Catch up with Faculty staff and postgraduate students in recent media. Providing knowledge and understanding through their writing, speaking, research, and expert comment.
Listings are in staff alphabetical order. Any School items appear at the end of the listings. Please click on the relevant link(s) in each section to access the media item.
Professor Michael Cronin and Dr Max McGuinness, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, recent publication which they co-edited, titled ‘The Irish Proust: Cultural Crossings from Beckett to McGahern’ was the subject of an enthusiastic review in the Irish Times on 18 April 2026: The Irish Proust: A fascinating search for a creature that may not be mythical after all. (Subscriber Content)
Professor Massimo Faggioli, School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies, appeared in multiple media items providing expert comment:
- Professor Faggioli says that Donald Trump’s threat to end Iran’s civilisation was the event that triggered Pope Leo to fire back in an article in The Irish Independent on 16 April 2026: Pope was ‘dragged’ into war of words with Trump.
- Professor Faggioli is quoted in this article about Pope Leo's comments on Donald Trump in Le Monde on 20 April 2026: En Afrique, Léon XIV s’affirme face à Donald Trump et lors de sa visite à quatre pays.
Dr Deirdre Foley, Research Fellow, School of Histories and Humanities, provides expert comment on in an article saying that ‘[o]ften rural women drew on domestic production to bring extra cash into the home, but these practices started to decline at the turn of the 20th century’ in Agriland on 19 April 2026: Knitting tutor warns that Irish wool 'is at a crossroads'.
Dr Michael Gormley, School of Psychology, was interviewed on radio about a national safety camera strategy expected to be published this month by the Department of Transport. RTÉ Radio 1 Morning Ireland on 16 April 2026: New national safety camera strategy aims to help enforce traffic violations.
Professor Alan Matthews, Fellow Emeritus, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, provides expert comment on a radio show discussing whether or not there is an urban or rural divide in Ireland. RTÉ Radio 1 Drivetimes on 21 April 2026: Is there an urban and rural divide in Ireland?
Dr Max McGuinness, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, is on a panel of speakers exploring the life and work of Marcel Proust and his connections with Ireland on Newstalk radio 'Talking History' on 19 April 2026: Proust & His Irish Connections.
Gregory Walls, PhD student, School of Histories and Humanities, has written an article for the RTÉ website on how the ‘1926 Irish census, the first major administrative act carried out nationwide by the new state, was a quiet, yet powerful assertion of its authority after more than a decade of war and revolution’. RTÉ Website on 16 April 2026: How the new Irish Free State counted the population in 1926.
School of Social Work and Social Policy. A Research team based in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, and led by Dr Leigh-Ann Sweeney, has published a research report for the National Women’s Council on women’s experiences of the Irish Government’s free contraceptive scheme. The report is featured in a number of media items:
- The report is featured in an article which states that the study ‘based on a sample of 500 women found issues, such as lack of knowledge, age, inability to access a GP and intrusive questioning, meant about 31pc were encountering barriers’. The Irish Independent on 22 April 2026: One in three women struggle to avail of free contraception scheme, report shows.
-
An article which states that ‘[n]ew research undertaken by Leigh-Ann Sweeney and Susan Flynn, School of Social Work and Social Policy, in collaboration with the National Women’s Council of Ireland has highlighted barriers to access to Ireland’s free contraception scheme’ is published on the RTÉ website on 22 April 2026: 1 in 3 women face barriers accessing free contraception.
-
An article which writes that the research ‘found that migrant women, LGBTQ+ people, Travellers and people with a disability can struggle to avail of Ireland’s free contraceptive scheme’ in the Irish Times on 22 April 2026: More than 30% of women face barriers accessing free contraception scheme, report finds. (Subscriber content)
- The research report is available on the National Women’s Council website: An Investigation into Women’s Experiences of the Free Contraception Scheme - Research Report.