National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
AI Governance in the Public Sector
No full textIn the public sector, AI is increasingly being adopted and implemented by organisations across different domains including education, healthcare, social services, policymaking, etc., to modernise and improve public service access and delivery and create greater public trust between government and citizens. Amidst its promise of delivering more efficient and equitable public services, the governance of AI - understanding and mitigating its risks and maximising its potential benefits - continues to generate and attract mainstream debate and attention in academia and amongst policymakers, leading to the development of different governance approaches including regulations like the EU AI Act and soft law governance which advocates and emphasises the application of various ethics principles, guidelines, etc., as a means of effectively governing the technology. However, there is limited empirical research on AI Governance (AIG), particularly on how these high-level ethical principles are operationalised in practice.
My research investigates AIG practices in the public sector to fill this gap. The study applies a qualitative research methodology. Drawing primarily on empirical data collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews from Irish public sector bodies, the study adopts the Institutional Logics (IL) perspective to fulfil three main objectives: (1) explore the contextual factors shaping the adoption, implementation and governance of AI in the Irish public sector; (2) investigate how ethical principles are interpreted and translated into governance practices at the organisational level by agencies adopting and deploying AI; and (3) identify the societal-level and field-level logics underpinning the context and governance practices (in 1 and 2 above). The institutional logics perspective offers researchers a robust analytical and theoretical framework for empirical analysis (Cai and Mountford, 2022)
What Can You Do When the Digital Key Won’t Turn? Visit a Library.
Full text linkRecent outages of Amazon Web Services and Cloudflare are a stark illustration of our digital vulnerabilities. They are also an opportunity for libraries to remind users of their resilience
Towards More Nuanced Narratives in Bioeconomy Strategies and Policy Documents to Support Knowledge-Driven Sustainability Transitions
Full text linkThe bioeconomy has been discussed as a key strategy for addressing sustainability challenges, particularly regarding the transition from fossil-based to bio-based systems, in numerous national and supranational strategies and policy documents related to the bioeconomy. However, public understanding of and engagement with the bioeconomy remains limited. This is partly due to the bias of many bioeconomy strategies and policy documents towards technological solutions that tend to overlook the social, normative, and transformative dimensions of systemic change as well as the necessary knowledge. This opinion paper explores the potential of narratives as a means of communicating bioeconomy research in public policy, with the aim of addressing the communication gap between science, policy, and society. When applied in responsible and nuanced ways that acknowledge their embeddedness and context, bioeconomy (policy) narratives can support sensemaking for science communication, improve public understanding, facilitate stakeholder engagement and behavioural change. We argue that such narrative approaches can help to create narrative ‘boundary objects’ that can support more inclusive and participatory processes, enabling the co-creation of transformative knowledge for bioeconomy transitions with stakeholders as active participants. In summary, we highlight several opportunities, as well as limitations and implications, that could inform future work on bioeconomy narratives
Actors and Roles in EU Disability Law
Full text linkThis open access book looks at the development and consolidation of EU disability
law as a distinct field of enquiry. It provides novel approaches to studying EU
disability law. In a departure from other books on the topic, it takes a contextual
approach, both engaging with current debates and policies and providing rigorous
legal analysis. In addition to looking at the ‘how’ of the field’s development,
it addresses the ‘who’ by charting the key stakeholders in the field. This is an
insightful and innovative take on an increasingly significant field of EU law
The Safeguarding of Braille as Intangible Cultural Heritage: At Their Fingertips
Full text linkThe adoption of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage (2003 Convention) contributed to the broadening of the concept of cultural heritage
beyond material and immovable manifestations. Following the recognition of Braille, a tactile
reading and writing system, as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) under the 2003 Convention
by Germany and France, this article discusses the boundaries of our current understanding of
ICH. In that connection it also reflects as to whether the 2003 Convention can proffer a degree
of legal protection for the cultural heritage and cultural identities of persons with disabilities
more generally. In doing so, it links the 2003 Convention to the implementation of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and specifically to the realisation
of the right to participate in cultural life. The analysis suggests that the 2003 Convention can
indeed be viewed as one instrument through which States Parties can gradually realise the right
to participate in cultural life of persons with disabilities in line with their obligations under the
CRPD. Moreover, the recognition of Braille as ICH element under the 2003 Convention
contributes to deepening our understanding of cultural diversity and may be a pathway to
recognising new “other groups”, including persons with disabilities, as creators and bearers of
cultural heritage
The Disability Dimension of the New European Bauhaus: The ‘Soft’ Route to Embedding Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in the European Green Deal
Full text linkAdopted in 2021 under the banner of the European Green Deal (EDG), the New European
Bauhaus (NEB) is an initiative aimed at implementing the green transition within the built
environment. In particular, the NEB provides a framework for collaboration and funding for
projects that are ‘sustainable, beautiful and inclusive’. While somewhat overlooked within the
ongoing legal debate on the EDG because of its soft and multifaceted nature, the NEB has been
a significant facet of EU sustainability policies. This paper contends that the NEB has also
proven important in the promotion of disability rights and presents some of the interim findings
of a strand of research conducted within the project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons
with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring
New Paths - DANCING’, funded by the European Research Council (ERC). This paper
particularly posits that the NEB has fostered access to the built environment and implemented
the wide-ranging accessibility obligations stemming from the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Additionally, the NEB presents a highly participatory nature,
which maximizes inclusion of persons with disabilities in design and building processes. In that
connection, it embeds the participatory principle that underpins the CRPD. Further, this paper
highlights the inherent link between accessibility and sustainability in EU policies
The Rise in Corporate Insolvencies - A Return to Normal or Something Deeper?
