The University College Dublin Economics Society is a

university society A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership ty ...

, at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD) in Ireland, which "promotes engagement with economics". The society, in its current form, was founded in 2014.

History

The society was first established in 1911 as the Legal & Economic Society. The politician and professor, J.G. Swift MacNeill, gave the inaugural address. Other founding members included Thomas Kettle and Arthur Cox. In the 1930s, the Legal and Economic society split into the UCD Law Society. The Economic Society was founded again in 1968, but later disbanded. The society was re-established in early 2014.

Events

The society hosts a number of events, including an annual ball. In 2013 and 2014, the society hosted the "Thinking Big" conference. This two-day conference started in 2013. The 2014 event sought to deal with "subjects affecting the world today" and included discussions on drug policy in Ireland, third world health care, and the corporate tax rate in Ireland. Speakers at the 2014 event included

Lucinda Creighton Lucinda Creighton (born 20 January 1980) is an Irish businesswoman and former politician, who served as Minister of State for European Affairs from 2011 to 2013. She was leader of Renua from its March 2015 foundation until May 2016, and served ...

and

Vince Cunningham Vincent John Gerald Cunningham (born 14 March 1967, in Dublin) is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He played as a centre. He had 16 caps for Ireland, from 1988 to 1994, scoring three tries and one conversion, 14 points in aggre ...

. Guests who have spoken at society events have included politicians such as Eamon Ryan and

Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence since January 2025, having previously served as Taoiseach from 2024 to 2025. He has ...

, as well as economists like

Dambisa Moyo Dambisa Felicia Moyo, Baroness Moyo (born 2 February 1969)Moyo showed a copy of an official document with her date and place of birth as part of a lecture she gave at TEDGlobal 2013, Edinburgh, Scotland. is a Zambian-born economist and author ...

and

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs ( ; born November 5, 1954) is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University, where he was formerly director of The Earth Institute. He worked on the topics of sustainable develop ...

. Other speakers to have addressed the society have included governor of the Irish Central Bank Patrick Honohan, and economists David McWilliams and

Morgan Kelly Morgan Kelly (born 23 June 1976) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles on ''Being Erica'' and '' Killjoys''. Career Kelly is known for his role on '' Fries with That?'' as Alexander "Alex" Kurzi. He also appears on '' Falcon Beach'' as ...

Award

The society issues an award, the Thomas Kettle Award, to individuals who have made an "outstanding contribution to the field of economics and public policy". The award is named in honor of Thomas Kettle (1880–1916) who was the first Professor of National Economics at UCD and one of the founders of the Legal and Economics Society. Previous recipients of the award include economist

Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, political activist, and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2 ...

, academic

, journalist David McWilliams, activist

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...

, businessman

Peter Sutherland Peter Denis Sutherland (25 April 1946 – 7 January 2018) was an Irish businessman, barrister and Fine Gael politician who served as UN Special Representative for International Migration from 2006 to 2017. He was known for serving in various in ...

and politician TK Whitaker.

References

{{University College Dublin University College Dublin Student organisations in the Republic of Ireland 1911 establishments in Ireland