UCD Politics and International Relations

Happy Friday!
SPIRe Masters Graduate Scholarship 2026 is now open for applications! We are also delighted to announce the new MSc Human Rights Scholarship scheme - further details will follow.

For news and updates, check out: www.ucd.ie/spire/

Thanks for having us Mark!

It was wonderful meeting so many prospective students yesterday! 👋

We’ll be hosting more online events for offer holders & prospective students:
🔹15 April: Graduate Taught Webinar
🔹29 & 30 April: Programme Director Talks + Q&A session.

Further details will follow.

15 years after the Arab Spring: why did people protest then, but not now?

Hot, hopeful emotions spark protest. Cool safety concerns keep people at home.

Hot Contention 👉 bit.ly/hotcontention @academic.oup.com @ucdpolitics.bsky.social

www.almendron.com/tribuna/its-...

UCD Postgraduate Open Day 🎓

🗓️12-5 pm, Tuesday 24 February
🏛️O'Reilly Hall

Register here 👇
www.ucd.ie/graduateadmi...

It’s the perfect chance to chat with staff and current students about our wide range of study options.

#UCD #Postgrad #Politics #InternationalRelations

State of the parties Kevin Cunningham, Lecturer in Politics at TU Dublin and Founder of Ireland Thinks and Stefan Müller, Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD.

📻 @kevcunningham.bsky.social and I talked about the state of the parties, public opinion, and the nature of Irish by-elections with @mcculld.bsky.social on @rteradio1.bsky.social this morning.

➡️ www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

Read the full article:
www.ucd.ie/research/imp...

YouTube video by UCD Research Irish Polling Indicator: turning numbers into insight for society and policymakers

Congratulations to Dr Stefan Müller @stefanmueller.bsky.social on being a runner-up in the Research Impact Awards! 🏆

His work on the Irish Polling Indicator turns numbers into insight for society and policymakers. Maith thú! 👏

youtu.be/rq9C_i1EWZ0?...

Check out this new paper by @ucdpolitics.bsky.social PhD candidate @linettelim.bsky.social on how and why Chinese authorities portray foreign media as a threat, and why it matters.

Congratulations to our colleague, Dr Alexander Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social on receiving the UCD Dean of Graduate Studies Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision! 🏆🎓

www.ucd.ie/graduatestud...

Comhghairdeas leat, a Alex 🙌

Everyday opposition in authoritarian settings shows that people neither fearfully endure nor loyally support the regime.

Now out in Handbook on Opposition Politics, edited by O’Malley, Cavatorta, and Baturo:

doi.org/10.4337/9781...

DM me for a copy of the chapter.

Will Trump expose Europe's hypocrisy? It seems unclear if Europe will put pressure on the rest of the world to ‘take a moral stand’ and cut off their trading ties with the US, asks Krishna Vadlamannati

"Will Trump expose Europe's hypocrisy?

Dr Krishna Vadlamannati explores this critical question in today's Irish Examiner.

Read the full article here:
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Terrific seminar @ucdpolitics.bsky.social with Dr Maksym Skrypnyk (UCD), speaking on the topic of "The Functions of Russian Food Weaponisation in Ukraine.”

UCD-co-led research into AI's influence on democracy awarded seed funding

🗳️🤖 Many congratulations to Associate Professor Stefan Müller of the UCD School of Politics and International Relations on securing a Una Europa seed funding grant for the project Democracy and AI.

👏 @stefanmueller.bsky.social @ucdpolitics.bsky.social @ucdsocscilaw.bsky.social @unaeuropa.bsky.social

Overview of seminar series, details available at: https://www.ucd.ie/connected_politics/events/

Connected_Politics Lab Seminars, Spring Trimester ⤵️

- 28 Jan: @jessicadicocco.bsky.social
– 11 Feb: Akitaka Matsuo
– 25 Feb: @malojan.bsky.social, @luissattelmayer.bsky.social, and Noémie Piolat
– 4 Mar: @vivifabrien.bsky.social
– 1 Apr: @elisaadamico.bsky.social
– 15 Apr: @miriamsorace.bsky.social

Taoiseach's China visit tests Ireland's global position While Micheál Martin was in China for an official visit aimed at improving economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing, it ended up being events on the other side of the world that garnered much of the ...

