Kevin Rafter
Prof
Kevin Rafter is Full Professor of Political Communication at DCU and a specialist in the politics and media of contemporary Ireland. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Boston College in 2024.
His books include Dillon Rediscovered (2025), Taoisigh and the Arts (2022), Resilient Reporting: Media & Elections in Ireland since 1969 (2019; co-authored) and The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony & Politics (2014; co-editor; new edition 2026). He has also written several political biographies and histories of Sinn Féin, Fine Gael, Clann na Poblachta and Democratic Left.
Since joining DCU in 2010, he has been Head of the School of Communications, Faculty Associate Dean for Research and Chair of the MA Political Communication programme. He is also the Irish contact for the international Worlds of Journalism project and oversees DCU’s annual journalism scholarship programme at the Washington Bureau of Arizona State University. He is a member of the editorial boards of Administration and Journalism Practice, and has edited special editions of both journals as well as The Irish Review.
He has chaired the two national bodies responsible for the arts in Ireland, the Arts Council and Culture Ireland, and has served as a board member of commercial and not- for-profit organisations including Chair of Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (now Media Commission). His contribution to Irish public life has also included chairing an independent expert taskforce on civil service reform as well as facilitating government formation negotiations as an independent rapporteur/facilitator.
Previously, he was Head of the Department of Film and Media at the National Film School, IADT and prior to 2008 worked as a leading political journalist. He reported on the Irish general elections in 1997, 2002 and 2007 as well as the peace process in Northern Ireland. Best known as a presenter of the This Week radio programme for RTÉ News & Current Affairs, he held senior editorial positions with the Irish Times (political reporter), the Sunday Times (political correspondent), Sunday Tribune (political editor/assistant editor) and Magill magazine (editor). As well as politics in Ireland, his journalism included elections in the United Kingdom and Germany and foreign news events in Malawi, Tanzania, the Beslan School massacre and the death of Pope John Paul II. His media work was acknowledged with a European Journalism Award and at the Celtic Media Festival.
Kevin has qualifications in economics [BA(Mod; MLitt], politics [MA; PhD] and in corporate law and governance from the Law Society of Ireland. He is a qualified Chartered Director at the Institute of Directors.
Book
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | (2025) Dillon Rediscovered. Dublin: Martello Books. [Link] | |
| 2023 | Rafter, K (2023) Taoisigh and the Arts. Dublin: Martello. | |
| 2019 | Michael Breen, Michael Courtney, Eoin O’Malley, Iain McMenamin and Kevin Rafter (2019) Resilient Reporting: Media Coverage of Elections in Ireland since 1969. Manchester: Manchester University Press. | |
| 2017 | Kevin Rafter (ed.) (2017) Entrepreneurial Journalism. London: Routledge. [Link] | |
| 2016 | Kevin Rafter; Charlie Bird (2016) A Day in May. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2015 | Kevin Rafter and Mark O'Brien (eds.) (2015) The State In Transition. : New Island. | |
| 2014 | John Coakley and Kevin Rafter (eds.) (2014) The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2012 | Mark O'Brien and Kevin Rafter (eds.) (2012) Independent Newspapers: A History. Dublin: Four Courts Press. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) Democratic Left: The Life and Death of an Irish Political Party. Dublin:: Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (ed.) (2011) Irish Journalism Before Independence: More a Disease than a Profession. Manchester: Manchester University Press. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) The Road to Power: How Fine Gael Made History. Dublin: New Island. | |
| 2009 | Kevin Rafter (2009) Fine Gael: Party at the Crossroads. : New Island. | |
| 2006 | Charlie Bird and Kevin Rafter (2006) This is Charlie Bird. : Gill & Macmillan. | |
| 2005 | Kevin Rafter (2005) Sinn Fein 1905-2005: In the shadow of gunmen. : Gill & Macmillan. | |
| 2002 | Kevin Rafter (2002) Martin Mansergh: A Biography. : New Island. | |
| 1996 | Kevin Rafter (1996) The Clann: A History of Clann na Poblachta. : Mercier Press. | |
| 1993 | Kevin Rafter (1993) Neil Blaney: Soldier of Destiny. : Blackwater Press. |