Full text linkThis article considers the recent rise in corporate insolvencies. It shows that there have been increases across most insolvency processes in 2024 compared with previous years particularly in the area of liquidation which saw an increase of 133 on 2023 figures. Although receiverships were down slightly in 2024 compared with 2023, we are seeing an uptick in the number of receiverships in 2025 with most of these being commenced by non-bank lenders. This suggests that the forbearance shown by creditors in recent years on account of the pandemic is dissipating. While recourse to corporate rescue processes such as examinership and the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP) was low in 2024 with just 10 and 30 examinerships and SCARPs recorded respectively, data for the first six months of 2025 reveals increases in the numbers accessing both of these processes which is positive news considering the economic and societal benefits of corporate rescue.
The context behind these figures is also considered in this article. The cessation of the Revenue Commissioner's debt warehousing scheme in 2024, the reinstatement of the 13.5% rate of VAT for the hospitality sector up from 9% at the end of 2023, and other pressures on business are offered as possible reasons for the rising number of corporate insolvencies. It is also suggested that in light of the wider economic environment, companies may have been unable to access examinership and SCARP having regard to how the 'reasonable prospect of survival' test is assessed. Companies must meet this test as well as other criteria in order to access examinership and SCARP. In determining whether the company has a 'reasonable prospect of survival', the court, in the case of examinership, or process adviser, in the case of SCARP, will consider, inter alia, the wider economic context and the conditions of the market in which the company operates. Therefore, having regard to the well-publicised issues affecting the retail and hospitality sectors in particular (the sectors from which most of the insolvencies in 2024 came), it is possible that determinations were made by companies in those sectors that they would fail to meet the 'reasonable prospect of survival' test and thus opted for liquidation as opposed to rescue.
The article concludes that while the insolvency figures for 2024 are notable when compared with preceding years, 2024 represents a return a normal after years of artificially low insolvency figures owing to the pandemic. A further positive conclusion is drawn about the resilience of the Irish economy and of many Irish businesses on account of the lower-than-expected insolvency figures in 2024 and so far in 2025. For instance, in the context of 2025, it was predicted that corporate insolvency rates would surpass 1,000 but based on data for Qs 1-3 of 2025, corporate insolvencies look set to mirror if not improve upon 2024 figures despite international geopolitical headwinds. There are reasons to be hopeful therefore as we approach the end of 2025 and enter 2026
Theory and implementation of a reconfigurable DNA molecular robot.
No full textMolecular robots are nanoscale devices that take input from the environment
(senses) and process the information (computes) to inform an
actuation. Despite a multitude of interesting molecular robots made of
DNA, implementing dynamic state information is a major challenge.
This thesis aims to leverage computational model-driven design principles
for reconfigurable molecular robotics. We study two theoretical
models consisting of monomer units that are globally connected and
encode simple state information: Turning Machines utilise integer state
information to control local rotations of robotic units to fold into target
shapes. Despite the intended simplicity of the model, the state
information and characteristic motion proved conceptually challenging to
implement experimentally. We then propose the Tethered Tile Bot model,
which consists of a chain of ‘tethered’ square tiles that encode target
bonds as ‘glues’ on tile edges and use two rule types for reconfiguration:
‘bond break’ and ‘bond form’ rules.
We implement Tethered Tile Bots using double-layered DNA origami
tiles that are tethered to each other by a long single-strand of 360 DNA
bases. Reconfiguration is realised as a two-step process. First, bonds
between tiles are broken via toehold-mediated strand displacement. Then,
bonds for the target configuration are formed via hybridisation. The
tethers between tiles ensure the tiles do not fully dissociate into the liquid
environment, allowing the original material to be reconfigured. Tethered
Tile Bot configurations correspond to paths in the plane Z2, represented
by a series of forward, left and right moves.
Lastly, we implement a form of memory that encodes the target
shape during the anneal, via custom designed sequences (memory domains).
When precisely the same ‘information’ (DNA strands) is added
to samples with different target shapes encoded, we observe different behaviours
(target configurations) during the reconfiguration process. This
serves as a step towards using computation to drive robotic molecular
reconfiguration
Exploring the Role of Epithelial HIF1-α in Terminal Differentiation and Eosinophilic Esophagitis Pathogenesis.
