Kein Foto

Tiernan, Jonathan

Sean Mcgraw is a Comparative Political Scientist specialising in Irish politics. He earned his BA and MDiv from the University of Notre Dame, MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and PhD in Comparative Politics from Harvard University. He currently teaches Political Science at Boston College and is active as a mentor and philanthropic leader in the educational and mental health sectors. He has published How Parties Win: Shaping the Irish Political Arena (University of Michigan Press, 2015) and co-edited with Eoin O'Malley One Party Dominance: Fianna Fáil and Irish Politics 1926-2016 (Routledge, 2017). His articles have been published in the European Journal of Political Research, Parliamentary Affairs, Government and Opposition, Irish Political Studies, Research in Comparative and International Education, and Eire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies.


Jonathan Tiernan is the Education Delegate for the Irish Jesuits and their network of 5 secondary schools and 3 primary schools. He is a former primary school teacher having earned his BA from St. Patrick’s College/ Dublin City University and his MEd from the University of Notre Dame. His writing has appeared in The Irish Times, TheJournal.ie, Irish Catholic, Educatio Catholica Journal, and Research in Comparative and International Education.

The Politics of Irish Primary Education</a>

The Politics of Irish Primary Education

This book provides a comprehensive study of educational policy reform as growing calls for further reducing the role of the Catholic Church in Irish primary schools gains traction in a rapidly evolving Irish society. Drawing upon lessons from the same-sex marriage and abortion reform campaigns, this study provides several policy case studies that demonstrate how the interplay of civil society activists and organisations, the media, public opinion, and political parties and elites determines how policy reforms live or die.