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Prof. Donal O’Neill R.I.P

On behalf of the Economics Department in Maynooth University.

We are greatly saddened by the news that our colleague in Maynooth’s Economics Department, Donal O’Neill, has died after a short illness. He was just 56.

Donal was a first-rate economist and published in many top journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, the Economic Journal, the Journal of Labor Economics and the Journal of Human Resources. He was an excellent, innovative teacher and a wonderful colleague. Donal’s main research fields were labour economics and inequality, but he also had a considerable interest in econometric methodology, which fed into his applied research. Among his many contributions to the Irish economics community, he served as president of the Irish Economic Association from 2014-16 and as an enthusiastic member of the inaugural Irish Low Wage Commission.

All of his work was marked by a real love of Economics – he never stopped being fascinated by the insights Economics offered, or by its potential as a force for good. Donal was also a very decent and kind person. He will be very sadly missed.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends, particularly with his wife, Olive Sweetman, also a member of Maynooth’s Economics Department.

Dublin Industry at EEC Accession

I will be giving a talk based on this small segment of my new book as part of the Dublin Festival of History this coming Wednesday evening (October 4) at Pearse Street Library from 6pm-6.50pm. Admission is free. No booking required. Places allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Further details available at:
Dublin Industry at EEC Accession: The Leading Firms and Factories – Dublin Festival of History

Industry & policy in Independent Ireland, 1922-1972

My book on industry & policy from the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the eve of Ireland’s accession to the EEC in 1973 will be published by Oxford University Press within the next few weeks. Among other things it identifies the largest manufacturing employers in the Free State area in the decades prior to 1922 and in the late 1920s, the late 1940s and at other key points through to 1972. By the time of EEC accession foreign-owned firms accounted for almost one-third of manufacturing employment. Though Ireland had been targeting export-oriented foreign multinationals since the mid-1950s, a large number of those in operation at EEC entry were protectionist-era ‘tariff jumpers’ or indigenous firms that had been acquired over recent years as trade liberalisation proceeded. The book also unearths substantial new archival evidence on the determinants and consequences of industy policy. The sources of the firm-level employment data cited in the book have just been made available at: http://www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/101139

Professor Christopher Whelan, RIP

Prof. Chris Whelan passed away this week. He was Professor Emeritus of Sociology at UCD, a former Research Professor at the ESRI and Member of the Royal Irish Academy. The funeral notice is here. A brief summary of his career is provided by the ESRI.

Chris began his career with the Institute as a Research Assistant in 1972, becoming Research Professor in 1992. During this time, Chris coordinated research programmes in the areas of social inclusion, social cohesion and quality of life, publishing extensively on these topics and on economic and social change in Ireland during bust and boom. He left the ESRI in 2009 when he was appointed to the Chair in Sociology in UCD, but continued his connection with the Institute as a Research Affiliate.

The full tribute from the ESRI is available at the following link:

https://www.esri.ie/news/esri-pays-tribute-to-chris-whelan

Barrington Prize, 2022/2023

The Statistical & Social Inquiry Society of Ireland is delighted to open a call for entrants for the Barrington Prize for its 176th session, which takes place between September 2022 and June 2023. More details are given below.

Call for entrants
The Barrington Medal is awarded annually by the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland under the auspices of the Barrington Trust (founded in 1836 by the bequest of John Barrington). The award, which includes both a silver medal and €1,000, is intended to recognise a promising new researcher in the economic and social sciences in Ireland. This will be the 173rd anniversary of the lecture series and the recipient will be the 132nd Barrington Lecturer. Recipients in the past 35 years include:
Deirdre McHugh, Don Thornhill, George Lee, Alan Joyce, Daniel McCoy, Brian Lucey, Kevin O’Rourke, Siobhan Lucey, Mary Walsh, Philip Lane, Aidan Kane, Donal O’Neill, Peter Clinch, Colm Harmon, Ronnie O’Toole, Cathal O’Donoghue, Paul McNicholas, Mary Keeney, Liam Delaney, Martina Lawless, Cal Muckley, Orla Doyle, Yvonne McCarthy, Ronan Lyons, Mark McGovern, Rebecca Stuart, Karina Doorley, Daragh Clancy, Barra Roantree, Niall Farrell and Paul Kilgarriff.

The lecture should be based on a paper of not more than 7,500 words addressing a topic of relevance to economic or social policy and of current interest in Ireland. In treating the issue of economic or social policy, the paper may either report the findings of a statistical research study dealing with some aspect of the problem or deal with the underlying theoretical considerations involved, or preferably combine these two approaches. It should be written in a manner that makes it accessible to non-specialists in the area. More technical material may be included in an appendix. The paper is published in the Journal of the Society, so it should not have been published before (nor should it be published subsequently without the prior consent of the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland).

Candidates, who at the time of their submission must be not more than 35 years of age, should at least submit a detailed abstract of approximately 1,000 words on the proposed lecture, with preference being given to full papers. A short CV and the name of a proposer who is familiar with their work should also be submitted. Entries will be accepted from 1st June to 31st August, 2022 and should be sent to the Honorary Secretaries of the Society, via email, using the email address secretary@ssisi.ie, as should any queries regarding this call for entrants.