DCU School of Law and Government upbeat about recent book releases by staff, post-doctoral fellow, student

DCU School of Law and Government has congratulated Dr. Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Dr. Eamonn McConnon and Liridona Veliu over their book launches and reiterated its support in their upcoming endeavours. Prof. Iain McMenamin, Head of the School of Law and Government, expressed his delight and said: "Rumours of the death of the academic monograph have been exaggerated. These three very different, but equally brilliant, books typify the scholarly ambition of the School of Law and Government at all levels.

Dr. Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Associate Professor at DCU School of Law and Government, will launch his book entitled “From Partition to Brexit - The Irish Government and Northern Ireland” at Royal Irish Academy in Dublin on 13 November. From Partition to Brexit is the first book to chart the political and ideological evolution of Irish government policy towards Northern Ireland from the partition of the country in 1921 to the present day. Based on extensive original research, Dr. Ó Beacháin’s groundbreaking and timely study challenges the idea that Irish governments have pursued a consistent set of objectives and policies towards Northern Ireland to reveal a dynamic story of changing priorities. The book demonstrates how in its relations with the British Government, Dublin has been transformed from spurned supplicant to vital partner in determining Northern Ireland's future, a partnership jeopardised by Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

Dr. Eamonn McConnon, IICRR Postdoctoral Fellow, has published a book entitled "Risk and the security-development nexus: The policies of the US, the UK and Canada". Printed by Palgrave Macmillan as part of the Rethinking Development series, this book explores the security-development nexus through a study of the merging of security and development in the policies of the US, the UK and Canada. Dr McConnon argues that instead of framing this relationship as a ‘securitisation’ of development, it is best understood as a form of security risk management where development aid is expected to address possible security risks before they emerge.

Liridona Veliu, School of Law and Government PhD student, announced her new book entitled "#Balkanization: A Critical Study of Otherness through Twitter" is now available from Springer Nature publishers. In her book, Liridona Veliu examines ‘balkanization’ as a long-standing discourse of identity construction, otherness and stereotyping through Twitter. She challenges its current manifestations shaped by the era of social media and identifies and connects its meanings with deeper processes of historical events. The author said this book denaturalizes ‘balkanization’ as a constructed source of knowledge, approaching the topic embedded in genealogy and deconstructivism, and applies critical discourse analysis as a method of research.