THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.

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Social Sciences Committee

 The multi-disciplinary committee was established in September 2014 for its four-year term with members from across academia, professional organisations and agencies on the island of Ireland.  The second iteration of the committee was established in September 2018.

Latest News and Events

Rural Conversations

Rural Conversations was a series of three stakeholder roundtable events and was produced in collaboration with the Department of Rural and Community Development.  The series provided discussion forums for rural development stakeholders and took place in three cluster regions: the west, the north-east and the south-east.  The three separate themes discussed at the individual cluster venues were economic development, social cohesion and sustainable rural communities.

Each conversation stimulated suggestions from a wide range of rural stakeholders at regional and national level, which will inform the development of rural and community development policy. 

Each conversation was audio recorded and a rapporteur’s report was produced for each event.

Podcasts and reports for each conversation are available to download

Debating Austerity

The Social Science Committee held a conference on 29th and 30th October 2015, entitled Debating Austerity. The conference was opened with a keynote lecture by Simon Wren-Lewis with a discussion chaired by Patrick Honohan MRIA, then Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland. Listen to the keynote lecture and view the conference speakers’ presentations.

Resources

The Need for the Social Sciences in Ireland

This Expert Statement concisely outlines why social science matters to social development and an understanding of the world in which we live.

Download now