No full textThe allergic disorder Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a debilitating chronic
disease of the esophagus whereby substantial epithelial remodelling occurs in response
to ongoing inflammation. Patients with EoE have a markedly decreased quality of life,
with paediatric patients presenting with failure to thrive, and adult patients experiencing
food impactions and difficulty swallowing. Despite the presence of several EoE
treatments, a subset of patients remain treatment non-responsive, and no therapies
currently target the epithelial defects observed in this disease.
The esophageal epithelium (EE) provides a physical protective barrier to the
underlying mucosa, and is maintained by epithelial cells that exhibit a
proliferation/differentiation continuum. Proliferative cells of the basal layer renew the
epithelium and begin the process of early differentiation in the overlying suprabasal layer,
and terminally differentiate within the superficial layer. Within the esophageal
epithelium, an equilibrium exists between proliferative cells of the basal layer renewing
the epithelium, and terminally differentiated cells of the superficial layer sloughing off. In
EoE, however, this continuum is skewed towards proliferative mechanisms, with an
expansion of the basal layer observed (basal zone hyperplasia (BZH)), and a
corresponding decrease in the amount of terminally differentiated, barrier forming cells.
We thus sought to further understand the molecular mechanisms governing terminal
esophageal epithelial differentiation in both homeostasis and disease.
Prior research has shown the transcription factor Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1-
alpha (HIF1α) to be decreased in EoE patients, with its genetic knock-down in an
esophageal epithelial cell line (HIF1α-KD) leading to epithelial barrier dysfunction and
differentiation deficits.
The overall goal of this research was to thus further understand the underlying
HIF1α-mediated mechanisms involved in the maintenance of the superficial epithelium
of the EE that are dysregulated in EoE.
We first sought to characterise markers of terminal esophageal epithelial
differentiation, starting with involucrin (IVL), an established marker of differentiation
within the skin. Immunofluorescent staining of IVL in human esophageal biopsies
revealed IVL to be present in both suprabasal and superficial layers, whilst being absent
from any basal cells. Using in vitro cultures, IVL was not found to be restrictive to late
differentiating cells. We thus utilised a multi-factorial approach to identify other potential
markers of terminal differentiation. Small proline rich protein 2A (SPRR2A) was found to
be a high-fidelity marker of terminal differentiation both in vivo and in vitro.
To further examine HIF1α-mediated terminal differentiation processes,
fluorescent cell lines were generated whereby expression of a blue fluorescent protein
(BFP) was under the control of either the IVL or SPRR2A promoter. These studies found
IVL to be a suitable marker of HIF1α knock down (HIF1α-KD) differentiation defects,
while SPRR2A was found to be unsuitable.
To further understand how HIF1α-KD mediates decreased differentiation in EoE,
we endeavoured to find downstream HIF1α targets important for the differentiation
response. Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) was found to be decreased in EoE and HIF1α-KD cells and
localise to terminally differentiated superficial cells. Pharmacological inhibition of DKK-1
lead to decreased IVL expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and promoter
analysis confirmed DKK-1 to be a novel HIF1α target gene, with recombinant DKK-1
treatment of three-dimensional (3D) HIF1α-KD cultures restoring faulty barrier and
differentiation.
As DKK-1 is an inhibitor of the pro-proliferative canonical Wingless-related
integration site/Beta-Catenin (Wnt/β-Catenin) signalling pathway, we sought to examine
a relationship between increased β-Catenin activity and differentiation defects.
Treatment of cells with a β-Catenin agonist lead to decreased differentiation. Increased β-
Catenin activation was observed in HIF1α-KD cells, a phenotype that was corrected with
recombinant DKK-1 treatment. Furthermore, β-Catenin was found to be significantly
decreased upon cellular differentiation.
Combined, these findings show DKK-1 to be a novel HIF1α target gene, whose
function in the superficial epithelium is to inhibit active β-Catenin signalling so as to allow
terminal differentiation processes to occur. These studies indicate a novel signalling axis
for therapeutic target in the treatment of EoE
A Hermeneutics of Evil: A Synthesized Approach to the Philosophies of Paul Ricœur and René Girard
Full text linkWhat is evil? If it is ultimately a mystery of human existence, then how do we describe
things as ‘evil?’ Paul Ricœur and René Girard reveal, via their differing methodological
approaches, a historical progression of the understanding of evil, which begins in foundational
myths of primitive religion and continues through the major texts of Western Civilization.1 This
progression of understanding, through the interpretation of symbols, which serve as the traces
of unconscious violence behind these texts, necessarily includes a response to what will be shown
as humanity’s ‘fallen’ or evil existential situation. What common understanding on the question
of evil could be achieved when these interpretations and methodologies are placed in dialogue?
From where does this common understanding arise? Could the dialogue between Ricœur and
Girard be further developed and adapted into a synthesized hermeneutic method for interpreting
humanity’s situation of evil