SGI 2024 | Ireland | Key Challenges

Key Challenges

Recent Governments Experts

SGI experts on Ireland

Mary P. Murphy

Mary Murphy is Professor in the Department of Sociology, Maynooth University, with research interests in ecosocial welfare, gender, care and social security, globalisation and welfare states, and power and civil society. She co-edited The Irish Welfare state in the 21st Century Challenges and Changes (Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2016) and Policy Analysis in Ireland (Policy Press 2021), and authored Creating an Ecosocial Future (Policy Press, 2023). An active advocate for social justice and gender equality, she was appointed to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (2013-217), is currently a member of the Council of State in Ireland, Chair of Oxfam Ireland, and a member of EU and global academic and practitioner networks.

Tadhg O’Mahony

Dr. O’Mahony is Assistant Professor in Environmental Policy at University College Dublin in Ireland and Adjunct Professor in transformative sustainable futures at Finland Futures Research Centre. He is a systems scientist, futurist and ecological economist, working on transformations to sustainable futures. As researcher, lecturer and consultant, he has over 20 years of experience across academic, government and private roles. His docentship is in Futures Research, titled “Transformative Sustainable Futures: scenarios and foresight of sustainable development.”
He was Research Fellow on Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment (ICCA) at Dublin City University from 2022 to 2023, a research assessment of transformational change, as lead author on the Livelihoods, Economic Development and Governance and Policy chapters. Having completed his doctorate in 2010, he is a double Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow, having held fellowships in Finland (2015-2017) and in Spain (2013-2017), and working on projects from Europe to Asia. He has guest lectured widely including at Princeton Environment Institute in the US and at Nanjing University in China. His research covers analysis, policy and strategy-making, with key themes including: climate action; sustainable development; wellbeing; consumption; ecological and environmental economics; energy; transport; and scenario planning and analysis.

Nils C. Bandelow (Coordinator)

Nils C. Bandelow holds the chair of political science at the University of Braunschweig (Germany). He received his PhD (1998) and his Habilitation (2003) from the University of Bochum with dissertations on genetic engineering policy and European integration. His research interests include comparative politics and public policy. His recent publications focus on health and transport policy.

Ireland’s record for sustainable policymaking is uneven in capacity and impacts across the economy, society and the environment, with serious challenges in all areas. Significant efforts are needed to improve policy coverage and coherence, aiming for long-term sustainability and win-win outcomes. Often, sustainability policy is conceived in isolation, focusing on efficiency measures to address problems created by other policies that are frequently aimed at economic and social development. Agriculture and transport are key examples where transformative approaches are necessary to shift development priorities beyond just technology. Enhancements in foresight, technical capacities, and the evidence base for policy development would be beneficial. Improved coordination of programs with analogous or complementary policy goals is needed for effective implementation, with the legitimacy of policy decisions and trust in government depending on the quality of execution.

Ireland faces several key challenges in the next two years. The political landscape is in significant transition, with Sinn Féin, progressing unevenly, but still emerging as a plausible contender for a government coalition party after the next election. This will test more established parties, Sinn Féin, and the maturity of the democratic system. Citizen trust is fragile, access to official information is inconsistent, and social media disinformation, along with adaptation to AI, will require enhanced measures. Local government power and capacity need substantial reform to meet new policy challenges related to sustainability, climate policy and democratic engagement.

Institutional imagination and innovation are necessary, along with organizational openness and more diverse participation in policy processes. Transitioning to a sustainable social order that ensures a viable future for future generations must also provide a viable present for current generations. While the media operates independently with a relative diversity of opinions, ownership is concentrated in monopolies. The capacity of civil society organizations for social infrastructure and documentation and active participation in shaping relevant policies needs to be resourced, especially in social policy, and key institutions need to be developed to restore the role of Combat Poverty Agency, an early victim of austerity. A civil society observatory could help fill data banks and track civil society’s key role in supporting a sustainable future. Ireland’s small size means it has a limited range of institutions and is culturally vulnerable to groupthink. A wider range of relevant experts and societal actors must be involved in the policy process, with support and resources for such involvement. Ireland’s environmental record is poor, with serious doubts about its ability to meet national and international emissions targets. The 2022 Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity highlighted the need for greater efforts to conserve, protect and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity, also underscoring the need to implement relevant EU directives.

Infrastructure challenges are significant, with inadequate facilities due to underinvestment and new needs arising from an aging and growing population. Priority areas include housing and health, particularly addressing inequality of access. Long-overdue investment is needed to tackle social and geographic concentrations of poverty and deprivation, youth precarity and the marginalization of minorities, including travelers, migrants and international protection applicants. Gender equity issues, such as effective childcare and work-life balance policy also require attention. Investment is needed in housing, transport, education, health and care. Social and political cohesion is challenged by a small but vocal and strategic far-right presence, and the government must ensure that international protection policy is not manipulated by these actors. Resourcing local communities and working in partnership with local leaders is essential. Ireland’s capacity to meet these challenges depends heavily on the quality of state institutions and their capacity for social learning and “collective puzzlement on society’s behalf.” This includes the ability to reframe questions, widen participation and focus on the right policy priorities rather than settling for easy solutions. Consideration should be given to different configurations of tax and spend, and alternative development policies prioritizing nationally-owned enterprise and diversified activity.