Professor Brendan Whelan

Brendan Whelan currently works as a Research Advisor to the TILDA project, following his retirement as Research Director of the study in March 2011. He served as Director of the ESRI from 1996 to 2006, having previously been Head of the Survey Unit at the Institute. He holds first class honours B.A. and M.A. degrees in Economics from University College Dublin and obtained a Master's degree in Statistics from the London School of Economics in 1972. He has taught on a variety of courses at undergraduate and graduate level in Ireland and on international training courses.

Most of his research has been concerned with the application of statistical methods to the collection and analysis of economic and social data. He has worked and published widely in both technical and substantive areas including survey design, studies of the labour market, poverty and ageing. He built up the ESRI's data collection capacity and developed its sampling and analysis capabilities to international standards. Among his achievements as Director of the ESRI were: a marked increase in the range and depth of ESRI research, and a distinct improvement in its public profile; a tripling of the organisation's annual budget; reform of the Institute's governance structure and the acquisition of new state of the art premises.