Catch up with Faculty staff in the media this week. Through their writing, speaking, research and expert comment on the issues of the day, they improve our knowledge and understanding of the world.
Listings are in staff alphabetical order. Any School groupings appear at the end of the listings. Please click on the relevant link(s) in each section to access the media item.
Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne, School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies, has written an opinion piece on the Gaza ceasefire stating that a ‘lasting peace must also come hand in hand with justice’. The Journal 09 October 2025: Ceasefire in Gaza is welcome, but our work has only just begun.
Dr Browne also appears on the Journal’s The Explainer Podcast to examine the chances for a lasting resolution to the conflict in Gaza. The Explainer Podcast 15 October 2025: After the ceasefire, what now for the people of Gaza?
Professor Michael Cronin, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, has written an article on the award of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature to the Hungarian author, László Krasznahorkai saying that it ‘honours the work of a writer who has been unwavering in his devotion to the art of writing’. Irish Times 09 October 2025: László Krasznahorkai could not be more timely Nobel laureate in world of conflict. (Subscriber content)
Dr Catherine Elliott O’Dare, School of Social Work and Social Policy, provides comment in this article on age in the workplace saying that the biggest challenge older workers face is age discrimination, ‘Ageism - defined by the World Health Organisation as stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) directed towards people on the basis of their age - remains pervasive’. Irish Times 10 October 2025: Age in the workplace: How multigenerational teams can give companies an edge.
Professor Massimo Faggioli, School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies, provides comment in this article on MSN.com 09 October 2025: Pope Leo urges Christians to care for the poor, says ‘there are many forms of poverty’.
Dr Isabella Jackson, School of Histories and Humanities, is quoted in an article on the news that officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and staff from the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) are separately meeting with representatives of what she says is a ‘deeply hypocritical’ Chinese human rights organisation, the China Foundation for Human Rights Development. Irish Times 13 October 2025: TCD professor ‘quite surprised’ by Department meeting with Chinese human rights body. (Subscriber content)
Professor David Kenny, School of Law, provides expert comment on the Irish Presidency and representation of people in Northern Ireland, saying that a focus on the North by a president is a ‘more informal role, rather than something the president is constitutionally assigned to do’. BBC 12 October 2025: Does the Irish president represent people in Northern Ireland?
Professor David Kenny, School of Law, outlines some of the key powers of the presidency in a series of videos in the Irish Times 14 October 2025.
- Can the president criticise the government?
- Can the president veto a law?
- Can the president introduce new policies?
- Does the president need permission to leave the State?
- Can anyone run for president?
- The president's greatest power has never been used.
- Is the president apolitical?
Dr Rosie Lavan, School of English, featured in a further media item on her new Seamus Heaney book which was published last week. Dr Lavan and Bernard O’Donoghue, who edited this new edition of Heaney’s work, poets Moya Cannon and Victoria Kennefick, musicians Neil Martin and Louise Mulcahy, and critic Fintan O’Toole appeared at RTÉ Arena Live from the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire for a special event to celebrate the life and work of Seamus Heaney as his definitive collection of poems is published: The Poems of Seamus Heaney. RTÉ Radio 1 09 October 2025: arena Live - the Poems of Seamus Heaney.
Dr Barra Roantree, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, features on The Irish Times’ Inside Politics budget analysis and is highly critical of Budget 2026 and its ‘astronomical spending increases’. Irish Times 10 October 2025: 'Cooking the books': Is Budget 2026 a 'cynical wheeze'?
Dr Dale Whelehan, School of Psychology, was interviewed on a radio show and asked ‘The news, so often filled with doom and gloom, can leave us feeling like we are living in an unprecedented time of global instability. But is the world really as bleak as we often think it to be?’ Newstalk Radio - Newstalk Breakfast 14 October 2025: Is the world as bleak as we think it is?
Professor Taha Yasseri, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, has written an article for The Conversation about Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, which is about to launch the early beta version of Grokipedia, a new project to rival Wikipedia. The Conversation 15 October 2025: Grokipedia: Elon Musk is right that Wikipedia is biased, but his AI alternative will be the same at best.
Trinity Business School is the feature in this article which states that Trinity Business School has been recognised as Ireland’s leading provider of an Executive MBA in the Financial Times EMBA 2025 Rankings. Business Post 14 October 2025: Trinity retains top Executive MBA spot in Ireland.