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Professor Pat Dolan

Director of the Child & Family Research Centre

UNESCO Chairholder in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement

Contact Details:

Address: School of Political Science and Sociology

Science & Engineering Technology Building

NUI, Galway
Phone: +353 (0)91 492930
Email: pat.dolan@nuigalway.ie

Professor Pat Dolan, is joint founder and Director of the Child and Family Research Centre and the Higher Diploma/Masters Degree in Family Support Studies. For over 20 years he has had an active interest at worker, service manager, academic and research levels in Family Support and community based interventions in helping adolescents.
He has completed longitudinal research on adolescents their perceived mental health and social support networks. His additional research
interests include Family Support; Reflective Practice and Service
Development; and Youth Mentoring Models.

In October 2008, Professor Pat Dolan was appointed Chairholder for the UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement at NUI, Galway.  The UNESCO Chair, the first to be awarded in the Republic of Ireland, will deliver a programme of work in relation to best practice for civic engagement for children and youth with the core objective of providing relevant expertise in theory, practice and policy and establishing international links and networking in this field of education.  As Chairholder, Professor Pat Dolan will work with two partners, the Community Knowledge Initiative at NUI Galway (CKI) and Foróige, a national youth work organisation, to emphasize the importance of civic engagement as a policy issue for education within Ireland, among partner organisations and the wider international network. 

Recent Conferences/Presentations:

Name: ‘Pathways to Resilience II: Social Ecology of Resilience’

Place: Hosted by Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Date: June 2010

Presentation: 'Overview: A Youth-centred Exploratory Study with Rural and Urban Zambian Youth Regarding their Perceptions of Civic Engagement, Gender and Community'

Name: 'Fair Ireland Forum, Dialogue Series with Inaugural Event'

Place: Hosted by Fair Ireland Forum at the NUI Galway

Date: May 2010

Presentation: ‘The Human Rights of Children and Families: Prevention,

Intervention and Support in Times of Crisis’

Name: ‘Chicago Area Project’s 75th Anniversary Conference: A Legacy of Strengthening Illinois Communities & Youth’

Place: Hosted by the School of Social Service Administration in the University of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Date: April 2010

Presentation: ‘Youth Participation and Young People as Agents of Change: A Cross National Perspective’

Name: ‘Youth Organisations and Civic Engagement’

Place: Hosted by the Centre for Studies of Civic Engagement in Örebro   University, Sweden

Date: April 2010

Presentation: ‘Civic Engagement in Youth as a Model to Realize Dreams’

Name: ‘Towards a Parenting Policy Framework for Australia’

Place: Conference hosted by the Social Policy and Research Centre in the University of New South Wales, Australia

Date: April 2010

Presentation: ‘Progressive Universalism as Parenting Policy in Ireland: Blending Social Support with Proven Programmes’

Most Recent Publications
(click here for full publication list)

Dolan, P. (2010) ‘Children's Rights in Ireland: A Current Perspective on Implementation, from a Past Lens with a View to the Future’, The Irish Human Rights Law Review, Clarus Press.

Featherstone B. and Dolan, P. (2010) ’Family Support’, Policy Highlights National Children’s Bureau, UK.

Dolan P. (August 2010) Youth Civic Engagement and Support: Promoting Wellbeing with the Assistance of a UNESCO Agenda in Child Well-Being – Towards a Better Understanding of Children’s Lives, C. McAuley and W Rose (Eds.), Jessica Kingsley Publishers: UK.

Dolan, P. (2009) ‘Family Support and Community Development - Connections for Practice, Community Development’: Journal of the Community Development Society, Special Issue.

Brady, B. and Dolan, P. (2009) ‘Youth Mentoring as a Tool for Community and Civic Engagement:  Reflections on Findings of an Irish Research Study’. Community Development. Vol. 40, Issue 4, 359.

Nic Gabhainn, S., Dolan, P., Canavan, J., O'Higgins, S. (2009). Current Practice in Meeting Child Health Needs in Family Support Services: Variation by Service Type and Perspectives on Future Developments. Child Care in Practice, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 109-125.   

McGrath, B., Brennan, M., Dolan, P. and Barnett, R. (2009) Adolescent Well-Being and Supporting Contexts: A Comparison of Adolescents in Rural Ireland and Florida’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 299-320.

Rhodes, J. and Dolan, P. (2009) Public Policy and Relationships in H. Reis and S. Sprecher (eds.), Encyclopedia of Human Relationships. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Canavan, J., Coen, L., Dolan, P. and White, L. (2009) Privileging Practice: Facing the Challenges of Integrated Working for Outcomes for Children, Children & Society, Vol. 23, No.5, pp.377-388.

Dolan, P. and Canavan, J.  (2008) Guest Editors – Building Resilience in Children, Families and Communities, Child Care in Practice, Vol. 14, Issue 1.

Dolan, P. (2008) Prospective Possibilities for Building Resilience in Children, their Families and Communities, Child Care in Practice Vol. 14, Issue 1, pp 83 - 91.

Houston, S. & Dolan, P. (2008) Conceptualising Family Support: Honneth’s Theory of Recognition, Children & Society.

Dolan, P, Canavan, J and Brady, B. (2008) ‘Benefits and Costs of Youth Mentoring to Parent-Young Person Social Network Relationships’, Youth and Policy, No 99,   pp. 13-17.

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