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Rafter, K. (2024) '‘I Cannot Give the Name of the Source to the Court’: The Imprisonment of an Irish Political Journalist'. Media History, 30 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Rafter, K. (2022) 'Taoisigh and addressing the nation'. Administration, 70 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2020 | Courtney, M.; Breen, M.; McGing, C.; McMenamin, I.; O'Malley, E.; Rafter, K. (2020) 'Underrepresenting Reality? Media Coverage of Women in Politics and Sport'. Social Science Quarterly, 101 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Rafter, K. (2017) ''Insufficient critique' - The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry and the media'. Administration, 65 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Rafter, K. (2017) 'Fianna Fáil and the professionalisation of political communication in Ireland'. Irish Political Studies, 32 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Dekavalla, Marina; Rafter, Kevin (2016) 'The construction of a 'historical moment': Queen Elizabeth's 2011 visit to Ireland in British and Irish newspapers'. Journalism, 17 (2). [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Rafter, K. (2016) 'The Labour Party leadership election, 2014'. Irish Political Studies, 31 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Kevin Rafter (2016) 'Entrepreneurial Journalism Special Issue: (Guest Editor)'. JOURNALISM PRACTICE, 10 (2):140-142. [Link] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2015.1126014 | |
| 2016 | Rafter, K. (2016) 'Introduction: Understanding where entrepreneurial journalism fits in'. JOURNALISM PRACTICE, 10 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2015 | Rafter, Kevin (2015) 'Regulating the Airwaves: How Political Balance is Achieved in Practice in Election News Coverage'. Irish Political Studies, 30 (4). [DOI] | |
| 2015 | Rafter, K.; Hayes, C. (2015) 'Explaining what happens when ‘celebrity journalists’ run for elected office'. Celebrity Studies, 6 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2015 | O'Brien, M.; Rafter, K. (2015) 'Commerce and the Church: The factors that shaped New Journalism in the Irish Independent'. Media History, 21 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Rafter, K. (2014) 'Voices in the crisis: The role of media elites in interpreting Ireland’s banking collapse'. European Journal of Communication, 29 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Mellado, C.; Rafter, K. (2014) 'Understanding the influence of journalists and politicians on content: A cross-longitudinal analysis of Chilean political news coverage'. International Communication Gazette, 76 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | O'Malley, E.; Brandenburg, H.; Flynn, R.; McMenamin, I.; Rafter, K. (2014) 'The impact of the economic crisis on media framing: Evidence from three elections in Ireland'. European Political Science Review, 6 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Rafter, K.; Flynn, R.; McMenamin, I.; O’Malley, E. (2014) 'Does commercial orientation matter for policy-game framing? A content analysis of television and radio news programmes on public and private stations'. European Journal of Communication, 29 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2013 | McMenamin, I.; Flynn, R.; O'Malley, E.; Rafter, K. (2013) 'Commercialism and Election Framing: A Content Analysis of Twelve Newspapers in the 2011 Irish General Election'. International Journal of Press/Politics, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Rafter, K.; Knowlton, S. (2013) 'VERY SHOCKING NEWS: Journalism and reporting on a politician's illness'. Journalism Studies, 14 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2012 | Coakley, John; Rafter, Kevin (2012) 'The President of Ireland: A Constitutional and Political Figurehead?'. Irish Political Studies, 27 (4). [DOI] | |
| 2011 | Rafter, K. (2011) 'Hear no evil-see no evil: Political advertising in Ireland'. Journal of Public Affairs, 11 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2009 | Kevin Rafter (2009) 'Run out of the Gallery: The changing nature of Irish political journalism '. Irish Communications Review, 11 :93-103. | |
| 2008 | Kevin Rafter (2008) 'George Mitchell and the role of the peace talks chairman'. Spring :13-21. | |
| 2003 | Kevin Rafter (2003) 'Leadership Changes in Fine Gael & the Labour Party'. IRISH POLITICAL STUDIES (PRINT), 18 :108-119. | |
| 2003 | Kevin Rafter (2003) 'Priests and Peace: The role of Redemptorist Order in the Northern Ireland Peace Process '. Etudes Irlandaises, Spring/Autumn 28 :159-176. | |
| 2000 | Kevin Rafter (2000) 'Making it up as they went along - residential property tax and policy change '. IRISH POLITICAL STUDIES (PRINT), 15 :63-82. | |
| 1997 | Kevin Rafter (1997) 'Allocating the Structural Funds'. 45 :48-66. | |
| 2016 | Rafter, Kevin (2016) ''Knock-on Consequences': Irish Media Coverage of the Scottish Referendum'. SCOTLAND'S REFERENDUM AND THE MEDIA: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES, . |
Published Report
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Kevin Rafter; Dawn Wheatley (2023) Irish Journalists at Work: Values, Roles & Influences. DCU, . [Link] https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/inline-files/full_irish-journalists-at-work-11122023-1.pdf | |
