Lecturer

Room 6
Rhetoric House
Tel: +353 1 708 6014
E-mail: adrian.p.kavanagh@nuim.ie

Office Hours

Biography

A native of Co. Laois, Kavanagh graduated from St. Patrick's College, Maynooth in 1992 with a first class honours degree in Geography and Maths. In the 1994-95 academic year, he returned to geographical studies in Maynooth and was amongst the second set of students to take the Masters in Geographical Analysis programme in Maynooth, specialising in the Health and Environment options (with a minor thesis focusing on the health effects of motor vehicle pollution) and graduating in 1995 with a first class honours degree. After yet another hiatus, Kavanagh returned to Maynooth in 1999 to commence PhD researches, with funding from the Government of Ireland (now Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences) scholarship scheme, studying the geography of voter turnout in the Republic of Ireland and the hypothesised linkage between lower turnout and social deprivation and completing this thesis in 2002. Further developing on this research area, as a NIRSA/NCG research associate in association with Prof. Richard Sinnott and the Geary Institute in UCD, Kavanagh has calculated electoral division level turnout figures for all of the Republic of Ireland (amounting to the creating of data set with around 3,100 entries) for the 2002 General Election and the 2004 local and European elections, and is in the process of replicating this analysis for the general election of 2007. In conjunction with Stewart Fotheringham and Martin Charlton in the NCG, further analyses of these data sets promise to realise the full potential that these offer for geographical and political science researches.  Kavanagh has been a member of the committee of the Geographical Society of Ireland since 2001, commencing a Membership Secretary and now undertaking the role of the editor of GeoNews, the society's biannual newsletter. Kavanagh was appointed as a full-time contract lecturer in the Department of Geography in January 2003, and over the subsequent five and a half years has taught modules in the areas of political conflict, electoral geography, environmental politics, and the history and philosophy of human geography. He has also undertaken a range of administrative and other roles within the Department over this time period, including responsibility for the Department's undergraduate lecturing timetable, year manager for BA Local and Community students taking Geography modules as part of their programme and the role of Departmental liaison with the student Geography Society, while also taking the role of year manager for 3rd Year students during the 2005/6 academic year. During summer 2008, Kavanagh was appointed as a lecturer (on a permanent basis) in the Department.

Research Interests

Political Geography (including):

• Electoral geography of Ireland: geography of voter turnout, electoral boundaries, localism and political support
• Environmental politics
• Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia

Publications

• Kavanagh, Adrian (2007) “Commentary on: ‘Transformation with a small ‘t’: candidates for the Dáil, 1948-82’”, in McGrath, Conor and O’Malley, Eoin (eds.) Irish Political Studies Reader: Key Contributions. London and New York, Routledge, pp.267-273.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2007) “Elections and Voting”, in Bartley, Brendan and Kitchin, Rob (eds.) Understanding Contemporary Ireland. London/Dublin/Ann Arbor MI, Pluto Press, pp.185-196.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2007) “Turnout, Political Support and Representation in Ireland”, in Hayward, Katy and MacCárthaigh, Muiris (eds.) Recycling the State: The Politics of Adaptation in contemporary Ireland. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, pp.154-179.
• Walsh, James, Foley, Ronan, Kavanagh, Adrian, and McElwain, Aisling. (2007) Origins, Destinations & Catchments: Mapping Travel to Work in Ireland in 2002. Journal of the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland, Volume XXXV, 1-58.
• Walsh, Cormac, Kavanagh, Adrian, and Walsh, James A. (2007) “Education, Socio-Economic Status & Social Classes”, in Walsh, James A. (ed.) People and Place: A Census Atlas of the Republic of Ireland. NUI Maynooth, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis, pp.190-240.
• Walsh, Cormac, Walsh, James A. and Kavanagh, Adrian (2007) “Synthesis: Rural and Urban Typologies”, in Walsh, James A. (ed.) People and Place: A Census Atlas of the Republic of Ireland. NUI Maynooth, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis, pp.298-326.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2006) ‘Turnout or turned off?  Electoral participation in Dublin in the early 21st Century’ In Journal of Irish Urban Studies, 3(2), pp 1-24.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2005) “The Meath and Kildare North by-elections”, Irish Political Studies, 20 (2), 201-211.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2004) ‘The 2004 Local Elections in the Republic of Ireland’, Irish Political Studies 19 (2), 64-84.
• Kavanagh, Adrian, Mills, Gerald and Sinnott, Richard (2004) ‘The geography of Irish voter turnout: A case study of the 2002 General Election’, Irish Geography 37 (2), 177-186.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2003) ‘The Constituency Commission’, Irish Political Studies 18 (2), 89-99.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (2002) Unequal Participation – Unequal Influence: Voter Participation and Voter Education in Dublin's South West Inner City.  Dublin, South West Inner City Network.
• Kavanagh, Adrian (1998) ‘Postmodernity, Globalisation and Nationalist Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia’, Geopolitics 3 (3), 34-52.

