Cathal Fitzgerald

PhD, Dublin City University; Behavioural Science / Political Science

Thesis title: “Leading to Crisis: Decision-Making in Ireland’s Celtic Tiger."

Available at: http://doras.dcu.ie/21340/

B.A. (Hons.), Trinity College Dublin; Economics and Social Studies; Foundation Scholar

Areas of Interest
Behavioural science, economic policy, decision-making, leadership, behavioural bias, interest groups, ideology, institutions, bounded rationality / irrationality

Prizes
Basil Chubb Prize, Winner. Best PhD thesis produced in an Irish university, in any field of politics. October 2017.

Current Position
Institutional Research Analyst at the National Economic and Social Council

Former Positions
Senior Policy Analyst at the Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation
Senior Policy Analyst at the Department of the Taoiseach
Senior Policy Adviser at Forfás
Economic Policy Analyst at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation
Special Adviser to the Tánaiste
Policy Officer at Oireachtas Éireann
Data and Statistics Strategist at the Department of Transport
Analyst at Intel Ireland

Selected Work

July 2019: “Give credit to the market: The decision not to prohibit 100 per cent loan-to-value mortgages”, Administration, Volume 67: Issue 2, p.25–45.

July 2019: “Policy success/policy failure: A framework for understanding policy choices”, with Eoin O’Malley and Deiric Ó Broin, Administration, Volume 67: Issue 2, p.1–24.

June 2019: “Transport-Orientated Development: The National Context in Ireland”, presentation to NESC Policy Workshop, ‘Transport-Orientated Development: Making it Happen in Ireland’, Dublin, Ireland.

June 2019: “Transport-Orientated Development: Assessing Opportunity for Ireland - Background Case Studies”, with Noel Cahill and Edna Jordan, NESC Research Report No. 14.

June 2019: “Transport-Orientated Development: Assessing Opportunity for Ireland”, NESC Council Report No. 148.

April 2019: “The Framing of Climate Action in Ireland: Strategic Considerations”, NESC Secretariat Paper No. 17.

July 2018: “Policy Success and Failure: Irrationality, Ideology, Institutions, and Interests”, presentation to School of Law and Government Policy Seminar, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.

June 2018: “Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland’s Enterprise Strategy”, Policy Paper, Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, Dublin, Ireland.

June 2018: “The Firm-Level Impact of Brexit On Most Exposed Sectors: Findings and Insights”, Policy Paper, Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, Dublin, Ireland.

April 2018: “Economic Decision-Making and Rational Behaviour”, presentation to Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, Dublin, Ireland.

October 2017: “Behavioural Science Research and Enterprise Policy”, presentation to Geary Institute of Public Policy, UCD, Dublin, Ireland.

June 2017: “Trait, State, or Source? A Methodological Reflection on Leadership Trait Analysis”, (with Femke A.W.J. Van Esch), presentation to the 40th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Edinburgh, Scotland.

November 2016: “Surprisingly Rational? The Case of 100% Mortgages in Ireland in 2005”, presentation to the 9th Annual Economics and Psychology Conference, Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

November 2015: "I Groupthink Therefore We Are: Detecting Behavioural Convergence in Leaders Before the Economic Crisis”, presentation to the 8th Annual Economics and Psychology Conference, ESRI, Dublin, Ireland.

October 2015: “Explanations for the Inflation of Policy Bubbles: Privatisation and Taxation policy in Ireland”, (with Eoin O’Malley), paper for Political Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference 2015, Cork, Ireland.

March 2015: “Explanations for the Inflation of Policy Bubbles: Privatisation and Taxation policy in Ireland”, (with Eoin O’Malley), paper prepared for and presented to European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Joint Sessions, on The Politics of Policy Overreaction, Warsaw, Poland.

November 2014: "I Groupthink, Therefore We Are: Detecting Convergence Bias in Leaders before the Economic Crisis”, paper presented to DCU School of Law and Government, Postgraduate Seminar, Dublin, Ireland.

June 2014: “Detecting Behavioural Biases in National Leadership in the European Economic Crisis”, presentation to conference In Search of European Political Union, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

May 2014: “Behavioural Biases in National Leadership”, presentation to Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) Postgraduate Conference, Dublin, Ireland.