| 2016 | Kevin Rafter and Stephen Dunne (2016) The Irish Journalist Today. DCU, . [Link] | |
| 2014 | Expert Panel (Chaired by Kevin Rafter) (2014) Report of the Expert Panel on Strengthening Accountability and Performance in the Civil Service. Irish Government, . | |
| 2009 | Rafter, Kevin (2009) Political Advertising: The Regulatory Position and the Public View. Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, . |
Other Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kevin Rafter (2024) 'John Bruton: An Appreciation' Studies Irish Review, 113 (Summer) . [Link] | |
| 2022 | Rafter, Kevin; Canavan, Elizabeth; Mac Conghail, Fiach; McDowell, Derek (2022) 'Assessing government communication – A roundtable' Administration, 70 (3) . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Kevin Rafter (2022) 'The complexity of the challenge: Communicating government' Administration, 70 (3) . [Link] https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2022-0024 | |
| 2016 | Kevin Rafter (2016) 'The Political Communication of the Decade of Commemoration' Winter (105) . [Link] | |
| 2015 | Rafter K (2015) '‘Held to Account: Reflections on Civil Service Reform’' Administration, 63 (1) . | |
| 2011 | Farrell, S., Meehan, C., Murphy, G. and Rafter, K. (2011) 'Assessing the Irish General Election of 2011: A Roundtable' 15 :36-53. | |
| 2006 | Rafter, Kevin (2006) '‘This Morning Refused Breakfast...'' Brandon Books . | |
| 2004 | Rafter, Kevin (2004) 'Purity and Peace' :132-135. | |
| 2003 | Rafter, Kevin (2003) 'The Irish government and the peace process, 1992-94: An observer's perspective' Working papers in British-Irish studies; 30 . |
Book Chapter
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wheatley, D.; Rafter, K. (2023) 'The media and politics' In: Politics in the Republic of Ireland. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Ritchie, N.; Wring, D.; Rafter, K.; Vaccari, C. (2022) 'A Gulf Across the Irish Sea? The European Election Campaigns in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland' In: The 2019 European Electoral Campaign: in the Time of Populism and Social Media. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Kevin Rafter (2021) 'Dr. Dillon in North America' In: Politics, Culture, and the Irish American Press: 1784-1963. Syracuse : Syracuse University Press. | |
| 2019 | Folker Hanusch, Edson C. Tandoc, Jr., Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou, Nurhaya Muchtar, Kevin Rafter, Mireya Márquez Ramírez, Verica Rupar, and Vittoria Sacco (2019) 'Transformations: Journalists’ Reflections on Changes in News Work' In: Worlds of Journalism Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe. Columbua : Columbia University Press. [Link] | |
| 2019 | Beate Josephi, Folker Hanusch, Martin Oller Alonso, Ivor Shapiro, Kenneth Andresen, Arnold de Beer, Abit Hoxha, Sonia Virgínia Moreira, Kevin Rafter, Terje Skjerdal, Sergio Splendore, and Edson C. Tandoc, Jr. (2019) 'Profiles of Journalists: Demographic and Employment Patterns' In: Worlds of Journalism Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe. Columbia : Columbia University Press. [Link] | |
| 2019 | Kevin Rafter (2019) 'Entrepreneurial Journalism' In: The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies. London : Wiley. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2018 | Eoin O'Malley, Kevin Rafter (2018) 'Men’s political autobiography in independent Ireland' In: A History of Irish Autobiography. New York : Cambridge University Press. | |
| 2017 | E. Novelli, K. Rafter et. al (2017) 'The economic crisis and austerity' In: Political Advertising in the 2014 European Parliament Elections. London : Palgrave Macmillan. | |
| 2017 | Kevin Rafter (2017) 'Fianna Fáil and the evolution of political communication' In: Patriotism, Pragmatism and Power: Fianna Fáil’s dominance of Irish politics 1926-2016. London : Routledge. | |
| 2017 | Rafter, K. (2017) 'Background to the 2014 elections' In: Political Advertising in the 2014 European Parliament Elections. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Rafter, K. (2017) 'The media and politics' In: Politics in the Republic of Ireland, Sixth edition. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Kevin Rafter (2017) 'Understanding where entrepreneurial journalism fits in' In: Entrepreneurial Journalism. London : Routledge. [Link] | |
| 2016 | Mark O'Brien & Kevin Rafter (2016) 'Commerce and the Church: The Factors that Shaped New Journalism in the Irish Independent' In: Redefining Journalism in the Era of the Mass Press, 1880-1920. London : Routledge. | |
| 2016 | Rafter K, Novelli E & C Holtz-Bacha (2016) 'More European but more negative - Political advertising in the 2014 European Parliament elections' In: Europawahlkampf 2014. Berlin : Springer. | |
| 2015 | Kevin Rafter (2015) '‘Never Justify. Never Explain.’ Some Thoughts on Irish Political Memoirs' In: The State in Transition. Dublin : New Island. | |