Conference Papers and Public Presentations

• ‘It stands to reason to vote local’: Measuring and explaining geographic voting’ (Joint presentation with Eoin O’Malley, Liam Weeks and Jos Elkink), Political Studies Association of Ireland Conference, NUI Galway (17-19 October 2008).
• ‘A geographical perspective on the 2008 USA Presidential Election’, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis research seminar (7 February 2008).
• ‘Geography and Irish elections: A case study of the 2007 election’, Political Studies Association of Ireland Conference, Dublin City University (Isaac’s Hotel) (19-21 October 2007).
• ‘The 2007 General Election in the Republic of Ireland: A Geographical Study’, Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Conference, University of Bristol and University of West England (UWE) (7-9 September 2007)
• ‘Boom Bang A Bang, Diggi Loo Diggi Ley and La La La: Geography, Politics and the Eurovision Song Contest’, Conference of Irish Geographers, St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, 11th-13th May 2007
• ‘A Geographically Weighted Regression Analysis of General Election Turnout in the Republic of Ireland’, Political Studies Association (UK) Annual Conference, University of Bath, 11th–13th April 2007
• ‘The why’s and the where’s of electoral participation in Irish general elections: A geographical study of voter turnout in the 2002 General Election using marked registers’, “On Message: Communicating the Campaign” One Day Conference, Department of Government, UCC, 29th March 2007
• ‘How To Win General Election 2007: A Geographer’s Guide’’, Place, Environment and Politics in the Republic of Ireland Conference, Hume Building, NUI Maynooth, 23rd March 2007
• ‘A Geographically Weighted Regression Analysis of General Election Turnout in the Republic of Ireland’, Political Studies Association of Ireland Conference, University College Cork (20-22 October 2006).
• ‘The Political Impacts of Census 2006’, Political Studies Association of Ireland Conference, University College Cork (20-22 October 2006).

Conferences Organised

• “The Future of the Irish Midlands: Threats and Opportunities” one-day conference in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise, joint-hosted by the Geographical Society of Ireland/National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (4 April2008)

• “Place, Politics and Environment in the Republic of Ireland” one-day conference, joint-hosted by the Geographical Society of Ireland/National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (26 March 2007)

Media Appearances

• The Right Hook (NewsTalk Radio): Studio analyst for discussion of Lisbon Treaty Referendum results (June 13th 2008).
• Saturday Edition (NewsTalk Radio): Discussion relating to upcoming Lisbon treaty Referendum (June 7th 2008).
• The Right Hook (NewsTalk Radio): Discussion relating to publication of Constituency Commission report (October 23rd 2007).
• The Week in Politics (RTE 1): Discussion relating to upcoming Constituency Commission report (October 21st 2007).
• The Right Hook (NewsTalk Radio): Discussion relating to upcoming Constituency Commission report (August 16th 2007).
• Newstalk Radio: Part of the station’s panel of analysts to discuss results of General Election 2007 (May 25th–26th 2007).
• The Right Hook (NewsTalk Radio): Discussion relating to voter turnout in Ireland (May 24th 2007).
• Moncrief (NewsTalk Radio): Discussing low turnout levels for younger people (May 22nd  
  2007).
• Campaign Daily (RTE 1): On show discussing low voter turnout in Ireland (May 17th  
  2007).
• 9.00 News (RTE 1): Input to piece on voter turnout in Ireland (May 10th 2007)
• Morning Ireland (RTE Radio 1): Discussing Constituency Commission report (January 6th 2004).
• Various media outlets: Discussion relating to publication of Unequal Participation, Unequal Influence report (March 27th 2002).

Professional Memberships and Public Service

• Appointed as member of the Dublin and Cities Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, in January 2008. Served on Committee during first half of 2008, up until the presentation of recommendations of the Committee to the Minister in June 2008.
• National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis: Research Associate
• National Centre for Geocomputation: Research Associate
• Geographical Society of Ireland: Membership Secretary, April 2001 to April 2006, and Editor of GeoNews (Society Newsletter) Winter 2004 to present date.
• Political Studies Association of Ireland: Member
• Specialist Group on Elections, Public Opinion and Parties in Britain: Member
• Part of Organisation Committee for the 2004 Conference of Irish Geographers, NUI Maynooth