Module Code: POU33032
Module Name: Irish Politics B 2025-26
- ECTS Weighting: 5
- Semester/Term Taught: Semester 2
- Contact Hours: Two 1-hour lectures per week; one 1-hour tutorial per fortnight
- Module Personnel: Dr Lisa Keenan
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
- Evaluate the policy-making process in the Republic of Ireland;
- Explain attitudes in the Republic of Ireland towards Northern Ireland;
- Describe the party system and main political cleavages of Northern Ireland;
- Identify interesting research questions related to Irish politics;
- Evaluate the usefulness of various theoretical approaches when applied to these contexts;
- Explain the causes of some of the important shifts that have been observed within these contexts.
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 module covers both the Irish governmental system and politics in Northern Ireland. It discusses the core aspects of the policy-making and governmental processes in the Republic of Ireland, including the role of the government, interest groups, and the civil service in policy-making, as well as the distribution of power within the government. It also examines the politics of Northern Ireland, seeking to understand Northern Ireland’s political cleavages, the party system and the operation of the Assembly and the Executive, and the consociational solution to divisions between communities.
Visiting students
Please be aware that while this module is open to one-term and full-year visiting students, it is not designed with complete beginners to Irish politics in mind. Visiting students will need to do some additional work to catch up on the basics.
Students are not required to complete POU33021 Irish Politics A in MT in order to take POU33032. However, they should be aware that many aspects of politics in the Republic of Ireland that will have been covered in POU33021 that will not be revisited in HT.
Reading chapter 1 of the module 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 and politics. A very useful and introductory overview of the country, particularly for visiting students, is Eoin O'Malley’s, Contemporary Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Incoming visiting students are required to fulfil the same module requirements, in terms of coursework and exams, as TCD students (please see note below regarding the in-person examination). Registering for the module implies acceptance of this.
Recommended Reading List
The course textbook is:
- Coakley, J., & Gallagher, M., O’Malley, E. & Reidy, T. (Eds.). (2024). Politics in the Republic of Ireland. Routledge.
Some recommended introductory readings are below:
- Cronin, M. & O’Callaghan, L. (2015). A History of Ireland. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Gibney, J. (2017). A Short History of Ireland, 1500–2000. Yale University Press.
- Paseta, S. (2003). Modern Ireland: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- O'Malley, E. (2011). Contemporary Ireland. Macmillan International Higher Education.
This is a recommend source on Northern Ireland’s politics:
- Tonge, J. (2005). The New Northern Irish Politics? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Assessment Details
- Participation: 5%
- Short assignment: 15%
- Essay: 25%
- 90-minute in-person examination: 55%
In the event that a student must sit the supplemental exam (as a first attempt or as a repeat), this will take place during the assessment session in August (see the Academic Year Structure 2025/26).
The supplemental exam is the same format as the end-of-semester exam. It is not possible to request an alternative exam format (i.e., a move to online). It is the responsibility of students to ensure that they are present in person at scheduled examination sessions.