| 2015 | K. Rafter (2015) 'The Irish edition - from 'filthy scandal sheet' to 'old friend' of the Prime Minister' In: Laurel Brake, Chandrika Kaul, Mark W. Turner(Eds.). 'Journalism for the Rich, Journalism for the Poor': The News of the World and the British Press, 1843-2011. London : Palgrave. | |
| 2014 | Kevin Rafter [and John Coakley] (2014) 'The President of Ireland: Past, Present and Future' In: John Coakley and Kevin Rafter(Eds.). The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics. London : Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2014 | Kevin Rafter (2014) 'The Politics of a 'Non-Political' Office, 1973-1990' In: John Coakley and Kevin Rafter(Eds.). The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics. London : Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2014 | Kevin Rafter [and John Coakley] (2014) 'New Perspectives on the President of Ireland' In: John Coakley and Kevin Rafter(Eds.). The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics. London : Irish Academic Press. | |
| 2014 | K. Rafter (2014) '‘The passion of particularity’: Magill magazine, 1977-1990' In: Periodicals and journalism in twentieth century Ireland. Dublin : Four Courts Press. | |
| 2014 | K. Rafter (2014) '‘There now follows...' The role of the party political broadcast and the 2007 'peace broadcast'' In: Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland. Liverpool : Liverpool University Press. | |
| 2014 | K Rafter (2014) '‘A great deal of it cannot be printed' - W. T. Stead and E. J. Dillon' In: Michael de Nie and Karen Steele(Eds.). Ireland and the New Journalism. London : Palgrave Macmillan. | |
| 2014 | E. O'Malley, R. Flynn, I. McMenamin and K. Rafter (2014) 'Mediating elections in Ireland: evidence from the 2011 general election' In: Political Communication in the Republic of Ireland. Liverpool : Liverpool University Press. | |
| 2013 | Rafter, K. (2013) 'Political journalism' In: Specialist Journalism. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Kevin Rafter (2013) 'Public Interest and Individual Taste in Disclosing an Irish Minister's Illness' In: Julian Petley(Eds.). Media and Public Shaming: Drawing the Boundaries of Disclosure. London : I.B. Tauris & Reuters Institute, University of Oxford. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) 'To the left of Labour: the Workers' Party and Democratic Left, 1982-97' In: Liam Weeks and Alistair Clark(Eds.). Radical or Redundant: Minor Parties in Irish Politics. Dublin : History Press. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) 'Profits, politics and personal position: the role of the proprietor' In: Mark O'Brien and Kevin Rafter(Eds.). Independent Newspapers: A History. Dublin : Four Courts Press. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) 'A tale of ‘womanly intuition' - Hector Legge at the Sunday Independent, 1940-70' In: Mark O'Brien and Kevin Rafter(Eds.). Independent Newspapers: A History. Dublin : Four Courts Press. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) ''An appointment to view' - the role of RTE's Independent Production Unit in documentary making ' In: Diog O’Connell and Carol McKeogh (Eds.). Documentary in a Changing State: Ireland since the 1990s. Cork : Cork University Press. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) 'Labour and the media: the promise of socialism, negative campaigning and The Irish Times' In: Rouse, P., Daly, P. and R. O'Brien(Eds.). Making the Difference? The Irish Labour Party, 1912-2012. Cork : Collins Press. | |
| 2012 | Kevin Rafter (2012) 'When the ‘wild west' came to the local newspaper market' In: John Mair, Neil Fowler and Ian Reeves(Eds.). What We Mean by Local. Suffolk : Arima. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) 'Introduction' In: Irish journalism before independence: More a disease than a profession. Manchester : Manchester University Press. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) 'Televised Leader Debates in Ireland: Wider Lessons from the 2011 General Election' In: De Blasio, E., Hibberd, M. and Sorice, M(Eds.). Leadership and new trends in political communication. Rome : Centre for Media and Communications Studies. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) 'The Power to Censor: The Catholic Church, the Media and Child Sexual Abuse' In: Carole Holohan(Eds.). In Plain Sight: Responding to the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne Reports. Dublin : Amnesty International. | |
| 2011 | Kevin Rafter (2011) ''Get there and stay for two or three weeks, or until the money runs out': the Irish media's engagement with foreign news reporting ' In: Agnieszka Stepinska (ed.)(Eds.). News in Europe, Europe on News. Berlin : Logos Verlag. | |
| 2010 | Kevin Rafter (2010) 'Reporting the Oireachtas: Irish Political and Parliamentary Journalism since 1922' In: Maurice Manning and Muiris MacCarthaigh (Eds.). The Houses of the Oireachtas: Parliament in Ireland. Dublin : Institute of Public Administration. |
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.
Research Interests
Irish politics; political communication; journalism studies