John O’Brennan
How does the EU work? How are decisions made in the European integration system?
An expert on the European Union, the EU institutions and the European Integration process, I navigate students and civil society groups through the seemingly byzantine institutional architecture of the EU with the aim of achieving a real and substantive understanding of how the EU actually works.
- ongoing research into EU enlargement, and in particular EU relations with the Western Balkans region and the prospects of further accessions to the EU.
-extensive research on Brexit and its impact on Ireland, incl membership of the Irish government's Brexit Stakeholder Group (2017-present).
- 20 years experience of university lecturing on European themes, in Ireland and Europe, including guest lectures at many leading universities and think tanks;
- extensive project management of EU processes and interaction with EU actors in Brussels, including Framework 7 Research programme and evaluations of Horizon 2020 projects;
- widely published in the international media, incl. newspapers such as Die Welt, El Pais, Europe's World, the Guardian, the Scotsman, the Irish Times, the International Herald Tribune, Japan Times, Open Democracy, the Australian and many others;
-significant broadcasting expertise including BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service; France 24; CCTV China; RTE, Pat Kenny, RTE, The Business with George Lee; TV 3, Tonight with Vincent Browne, Sky News, Newstalk, the Dunphy Show, and The Right Hook as well as European media: Bulgarian, German, Hungarian, Bosnian, Serbian, Polish, Slovene, Maltese and Macedonian radio and tv among others;
-Wide consultation of and interaction with public and private actors and international organizations in Ireland, Brussels, EU-wide, the Balkans, Turkey and Eastern Europe.
Specialties: EU integration and the EU institutions in Brussels; the Crisis of EU Enlargement and its wider impact; media presentation of issues related to the EU, Ireland's relationship with the EU and communication of the issues, referendums on Europe and the role of the Oireachtas in EU affairs, and more broadly, international politics, international relations, diplomacy and foreign policy issues.