ESRI pays tribute to Prof John Bradley

It was with sadness that the staff and Council of the ESRI learned of the death of Prof John Bradley on 16 September 2025.

John Bradley joined the Economic and Social Research Institute in 1981, having previously worked at the Central Bank of Ireland. He retired as Research Professor in 2006. During his time at the Institute, John was centrally involved in macroeconomic modelling. This strand of his work led to the development of a number of economic models which were used for policy analysis in the 1990s and 2000s, with later generations of models being used currently. ESRI exercises in medium-term forecasting and the analysis of major policy decisions such as joining the euro would not have been possible without John’s pioneering work.

Following his retirement, John worked as an international consultant in economic development and EU cohesion policy. He specialised mainly in the development barriers facing the post-Communist economies of CEE and acted as a consultant to government ministries in many of these countries, as well as to the European Commission and the European Parliament. He published widely in international literature on modelling and policy analysis, dealing with Structural Funds, the impact of the Single European Market, industrial strategy, and medium-term forecasting.

Martina Lawless, Director of the ESRI, said: “Professor Bradley's work on building formal economic models to rigorously analyse the impact of policy interventions was ground-breaking and built a foundation for much subsequent work within the Institute. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family.”