Fifty years ago the remit of the Economic Research Institute, as it was then called, was expanded and the Institute was charged with conducting independent, high-quality research capable of tackling intractable social problems in addition to economic problems. In this way, the ERI became the ESRI and policymakers could access impartial, scientific analysis for social policy formation.
While the political and social landscape of Ireland changed significantly during the ensuing decades, ESRI research remained relevant to social policy challenges and impacted hugely on the knowledge available to government, academia and civil society on a range of critical social issues. This was made possible by the Institute’s sustained engagement with both policymakers and the research community, its dedication to developing its methodologies and its cultivation of a vibrant research environment that drives researchers to find new solutions to ongoing challenges.
The repository of in-depth knowledge and analysis provided by the ESRI has transformed the social policy debate and the policymaking process over time, challenging assumptions, exploring new ideas and, above all, providing solid evidence on which to base policy decisions. On our website, we have taken the opportunity to highlight decisive pieces of research marking milestone developments in social research since 1966. This collection of historic highlights serve as a testament to the expert contributions made to policy formation and to the national debate on social issues.
Social research at the ESRI has always sought to generate new thinking on issues critical to the quality of life of people across Ireland. Today, the Institute’s researchers are engaged in an extensive number of research projects and programmes focusing on issues at the heart of social progress, including education, healthcare and poverty.
Social policy challenges in 21st Century Ireland have become more complex in recent years, mainly because of changing demographic patterns and the impact of the recent economic crisis. ESRI research contributes to understanding the persistence of inequalities on the basis of social background and gender while highlighting the situation of groups often previously neglected in Irish social research including children and adults with disabilities and Travellers.
To address these pressing questions and provide a vital resource for policymakers navigating changing times, ESRI researchers are breaking new ground through a number of important research initiatives. The availability of longitudinal datasets, from the Growing Up in Ireland and TILDA studies, provide a new opportunity to look at the way in which quality of life changes from infancy to old age and has the potential to yield new insights into potential policy levers which could ameliorate the cumulative effects of inequality and disadvantage over the life course.
In the coming years, we look forward to continuing to build a solid foundation of knowledge to positively impact on the lives of people living in Ireland today and those of generations yet to come.
