Professor Deiric Ó Broin, Dublin City University

Deiric Ó Broin is a Professor of Public Policy Practice in the School of Law and Government in Dublin City University (DCU) where he lectures in Irish politics and public policy. His research is mainly on Irish politics and public policy, particularly in the area of local and urban governance. He also works in the areas of public participation and deliberation, civil society involvement in public policy formulation, with a focus on the social economy. Since 2019, Professor Ó Broin has also held the position of Head of Civic Engagement at DCU. Previously, he taught at TU Dublin, Maynooth University and UCD.

“I first joined the iED in 1999 – I was a much younger man then!”, recalled Professor Ó Broin. “At that time, I had just come on board heading up an economic development unit within the university I was working for here in Ireland, as we needed to be much more involved in local development and local enterprise support. A colleague recommended the iED to me, and I just found it a really useful source of information.

“Over the years, I’ve kept my membership and stayed involved, including through an All-Ireland branch for a period and running a Master’s in Local Development and Innovation that was accredited by the iED. I have also worked with the iED on a series of conferences looking at urban economic development during regeneration. Amongst many things, membership has supported my teaching and research, as well as my work with economic development networks such as the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor Network, and I still value it to this day.”

Professor Ó Broin went on to detail some of his more recent experiences with the iED, which he describes as “a really useful professional body”, and how the How Universities Can Help Drive Local and Regional Economies report is a great example of the type of insight the iED is able to provide to members like myself”.

He said: “I get a lot from my membership, and at a headline level I find it useful just to keep a track on what is happening in England, Scotland and Wales, because actually it’s very difficult to do that otherwise. I do a lot of work in public policy spaces, working with local authorities, and if we are doing something on town centre management, for example, we can tap into the initiatives and honest experiences of others through the iED network and that is always really useful. I am a very easily satisfied member, and the intelligence I get keeps me on board. My membership has also allowed me to watch how programmes, CPD, and increasingly micro credentials have evolved over the last 20 years.”

Case study developed: August 2025