Kieran Kennedy

Kieran Kennedy was Director of the ESRI from 1971 to 1996. His original background was in the civil service, which he entered in 1954 as an executive officer working in the Department of Finance. He completed his undergraduate degree on the basis of evening study and subsequently won a travelling studentship, leading to post-graduate degrees in Oxford, where he studied under Professor Sir John Hicks, and in Harvard where his supervisor was Professor Simon Kuznets. On his return to Ireland he was seconded to the Central Bank of Ireland before joining the ESRI. His main area of research interest was the economic growth and development of the Irish economy on which he published a range of books and articles which are listed on the ESRI web-site. Employment, unemployment and industrial development also feature prominently in his work. He also participated in a number of commissions and advisory bodies including acting as an independent expert to help formulate the economic plan 'The Way Forward' in 1982. Kieran Kennedy died on 6 February 2013.Full obituary