Many congratulations to Kate O’Sullivan on her award for the best Politics and Society essay in the Department of Government national competition which ran earlier this year.

On this day, 100 years ago (12 August 1920), a meeting of the Cork No. 1 Brigade of the IRA was convened for Cork City Hall. On the same night, a meeting of local IRB officers was also due to take place at the same venue, as well as a Republican Court session. Thus, City Hall would be teeming with some of the most wanted men in Ireland. On the afternoon of 12 August, Donal O'Callaghan chaired a meeting of Cork County Council in the Courthouse. Liam Deasy informed him that the British were aware of the meetings that were planned that night for City Hall and a raid was likely. O'Callaghan promised that once the County Council meeting was over he would inform Lord Mayor Terence MacSwiney and other senior Republican figures.

The Department of Government and Politics is offering a PhD studentship of up to two years duration.  The successful candidate will undertake a PhD under the supervision of Dr Theresa Reidy and the proposed research topic should fall broadly in the area of electoral behaviour. The candidate will be required to carry out editorial assistant duties one day a week for an international political science journal.

The studentship will provide:

Tuition fees up to the EU rate,

A yearly stipend of €16,000.

This studentship will awarded for one year in the first instance, and may be renewed (on application) for a further year. Renewal is based on a satisfactory annual review of progress, evidence of scholarly contribution to your research area and satisfactory completion of the editorial assistant workload required as part of the studentship. Enquiries should be sent directly to Theresa Reidy at t.reidy@ucc.ie More information on the department is available at https://www.ucc.ie/en/government-and-politics/

Programmes in Government and Politics will have a mix of face to face teaching with the full class in attendance, face to face teaching with staggered attendance (eg, class split into groups who will attend lectures in halls and online in alternate weeks), and online teaching. Every lecture will be recorded to facilitate students who may be unable to attend lecture halls. Module specific information will be provided once the social distancing requirement is confirmed.

In some instances modules may be scheduled in rooms that cannot be made safe given the likelihood of aerosol virus transmission (e.g., small classrooms in the Boole). In these cases, if alternative physical space cannot be found, any face-to-face teaching will need to be supplemental to virtual teaching, and take place out-doors.

The Department of Government and Politics is delighted to sponsor a competition, for secondary school students, titled 'Tell us about your Politics & Society Citizenship Project' and you will be in with a chance to win a €50 All-4-One gift voucher.

What you have to do to win this price - discuss your CPR topic and/or research in a 750-1,000 word essay and send the final document to Dr Philip Murphy at philip.murphy@ucc.ie by the 10th of July 2020.

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to announce that its Fifth Annual Public Lecture Series of the Centre for Local and Regional Governance takes place on Thursday the 27th of February 2020 at 6.30pm in Boole 1.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT?  

The event will be opened by the Lord Mayor of Cork – COUNCILLOR JOHN SHEEHAN

The CLRG Annual Report 2019 will be launched by the President of UCC – PROFESSOR PATRICK O’SHEA

The event will be chaired by the Head of the Department of Government and Politics – DR. THERESA REIDY

The three main speakers are:

• JOHN PAUL PHELAN TD – Minister of State for Local Government and Electoral Reform
• ANN DOHERTY – Chief Executive of Cork City Council
• COUNCILLOR ELISA O’DONOVAN – Member of Limerick City and County Council

ALL WELCOME

No registration necessary

We are delighted that the 21^st Annual Philip Monahan Lecture will be delivered by Fr. Peter McVerry on Wednesday 29 January (Boole 4, 6:30pm). He will discuss housing policy in Ireland and the ongoing homeless crisis, big issues for General Election 2020.

On the night, the annual Department of Government and Politics student awards will also be presented.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Dr Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, an associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland, and a graduate of the UCC Department of Government and Politics, has received the 2019 Basil Chubb Prize for the Best PhD in Political Science.

On Thursday, October 17^th 2019, 2^nd year BSc Government student, Mary Murphy gave a talk of her success story as part of the Life as an Entrepreneur Series organised by the UCC BlackStone LaunchPad. 

Ugne Kaskelyte is a graduate of the BSc Government and is a current student of ours on the Masters in International Public Policy and Diplomacy. 

