Irish Politics

Module Code: PO3630

Module Name: Irish Politics

• ECTS Weighting: 10
• Semester/Term Taught: Michaelmas + Hilary Term
• Contact Hours: 2 lectures per week; 1 tutorial per fortnight
• Module Personnel: Lecturer - Professor Michael Gallagher

This course has an on-line noticeboard (accessible from TCD computers only) containing information for current students about the course schedule, handouts, downloadable readings, deadlines etc.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students will:

• have an enhanced understanding of the Irish political and governmental processes
• be familiar with academic research into Irish politics
• have been encouraged, and ideally have learned, to critically assess the material they encounter
• have gained an understanding of the origins of, central issues in, and interpretations of ‘the Northern Ireland problem’

Module Learning Aims

The aim of this module is to deepen students’ understanding not only of the substance of Irish politics, north and south, but also of the academic research that aims to interpret and understand it.

Module Content

The course covers Irish political culture, the constitution, elections and electoral behaviour, parties and the party system, government and parliament, policy-making, Ireland and the EU, and history and politics in Northern Ireland.

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Visiting students

This course is OPEN to visiting students. Reading chapter 1 of the course textbook (Politics in the Republic of Ireland, see below) in advance of term or early in the term is recommended for those with little background knowledge of Irish history. A useful and fairly introductory overview of the country is Eoin O'Malley, Contemporary Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). Incoming Socrates / Erasmus and other non-TCD students are required to fulfil the same course requirements, in terms of coursework and exams, as TCD students. Registering for the course implies acceptance of this.

Recommended Reading List

John Coakley and Michael Gallagher (eds), Politics in the Republic of Ireland, 5th edition (Abingdon: Routledge and PSAI Press, 2010).

Eoin O’Malley, Contemporary Ireland (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) is a general and lively introduction to Ireland, including history and society as well as politics, designed particularly for visiting students

Jonathan Tonge, The New Northern Irish Politics? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) is a good starting point

More readings in detailed course handout

Visiting students
This course is OPEN to visiting students. Reading chapter 1 of the course textbook (Politics in the Republic of Ireland, see below) in advance of term or early in the term is recommended for those with little background knowledge of Irish history. A useful overview of the country is Eoin O'Malley, Contemporary Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

Assessment Details

2 essays, each counting 12.5%; 1 exam, counting 75%