Note: The next seven essays are not a view from nowhere. I’ve spent decades working with governance systems as a sustainability consultant, a strategic adviser, a sectoral representative and now as a researcher. I am a long-term participant in the processes I’m now trying to understand. That position is part of the argument: because what
The term impossible object (or hyperobject) is sometimes used to describe something that exceeds our logic, our available grammar or our institutional reach. Climate change, radioactive waste, microplastics and artificial intelligence feel like impossible objects. It doesn’t matter what we say or try to do about them; they have an essence that exceeds our grasp.
It feels like the ground I am standing on is shifting. I noticed it while having lunch today. On the radio, a report on the Irish government bringing domestic oil distributors to account for price gouging, a sharp practice response to the US/Israel attacks on Iran. I think politics works well in this type of
[Context: Reflections on today’s news story of government acknowledgement that Ireland’s 2030 climate targets will not be met and emerging research on governance transformation.] The stance is one of disciplined doubt. Being curious about what we know, don’t know and what we don’t know that we don’t know. There is a space outside the frame,
Last week, I facilitated a climate leadership event with a public agency. We’d spent the day working through the challenges of translating policy into action, navigating the gap between ambition and implementation. At the close of the session, one participant offered a reflection that has stayed with me. He said he felt “vexed“! He said
I attended the Simplify to Succeed: Navigating the Evolving Regulatory Landscape event presented by Matheson and Trinity College Dublin School of Law on the 11th September, 2025. The keynote was by the EU European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, followed by three themed discussions on the regulatory