Social Policy and Social Change'
The key publication for the period was K. Isles and N. Cuthbert,The economy of Northern Ireland (1957).
The debates of the Northern Ireland House of Commons are digitised as 'The Stormont Papers' at http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/.
The cabinet discussions are also digitised but your institution will need to have subscribed.
Finally, the Ulster Year Book was a very useful summary of official data.
Essentially you see the introduction of the welfare state in the same form as in Britain. A key concept is 'Parity': Britain would pay for the same levels of welfare for Northern Ireland as for British people but only if the systems remained directly comparable. For example an unemployed man in Derry got exactly as much as one in Derby but had almost identical conditions to qualify.
The biggest economic issues were the need to promote growth in areas other than Belfast and the persistence of unemployment levels above the UK average.
I hope this helps somewhat.