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Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture 2010
In a wide-ranging speech in UCC last night, RTÉ’s Charlie Bird spoke of the ever-increasing speed of the news cycle and warned of falling journalistic standards. Bird was speaking at the Department of Government’s 12th Annual Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture, a series which commemorates Ireland’s first local authority manager who served in Cork city as Commissioner and Manager from 1924-1959.
The title of Bird’s lecture was ‘Politics and media: the genie has escaped from the bottle’ and he spoke passionately about the dangers of crossing the line between chasing a story in the interests of the common good and invading people’s private and family lives.
RTÉ’s Chief News Correspondent asserted that journalists should always be honest and truthful in their broadcasting and he claimed that showing ‘good common sense’ was the most vital skill of a journalist. Bird described elements of the US media as ‘vicious’ and warned that the ‘black arts’ of journalism and broadcasting were coming into Ireland as well. As an example he referred to smear campaigns during the 2007 General Election.
Bird praised the work of the tribunals in Ireland in ‘peeling away layers of corruption’ and he contended that Philip Monahan would turn in his grave at the revelations about planning corruption in Dublin. In concluding his lecture, Charlie Bird presented a passionate defence of public service broadcasting which he said should be enhanced into the future.
As part of the lecture, Councillor Catherine Clancy, Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, presented the annual Department of Government Student Awards to John Kenny (Student of Year), Neepa Sodhi (Graduate of Year) and Declan Keating (Essay Competition Winner). The event was attended by a crowd of over 200 people in UCC’s Aula Maxima.
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Senator Ivana Bacik delivers the 11th Annual Philip Monohan Lecture
Senator Ivana Bacik delivered the 11th Annual Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture on Thursday 19 November before 200 people in UCC’s Aula Maxima. Senator Bacik asserted that there are three basic features of our system of constitutional governance that make our status as a republic questionable.
First, she argued that the Constitution has failed adequately to ensure implementation of the separation of powers doctrine, a key tenet of any functioning republican state. Secondly, she suggested that the Constitution still embodies what has been called ‘a pro-religion ethos’ apparent in Article 44.1 and the Preamble, committing the courts to a set of constitutional propositions that no liberal democracy should countenance. The theocratic ideology underlying the text is no longer appropriate or sustainable, she claimed, in modern Ireland – particularly not in a modern state that claims to be a republic. Thirdly and finally, Bacik proposed that there is a misfit between the theocratic ideology already mentioned, and the somewhat conflicting liberal-democracy ideology that also underlies the fundamental rights provisions.
Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture 2007/2008
The 9th annual Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture took place in Boole 1 on Friday 2 May 2008. The Department of Government runs this lecture series to commemorate Philip Monahan who served as Commissioner and then as City Manager in Cork from 1924 to 1959. Previous speakers have included John Hume, Mary McAleese, Robert Putnam and David Norris. This year’s lecture was delivered by Robert J. Faucher, the Deputy US Ambassador to Ireland and was entitled ‘Challenges facing the next President of the United States.’ Deputy Faucher spoke about the upcoming presidential election and the current contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination. He explained that whoever ends up in the White House will face a series of challenges including an apathetic public, social security, healthcare and the possible withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Deputy Faucher also asserted that the United States is very supportive of a strong European Union. At the end of the lecture, Deputy Faucher was presented with a copy of Philip Monahan – A Man Apart written by Dr Aodh Quinlivan of the Department of Government.
Philip Monahan Lectures
- Professor Tom Garvin, Department of Politics, University College Dublin.
- Dr. John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
- Francesco Rutelli, Mayor of Rome.
- John Dennehy, Secretary General, Department of Education and Science.
- Professor Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University.
- Dr. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland.
- David Begg, General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
- David Norris, Seanad Éireann.
- Robert J. Faucher, Deputy US Ambassador to Ireland
Department of Government Student Awards
As part of the Philip Monahan ceremony, the Department of Government student awards were presented by Councillor Terry Shannon, Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, as part of the Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture. The Government Student of the Year Award went to Darragh Mehigan on the basis of his excellent results in his 1st year exams. The Patrick O’Sullivan Essay Competition Shield went to Ian Mawe for his outstanding paper on the topic of ‘Politics and Celebrity’. The Graduate of the Year Award was presented to Tim McCarthy for his academic achievements and his contributions to the Department of Government and the University generally. The awards were announced by Dr Clodagh Harris.
Department of Government Book Launches
Then the proceedings moved to the O’Rahilly Building where Professor Denis Lucey, Acting Head of the College of Business and Law, launched two books written by Department of Government staff members. The first entitled Security in the New Europe was written by Dr Andrew Cottey; the second entitled Politics in a Changing Ireland 1960-2007: A Tribute to Seamus Pattison is by Tom O’Connor and Dr Anthony O’Halloran. Professor Lucey praised all three authors and welcomed the research output of the department. These two books follow on from other recent publications by staff of the Department of Government including Modernising Irish Government (2007) by Professor Neil Collins, Power to the People – Assessing Democracy in Ireland (2007) by Dr Clodagh Harris and Philip Monahan – A Man Apart (2006) by Dr Aodh Quinlivan.