Dr Emmanuelle Schon-Quinlivan of the Department of Government and Politics has received an Exceptional Citizen Award at the annual President's Staff Awards.

Dr Schon-Quinlivan has been awarded for her innovative and ambitious work to bring awareness of EU citizenship rights and responsibilities to Irish primary school learners (and, through them, to their parents). 

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to present Special UCC Jean Monnet Lecture ‘Brexit: A Belfast Perspective’ by Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor John Finucane

When: Thursday 24 October 2019 at 4.00-5.30pm

Where: UCC Centre for Executive Education, 1 Lapp’s Quay, Cork City

REGISTER HERE 

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to present UCC Jean Monnet Lecture Series:

"The EU's Changing Institutional Architecture: The Rise of the European Council & the European Parliament"

Professor Desmond Dinan

George Mason University, Virginia

3-4pm, Wednesday 23 October 2019

ORBG27  

A delegation of US Senators recently visited Cork to celebrate a long running partnership between University College Cork (UCC) and the American Irish Legislators Society of New York.

Art O’Leary has been the Secretary General to the President since June 2014, responsible for advising the President on constitutional and all other matters relating to the presidency. He is also responsible for the administration of the President's office and staff at Aras an Uachtaráin. Every year the President's Office manages 400+ events inside and outside the Aras, caters for 20,000 visitors, provides support for c. a dozen foreign visits, drafts hundreds of speeches and issues centenarians' bounties to over 400 citizens on reaching the age of 100 years.

Dr Niall Dugan, a lecturer with the Department of Government and Politics has recently published a book: Competition and Compromise among Chinese Actors in Africa: A Bureaucratic Politics Study of Chinese Foreign Policy Actors.

Please see below a synopis of this book:

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP, has been a prominent figure lately in debates about Brexit and proroguing parliament. The Speaker came to the Department of Government and Politics in February 2013 to deliver the Annual Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture. He spoke about the relationship between the legislature and the executive and his words are extremely relevant today. He said, ‘A legislature which simply passed laws but had no interest in or influence over the implementation of those Acts and policy more generally would be an unimpressive institution.  A serious legislature must be capable of intensive scrutiny and have the capacity to challenge the executive. Ministerial appearances in the House should be a courteous nerve-wracking experience.’ We have decided to post the full lecture by John Bercow on our web site, as follows ……..

Sky has recently announced its second cohort of Women in Technology Scholars, awarding five talented women £25,000 each and access to an expert network of mentors and leading industry executives to accelerate their innovation. This is an international competition and those selected were whittled down from hundreds of applicants.

Mary Murphy, a University College Cork (UCC) 1^st Year Government Student, was one of the five women selected as a Sky Women in Technology Scholar. In fact, Mary was the youngest Scholar chosen, which is testament to the tremendous strides that she has made in her entrepreneurial career (whilst also being a full-time student) since she established "Make a Mark Ltd" with her twin sister, Sarah, in 2016.

James Massi, 3rd year student of the BSc Government Programme has spent his work placement  in Tokyo, Japan.

Viewing Dates are Monday, 1st of July and Tuesday, 2nd of July.

The viewing of examination scripts will take place in the Department of Government and Politics, O'Rahilly Building:

Room ORB 2.03: Monday July 1st, 10.00am – 12.00pm and 2.00pm – 3.00pm.

Room ORB 2.02: Tuesday, July 2nd, 10.00am-12.00pm and 2.00pm - 3.00pm.

The Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork (UCC) and the Gender Politics Specialist Group of the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) present

State of the Discipline: Women, Gender and Political Science

CACSSS Seminar Room, University College Cork

Room G27, Ground Floor O’Rahilly Building

Monday 1^st July 2019

All welcome.

A student of the MSc International Public Policy and Diplomacy Programme, Michaela Reilly, has recently accomplished her Work Placement with Standards in Public Office in Dublin.

Michaela says:

The Director of the CLRG, Dr Aodh Quinlivan, has recently spoken at a series of events about local government reform and directly elected mayors. 

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to present Claire Hanna MLA, South Belfast Former SDLP Brexit & Finance Spokesperson as part of its Jean Monnet Lecture Series.

