Catch up with Faculty staff in the media this week, speaking on their research and helping our understanding of current issues. Listings are in staff alphabetical order. Any School groupings appear at the end of the listings.
Professor Thomas Chadefaux, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, is featured in an article about his project’s recent success in being awarded a Proof of Concept grant from the ERC for research that looks into using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and analyse conflicts. Siliconrepublic.com 14 July 2025: Trinity, University of Galway researchers bag latest ERC grants.
For more information please see the News item on the FAHSS website here.
Professor Richard Duckworth, School of Creative Arts, was a guest on RTÉ radio’s Lyric FM where he joined Colm Tóibín and Luke Clancy for an encounter with US composer, Easley Blackwood's electro masterpiece ‘Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media’. RTÉ Lyric FM 09 July 2025 - Culture File Presents: The Comfort Zone.
Professor John Fitzgerald, Adjunct Professor, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, discusses the possible tariff agreement between the EU and US on the RTÉ The Business podcast 19 July 2025: Tariff Tension: What if Trade Talks Tank?
Professor Patrick Geoghegan, School of Histories and Humanities, appears on Newstalk radio to discuss Daniel O’Connell’s legacy and if it is more complicated than some realise. This interview is in advance of the 250th anniversary of O’Connell’s birth in August 2025 and the upcoming major two-day conference in Trinity College entitled ‘Liberty, Democracy and the Struggle for Human Rights’. Newstalk Radio106-108FM 17 July 2025: Daniel O’Connell’s legacy, 250 years on.
For more information on the conference please see the Trinity Long Room Hub website and the FAHSS Events page.
Dr Millie Horton-Insch, Visiting Research Fellow, School of Histories and Humanities, has written an article that refers to the news this month that the Bayeux tapestry will go on display at the British Museum in 2026 but focuses on why the tapestry has recently been in the news for other reasons. The Conversation 15 July 2025: Why the Nazis stole a fragment of the Bayeux tapestry.
Dr Simone McCaughren, School of Social Work and Social Policy, is quoted in an article on the new study launched into the lived experience of intercountry adoption in Ireland which she is researching in collaboration with colleagues in UCC and commissioned by the Adoption Authority of Ireland. The Irish Post 17 July 2025: New study seeks input from Irish parents who have adopted children from outside of Ireland.
Further details on the study and survey are available on the FAHSS news page here.
Professor Alan Matthews, Fellow Emeritus, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, is featured in an article in which he is pessimistic that significant extra funds for farmers will be found outside the ring-fenced €296bn CAP budget. Irish Farmers Journal website on 22 July 2025: CAP budget increase unlikely - Alan Matthews.
Dr Martha O'Hagan Luff, Trinity Business School, is quoted in an article on how tree planting in Ireland is at its lowest level since 1946 despite grants and premiums and says the Government must subsidise forestry to a level that reflects its value as a public good. The Irish Times 24 July 2025: Why don't farmers earn more money by planting trees? (Subscriber content)
Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, School of Histories and Humanities, is featured in an article which mentions she will be one of the high profile speakers at the prestigious ‘Valentia Lecture’ which will focus on ‘Ireland’s Place in the world of 2040’. Irish Independent 16 July 2025: Prestigious Kerry event will be attended by businessman Denis O’Brien and other expert speakers.
Professor Ian Robertson, Fellow Emeritus, School of Psychology, is mentioned in an article about the forthcoming Irish Presidency elections which were discussed at the recent MacGill Summer School 2025, and at which he states what he believes are the three basic motivations that drive people. TheJournal.ie 19 July 2025: Presidential discussion at MacGill Summer School 2025.
Professor Ian Robertson, Fellow Emeritus, School of Psychology, appears on RTÉ radio and gives advice about habits, what it takes to make new ones, how to break bad ones and what you can do to keep good habits in your daily routine. RTÉ Radio 1 Brendan O’Connor show 19 July 2025: ‘You have to be patient to form a habit’.
Dr Davide Romelli, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, is mentioned in an article which references his work to update a central bank independence index created by others in the 1990s. The updated index suggests on one measurement that the US Federal Reserve is a less institutionally independent body than the European Central Bank and even the People's Bank of China. Reuters website 21 July 2025: Trump's Fed attacks puncture veneer of central bank independence.
Dr Krzysztof Rowiński, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, discusses research in ‘redemptive’ failure narratives in an opinion piece in The Irish Times 21 July 2025: Opinion: You can win at life by being a good loser. (Subscriber content)
Dr Helen Russell, Adjunct Professor, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, is featured in an article on the recent report she co-authored for the ESRI ‘Ireland's Women in Finance Charter, Annual Report 2025’ which states that women hold 36% of board roles in Ireland's finance sector, up from 30% three years ago. Siliconrepublic.com 17 July 2025: Women increasingly participating in senior finance roles, says report.