IPA Research Team Biographies

Dr Muiris MacCarthaigh is employed in the Research Division of the IPA, where he is currently manager of a study investigating the autonomy and accountability of Irish public sector bodies. He also lectures in Government and Politics for the IPA's BA in Public Management, and on various aspects of the Irish public service for the Certificate in Civil Service and State Agency Studies. He has also lectured in social policy for the School of Applied Social Science in UCD.

Muiris holds an honours degree in History from Trinity College and an MA and PhD in Politics from University College Dublin. His doctoral research considered the development of parliamentary accountability in Ireland and was published in 2005 as a book titled "Accountability in Irish Parliamentary Politics."

His most recent publications include "Recycling the State: The politics of adaptation in Ireland" (edited with Katy Hayward) and the "Corporate Governance of Regional and Local Public Service Bodies in Ireland".

Prior to joining the Research Division in 2006, Muiris worked in the Institute's Training Division where he organised seminars, wrote papers and lectured on topics of current interest to the public service at local and national level. He was also involved in several consultancy projects with local authorities and parliamentary committees. He established and was course Director of the NUI- accredited Certificate in Civil Service and State Agency Studies.

His fields of interest include:

• Modes of Governance in the Public Sphere
• Public Sector Reform
• Institutional Design and Policy-Making
• Comparative Legislative Studies
• Social Policy in Ireland