Title: Picking up the Pieces: Restoring Relationships after Brexit

Date and Time: 3-4pm, Wednesday 27 March 2019 

Venue: O'Rahilly Building, UCC Campus, Room 2.55

From September 2018 to February 2019, two BSc Government students in their third year of the degree went to study a semester at Waseda University in Japan. 

This exchange was partially funded through an Erasmus+ grant. Both Aoife Tierney and Ciaran Sullivan had an amazing experience.

On Monday 25 February, Dr Aodh Quinlivan spoke to students in Christ King Girls’ Secondary School about civic engagement, active citizenship, and why politics matters.

The Department of Government and Politics and the Boole Library UCC are delighted to present:

A Retrospective Exhibition

The Times We Live In: Martyn Turner’s Satire

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to present Dr Patrick Holden, Reader in International Politics, Plymouth University: 

"Don't pay the Ferryman: European geoeconomics and politics in the era of Trump and Brexit"   

3-4pm, Wednesday 13 February 2019 

CACSSS Seminar Room (ORB G27B) 

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to announce that its Fourth Annual Public Lecture Series of the Centre for Local and Regional Governance takes place on Thursday 14 March, at 6:30 pm in Boole 1.

ALL WELCOME

No registration necessary

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to present an Inaugural Workshop of The Irish Association for the Study of Central Asia entitled: "Development and Governance in Central Asia".

The workshop will take place on Saturday, 26th January 2019, between 9.00 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. in the CACSSS Seminar Room, O'Rahilly Building, Ground Floor (G27).

All welcome

Tea and coffee will be available afterwards

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to launch its Seminar Series in 2019 with a talk by two visiting speakers.

Dr Huw Bennett, Cardiff University, and Dr Edward Burke, University of Nottingham will deliver a lecture entitled: ‘The British Army in Northern Ireland: Understanding Strategy and Civil-Military Relations’ on Tuesday, 15^th January, 3.00-4.30 p.m. in the CACSSS Seminar Room (ORB G27), O’Rahilly Building, University College Cork.

All welcome

Tea and coffee will be available afterwards

Department of Government and Politics is delighted to announce that the first Jean Monnet lecture of 2019: 'Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain' will be delivered by an accomplished author, literary critic, historical writer, political commentator and columnist, Fintan O'Toole.

A new article from Matt York – a PhD student in the UCC Department of Government and Politics – has been published in the Journal for Social Change. 

Brexit: what are the gender consequences?

A long-awaited 20th Memorial Philip Monahan Lecture, which took place on the 22nd November 2018, was delivered by Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics in the University of Edinburgh.

The theme of this year’s lecture was ‘The Gendered Consequences of Brexit’. The question of 'what prospects for women and women’s rights post-Brexit' was given thought-provoking answers. Additionally, Prof. Mackay assessed the pitfalls and perspectives for gender equality policy and women’s rights in these uncertain times.

The lecture was live-recorded and can be listen to via the Panpoto recording platform.

NOTE: Please skip approximately first 30 minutes of the recording from the Awards Night to start the lecture's slides and the audio.

20th Annual Philip Monahan Lecture

The Department of Government and Politics is honoured that Professor Fiona Mackay of the University of Edinburgh will join us on Thursday 22 November to deliver the 2018 Philip Monahan Lecture.  

The theme of this year’s lecture is ‘The Gendered Consequences of Brexit’.

Fiona Mackay is Professor of Politics in the University of Edinburgh, and formerly Dean and Head of its School of Social and Political Science from 2014 to 2017. Prof Mackay's research focuses on the impact of gender reform efforts during periods of restructuring and institutional change, addressing the extent to which global and local institutions of politics and governance may be designed or reformed to address gender inequality and promote gender justice.

Department of Government and Politics

Jean Monnet Lecture Series

An Unquiet World: Trans-Atlantic Trump, Brexit and Beyond

Professor Amelia Hadfield

Canterbury Christ Church University

1-2pm, Thursday 29 November 2018

ORB_2.55

Dr Laurence Davis has won the Kenneth M. Roemer Award for Innovative Course Design. The award is sponsored by the North American Society for Utopian Studies.  

On 10 September last, Dr Fiona Buckley addressed the International Congress of Parliamentary Women Caucuses, held in Dublin Castle. Fiona spoke about the adoption, implementation and effectiveness of gender quotas. 

