Department of Politics and Public Administration UL

02/07/2026

New paper from Jonathan Arlow

Since 2011, People Before Profit/Solidarity has been the most electorally successful Trotskyist movement in the Global North. This is surprising as Irish voters...

26/05/2026

Maura Adshead launched her new book, Doing Community Research, at The Wheel last week.

Created in partnership with The Wheel, the book is a practical and accessible guide bridges the gap between universities and communities, offering a clear path toward meaningful, collaborative research.
· Whether you are new to community-oriented research or looking to deepen your practice, this book offers a step-by-step roadmap—from planning and implementation to navigating the real-world challenges that often arise along the way.
· It highlights the perspectives, needs and expectations of both academic and community partners, helping each to better understand the other and avoid the small misunderstandings that can derail collaboration.
· Packed with practical insights, real-world guidance and a curated collection of open-access resources and activities, this book equips readers with the tools they need to succeed.
· With a focus on the Irish context, it underscores the growing importance of evidence-based approaches in the community and voluntary sector and the powerful impact that genuine collaboration can achieve.
· Designed for both academic researchers and community practitioners, it cuts through jargon to provide straightforward advice on how to build strong, effective partnerships.
· Engaging, informative and refreshingly clear, this is an essential resource for anyone committed to working together to create research that truly makes a difference.

The book is available at https://www.borupress.ie/bookshop/doing-community-research

05/01/2026

18/12/2025

University of Limerick Alumni - Rebecca Zamponi Shares Her Journey
https://www.ul.ie/news/university-of-limerick-alumni-spotlight-rebecca-zamponi

08/04/2025

Department of Politics and Public Administration
Spring 2025 Seminar Series

Joseph Lacey (UCD)

“Moral Agency in Election Campaigns: Preliminary Findings from Fieldwork”

Wednesday, April 9, 15:00
Online on MS Teams (link below)


Abstract
Elections are at the heart of modern democracies. But do election campaigns help or harm democratic norms and political trust? This talk will try to address this question when informed by the perspective of three key actors that animate election campaigns: candidates, campaign professionals and journalists. Each of these actors have essential roles in campaigns and the decisions they make from within these roles are consequential for our democracy, if not individually then at least in the aggregate. By trying to understand how these actors conceive of the responsibilities they do (or do not) have in this context – and what they expect of each other – this talk will present new evidence for how campaign actors seek to cope with normativity in the contemporary election environment. The focus of this talk will be on US federal campaigns to the House and Senate and based on a (very) preliminary analysis of interview-based fieldwork conducted in 2025.

19/02/2025

Today - seminar

Owen Worth (UL) “‘Mobilisation without Representation?’ The Far Right iIreland"

15:00, Lonsdale Building, Room LG011


Abstract
The anti-immigration protests that have emerged in the last few years in Ireland has seen several right-wing movements emerge that were previously missing within civil society at a time when far-right mobilisation across Europe has been widespread. Despite this, Ireland is often considered an anomaly in the fact that a radical right political party has never made any political break through electorally. This paper outlines the main reasons for this and suggests that what is emerging in Ireland is a unique case where we see a mobilisation of right-wing campaigns across civil society, but a lack of representation at the political level.

02/02/2025

Andrew Shorten’s new paper on Alienation, equality, and multifaith establishmentA merican Journal of Political Science - Wiley Online Library

14/01/2025

Rory Costello presents new evidence on the growing gender gap in political attitudes in Ireland

Dr. Rory Costello is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics & Public Administration at the University of Limerick. He is Director of WhichCandidate.ie and is a member of the …

28/11/2024

What might happen in Limerick …

Lecturer predicts who’ll get it ‘just right’

26/11/2024

Still time to use Rory's app and see what candidates have views closest to your own

“This research … shows that voters are very willing to change their minds if they find that their preferred candidate is not a good policy match. This also highlights the increasing importance that policy plays in vote choice today, particularly among younger voters who no longer have any strong party allegiances.”

New University of Limerick research has found that many voters who used WhichCandidate – a voting aid application founded by Dr Rory Costello, a lecturer in UL’s Department of Politics and Public Administration – switched their initial voting preference in favour of a different candidate.

READ: https://www.ul.ie/news/whichcandidate-new-ul-research-shows-voters-switched-preferences-after-using-election-website