The 14th Annual NERI Labour Market Conference in association with the South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford provided a forum for the presentation of research papers on labour market issues (North and South of Ireland & international).
It was held in the Health Science Building on the main SETU Waterford campus on Tuesday 26 May 2026.
Above photo credit: George Goulding, SETU.
Presentations from researchers, academics, and labour market practitioners were presented at this conference. Find the Programme for the Conference and the Abstract Booklet.
The links to the research papers are below and find the videos here.
Two Irish Times articles written by Emmet Malone regarding presentations at the Labour Market Conference:
Young people chasing jobs in tech and professional services hit hardest by AI - conference hears
and
Union membership comparable with a century ago
Earnings - Session 1A [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-19]
Dr. Tara McIndoe-Calder, ESRI & Trinity College Dublin (joint paper with Dr. Barra Roantree, Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Brian E. Higgins, IIES, Stockholm University, Mr. Kun Wu, UCD & Mr. Ciaran Judge, Department of Social Protection) - Boom, Bust, Rebound: Two Decades of Earnings Inequality, Risk & Mobility in Ireland
Mr. Albian Krasniqi, TU Dublin (joint paper with Dr. Rory O'Farrell, TU Dublin) - Unveiling the Penalty-Pay in the Hospitality Sector: Evidence from Western Europe
Dr. Frank Walsh, School of Economics, UCD (joint paper with Prof. Dr. Eric Stroble, Universitat Bern) - Estimating the impact of the minimum wage on hours worked using changes in Employment contributions
Climate - Session 1B [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-18]
Mr. Paul Goldrick-Kelly, NERI - Political economy & emissions in Ireland, Austria & Sweden
Dr. Alex Richardson & Vanessa Conroy, National Women’s Council - Towards Ecofeminist Reproductive Economies
Dr. Micheál Collins, UCD - Ireland's Carbon Tax & Poverty: hidden recycling
Resilience - Session 1C[Location: Health Science Building, Room G-17]
Dr. Paul Hanly, UCC (joint paper with Dr. Marta Ortega-Ortega, University of Madrid) - Labour Market Tightness & the Friction Period in Ireland & Europe: Estimating Illness-Related Productivity Costs after COVID-19 and video from the session.
Mr. Joseph Kilroy, The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) - Building Adaptably: Addressing Speculative Vacancy & Urban Resilience in Ireland and video from the session.
Mr. Michael Taft, SIPTU - Ireland's Domestic Economy in Comparison: Are we Closing the Gap with Our Peer and video from the session.
Inequality & Work - Session 2A [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-17]
Mr. Alfie Bingham, Queen’s University Belfast (Joint paper with Dr. Heather Dickey & Dr. Corina Miller, Queen’s University Belfast) - Parents, Partners, Pressures: Gender Norms & Female Labour Supply in the UK
Dr. Ebru Isikli, UCD - Occupational Gender Composition & Gender Backlash Attitudes: Cross-National Evidence from ESS Round 11
Ms. Gabriela Lobianco, UCC - Flexible Work, Migration & Gendered Career Inequalities in Multinational Corporations in Ireland
Ms. Sandra Donohoe, SETU Waterford - Equality, Diversity, Inclusion Strategy: What Works?
The Welfare State - Session 2B [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-18]
Dr. Ray Griffin, SETU Waterford - When Rules Meet Reality: Appeals as Sites of Discretionary Repair in Ireland's Means-Testing System
Dr. Claire Keane, ESRI (joint paper with Dr. Brendan Walsh & Ms. Simona Sándorová) - Medical Card coverage & the impact of income limit freezes
Mr. Niall O’Donnellan, Centre for Cross Border Co-operation (joint paper with Mr. Aidan Campbell, Centre for Cross Border Co-operation) - Place-based Economic Inactivity in the broad NW border regions of Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland
Dr. Elish Kelly, ESRI (joint paper with Mr. Bertrand Maitre, ESRI) - The Labour Market Impact of Covid-19 on Individuals with Disabilities: The Case of Ireland
Artificial Intelligence & the Digital Transformation - Session 2C [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-19]
Ms. Emma Holden, SETU Waterford - Legibility, Classification and Access in Digital-First Welfare
Mr. Kevin P. O’Kelly, TransFormWork 2 Project Co-ordinator - Social partners together towards a better & effective regulation of Artificial Intelligence for a just transition to the work of the future - TransFormWork 2
Dr. Aisling Tuite, SETU Waterford - Digital Welfare & the Limits of Human Oversight: Rethinking Power & Expertise in PES
Mr. Damian Hrynczuk, Department of Finance - The emerging impact of AI on employment patterns in Ireland
Plenary Session - Title: Future Forty Report (2025-2065)
Presenters: Mr. Kevin Daly & Mr. Rob Barnes, Department of Finance
Respondent: Dr. Tom McDonnell, NERI
Video of the Plenary Session on Future Forty Report (2025-2065)
Collective Bargaining - Session 3A [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-17]
Mr. Ger Gibbons, ICTU - Ireland’s action plan to promote collective bargaining and video from the session.
Dr. Daryl D’Art BL, Dublin City University - Ireland & the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages; Looking a gift horse in the mouth?
Professor John Geary, UCD (joint paper with Dr Maria Belizón, Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid) - Workers' Orientations to Union Voice in Ireland: Findings from the Working in Ireland Survey, 2025
Dr. Tom Turner, University of Limerick (joint paper with Dr. Daryl D'Art BL, Dublin City University) - Hard times for trade unions in Ireland in the 21st century? Attracting a growing immigrant work force in an era of union decline & exclusion and the video of the session.
Unemployment - Session 3B [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-18]
Dr. Jerry Dixon, South East Technological University (SETU), Department of Lifelong Learning, Carlow - A regression analysis of the personality traits that mediate job seeking and reemployment
Dr. Tom Boland, UCC - Activating the Economically Inactive: Get Britain Working as extended governmentality
Dr. Neil Rowland, Queen’s University Belfast (joint paper with Professor Duncan McVicar, Queen’s University Belfast & Dr. Ian Shuttleworth, Queen’s University Belfast) - Catholic-Protestant Unemployment Differentials in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland 1991-2011: A Comparative Study
Dr. Antoinette Jordan, SETU Carlow - "The Unemployment Problem" - External influences in Irish Labour Market Policy, 1926-2026
Workers Rights’ - Session 4A [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-17]
Dr. Michelle O’Sullivan, University of Limerick (joint paper with Dr. Caroline Murphy, Dr. Tish Gibbons & Dr. Sarah MacCurtain, University of Limerick) - "Silent assassins" & "slick HR". A Study of Anti-union Tactics in Ireland and video from the session.
Dr. Alan Eustace, Trinity College Dublin (joint paper with Paul D. Maier BL, Law Library) - Just & Equitable in all the circumstances? Remedies at the Workplace Relations Commission & Labour Court and video from the session
Precarious Work - Session 4B [Location: Health Science Building, Room G-18]
Mr. Eoin Coates, Maynooth University & Trade Union Official - Beyond Karshan: Tackling bogus self-employed through comprehensive legal testing
Dr. Majka Ryan, University of Limerick (Joint paper with Dr. Caroline Murphy, University of Limerick) - Individualised risk in platform-mediated home care & domestic work: Insights from migrant workers in Ireland