Dr Liam Weeks recently visited the Houses of the Oireachtas for an Open Day for the newly established Oireachtas internship. 

On October 17, Senator Michael McDowell launched The Treaty: Debating and Establishing the Irish State in the Kevin Barry Recital Room in the National Concert Hall. This was the venue at which the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 was debated and voted on by the Second Dáil.

The flagship event of the PSAI is the Annual Conference, held each October at a different location. The 2018 conference was hosted by the University of Limerick on the weekend of the 12-14th October 2018.

The UCC Open Day took place on Saturday the 13th of October 2018. The Department of Government and Politics stand was located in the Main Restaurant on the UCC main campus. 

Theresa Reidy received the Research Communicator of the Year Award from UCC President, Patrick O’Shea, at the UCC staff research awards ceremony on 4 October 2018.

On 3 October 2018, Miriam O’Callaghan (RTÉ) launched The Post-Crisis Irish Voter: Voting behaviour in the Irish 2016 general election at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. 

'The Day After [Brexit]': Rebuilding an Enduring Relationship for these Islands

Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA

Chief Whip Ulster Unionist Party

Brexit and Finance Spokesperson

3-4pm, Thursday 18 October, CACSSS Seminar Room, UCC.

ALL WELCOME (no registration necessary)

Dr Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan, UCC and Professor Gavin Barrett, UCD, were invited before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs on 3 October to analyse the European Commission’s Task Force’s report on subsidiarity, proportionality and ‘doing more with less’.  

On 28 September 2018, UCC organised ‘Cork Discovers’ funded by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. It was a night of discovery where UCC researchers demonstrated what they do for society and how they might change your life!

You are invited to an event to mark the publication of

Ghosts of the Somme: Commemoration and Culture War in Northern Ireland

You are invited to an event to mark the publication of

Europe and Northern Ireland’s Future:

Negotiating Brexit’s Unique Case

The Department of Government and Politics Jean Monnet Lecture Series was delivered by Mr Matthew O'Toole, Chief Press Officer for Europe and Economic Affairs to British Prime Minister David Cameron (2015-2017). He discussed 'Brexit: Northern Ireland and the limits of language' on Thursday the 10th of May at 3pm in ORB_G.27.

Mr O'Toole's lecture can be heared here:

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=302e9164-2055-44b1-b0e8-a8dc00d40e2c

On Monday 23^rd April, 4^th year BSc Government student, Kaitlin Jeffers, spoke at an event organised by the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA). The conference on Brexit, Ireland and the Future of Europe saw Kaitlin deliver her vision for the future of Europe to a large audience in the Mansion House, Dublin. Taking place shortly after the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the event featured a conversation with former Taoisigh on the topic of the Northern Ireland peace settlement, and the role it has played in the Brexit negotiations. Subsequently, a panel of high level European speakers discussed the future of the EU without the United Kingdom.

The Department of Government and Politics Jean Monnet Lecture Series was delivered by Author Brexit and Ireland: The Dangers, the Opportunities and the Inside Story of the Irish Response (Penguin 2017), Mr Tony Connelly, RTÉ Europe Editor. He discussed Brexit: Negotiating the Negotiations on Thursday the 12th of April at 4pm in ORB_G.27.

Mr Connelly's lecture can be viewed here:

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=fb994727-0fa4-4e48-aec5-a8c400d62f4b

The Department of Government and Politics Jean Monnet Lecture Series will be delivered by Author British-Irish Relations in the 21^st Century (OUP forthcoming), Dr Etain Tannam. She will discuss How Brexit is bruising British-Irish Relations on Tuesday the 20th of March at 3pm in ORB_1.56.

The Department of Government and Politics Jean Monnet Lecture Series was delivered by former UK Minister for Europe, Denis MacShane. He discussed Brexit: Amputation or Co-Existence? on Tuesday the 20th of February at 3pm in ORB_G27.

The third Annual CLRG Public Lecture Series will take place on Thursday 15th of February 2018 at 6:30pm in Boole 1.

The 20th Philip Monahan Memorial Lecture which takes place on Thursday 9^th November at 6:30pm in Boole 2.

The Department of Government conducted a case study for their Quality Review in Autumn 2017.