An Irish journalist reflects on being in the press pool for a state visit to China:

“We were strongly warned not to attempt to interview anyone out in public and that if we did so we risked detention.”

This is the gov Ireland seems so keen to jump into bed with.

(I gave quotes for this story)

Dr Alexander Dukalskis on the Taoiseach’s China Visit

RTÉ News: Taoiseach's China visit tests Ireland's position between world powers

The Indo Daily: Is Xi Jinping vs Donald Trump the battle for the new world order?

www.ucd.ie/spire/newsan...

Taoiseach's China visit tests Ireland's global position While Micheál Martin was in China for an official visit aimed at improving economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing, it ended up being events on the other side of the world that garnered much of the ...

Speaking to RTÉ News, Dr Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social thinks "China likes that Ireland is not in NATO, an organisation that along with Russia it dislikes".

Read the full article 👉Taoiseach's China visit tests Ireland's global position
www.rte.ie/news/analysi...

“Mapping China’s Influence at the United Nations.”

by Shing-hon Lam & Courtney J. Fung in @the-peio.bsky.social (2025)

#WinterReading

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📢 A New Article📄

"The political business cycle of petroleum taxes: An analysis of Indian states" by Assoc Professor Krishna Vadlamannati

Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@ucdpolitics.bsky.social seminar series programme for Spring 2026 is ready!
📅 Wednesdays, 12:00 (Dublin time), in a hybrid format (webinar open to all!)
👉 You can register here: bit.ly/SPIReSeminar
Please join us and feel free to share with anyone who might be interested.

The Indo Daily: Dr Alexander Dukalskis argues that “China sees Ireland as a potentially friendly voice in the European Union... China likes that Ireland is not in NATO and is militarily neutral. China has a deep distrust and dislike for NATO.” Listen now.

Live from the Royal Irish Academy!

Inside the ARINS/Irish Times Survey: Origins, Approach, Insights

Chair: Professor Gail McElroy (TCD)

Panel: Prof Colin Barr (Notre Dame), Prof John Garry (QUB), Prof Brendan O’Leary (UPenn), Dr Dawn Walsh (UCD) and Dr Jamie Pow (QUB), Pat Leahy (Irish Times)

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh!

We are closed from 24 December and reopen on 2 January.

🎄 Applications for January-start postgraduate courses will close in mid-January.
🎄 Applications for two PhD scholarship schemes will close on 30 Jan & 6 Feb.

👉 www.ucd.ie/spire/

Timing matters: analyzing climate policies and adaptive resilience As the world grapples with the escalating impacts of climate change, a vital question that remains for both scholars and policymakers is not just whether climate policies work, but: when do they ma...

Timing matters… ⏱️
New paper in @climate-policy.bsky.social: adaptation laws don’t work the same across time… politics, finance, and global shocks shape whether they succeed or fail.

doi.org/10.1080/1469...

SPIRe colleagues, Melanie Hoewer and Caitriona Dowd, are co-leading this initiative with colleagues at ERC-funded Coercive Injustice project. It aims to strengthen trauma-sensitivity and wellbeing for researchers working on emotionally challenging topics, including conflict, violence and coercion.

Why does it seem like good government is so hard to deliver? A new module for our students tackled these questions by bringing policy makers and shapers into the classroom.

More details about the guests and module: www.ucd.ie/spire/newsan...

@ucddublin.bsky.social @ucdsocscilaw.bsky.social

UCD SPIRe Receive Fáilte Ireland ‘Conference Ambassador Award’

UCD SPIRe Receives Fáilte Ireland ‘Conference Ambassador Award’🏆

Congratulations to the committee members: David Farrell (Chair) @davidfarrell-ucd.bsky.social , Caitriona Dowd, Johan Dornschneider-Elkink, Alexander Dukalskis and the administrator, Joseph Dillon!

Full story👉 shorturl.at/CGbZF

Join us next week!
Jongyoon Baik (CUHK-SZ), Haohan Chen (HKU), and Yiqiang Wang (HKU) will present their work on Vocal Pitch and Emotions in North Korean TV News.
@alexdukalskis.bsky.social (@ucdpolitics.bsky.social) and Yeilim Cheong (Missouri) will discuss.

Just ordered my copy, and copies also for our library