Published in ‘Studies’, Spring 2004

Governance and Policy in Ireland: Essays in honour of Miriam Hederman O’Brien, edited by Donal de Buitleir and Frances Ruane, Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, 2003, pp.177.

This book, containing eleven essays, celebrates Dr. Miriam Hederman O’Brien’s long and distinguished career in public service.  Over the years, she chaired an array of bodies including the Commission on Taxation, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, the Forum on Youth Homelessness and the Commission on Health Funding.  She also served on public and private boards such as the Irish Centre for European Law, NESC and banking group AIB.  She was Chancellor of the University of Limerick and has been an active promoter of cultural matters in the country. 

The book is divided into two parts and the writers were chosen for their expertise in areas in which Dr. Hederman O’Brien has an interest or made a contribution over the past five decades.  Essays in the first part revolve around the theme of governance and cover topics such as Europe, social partnership, the civil service, freedom of information, the media and judicial review.  The writers are Pat Cox, Peter Cassells, Paul Haran, Dermot Keogh, Peter Feeney and Sir Brian Kerr.  The second part is devoted to public policy areas in which Miriam Hederman O’Brien has made a particular contribution, namely health services, higher education, arts and culture, taxation and homelessness.  The authors in this part are Ruth Barrington, Thomas Mitchell, Patricia Quinn, John Kay and Peter McVerry. 

The book’s strength is that individuals with widely different perspectives analyse topical public policy issues.  An attractive feature is that the essays while forward-looking also take past and present developments into account.  For instance, former ICTU General-Secretary, Peter Cassells, points out that the environment in which social partnership now operates has changed dramatically so the agenda needs to adapt and expand.  Paul Haran, Secretary-General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, suggests that while the forces of change are reducing the scope of public administration, they are paradoxically increasing the relative importance of the public service in improving national welfare.  Peter Feeney of RTE argues that the huge readership share held by non-Irish newspapers limits political communication while Ruth Barrington of the Health Research Board examines serious shortcomings in the governance of the health services and suggests various means of improvement.

The breadth of topics covered in the book illustrates Miriam Hederman O’Brien’s involvement in many fields.  The editors maintain that they deliberately set out not to assess the quality of her contribution or perspectives on issues.  This may be the book’s shortcoming.  It might have added more to its primary objective of contributing to contemporary discourse and future policy if the honoree, or some other individual, had responded briefly to each essay.  This way, further analysis could have been developed or ideas challenged, thereby enriching the debate and clarifying issues for the reader. 

The views offered, for instance, by Professor Thomas Mitchell, former Provost of Trinity College Dublin and now Academic Chairman of private online third-level education provider, Hibernia College, is a case in point.  Dr. Mitchell believes that in their teaching role Irish universities should change to meet the challenge of private sector providers.  Yet, he appears to see no need for innovative responses in the arena of basic research.  He asserts that the State achieves the best result by locating research in stand-alone university centers.  It could be argued that Ireland, because of its small size, should not attempt to build up a capability in basic research within a single university except in a few niche specialisms.  To stimulate research in other areas, State support might be conditional on universities developing mechanisms to avoid duplication, and to encourage richer inter-institutional links and new forms of partnership between industry and third level institutions.

A book that contains essays with titles as diverse as ‘Citizenship and the Irish Freedom of Information Revolution’, ‘Homelessness and Exclusion’ and ‘Whither the Arts Council?’ would benefit if all its strands were brought together.  A concluding section written by Dr. Hederman O’Brien might perhaps have given the reader a sense of what motivates her to become involved in diverse projects.  A common thread appears to be the relationships between money, values and quality of life.  Patricia Quinn, for instance, sees the Arts Council as having a value-adding role in society while Peter McVerry focuses on the fundamental value society itself should place on the individual.  The hardest part of being homeless, he says, is living every moment with the knowledge that you are not considered valuable: “To be considered of so little value is to have your dignity undermined or taken away”. 

At a time when tribunals reveal many episodes of public and private corruption in Irish life, it is refreshing that this book with its emphasis on values is published to honor a prominent individual.  This is a testimony to Dr. Hederman O’Brien’s tireless contribution to the common good.   

Finbarr Bradley