Welcome
The Industrial Relations and Human Resources Group is the nucleus of a major university centre in Ireland for the study of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management. The subject area is committed to research-intensive education in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at graduate and undergraduate levels. Courses are offered in both subjects at undergraduate level, within the School of Business, and by way of service teaching to the Colleges of Human Sciences, Engineering and Science.
History of the Group
The Group’s history spans over 30 years. The first Professorship of Industrial Relations in Ireland was created at UCD in 1974 and sponsored by ESSO. Professor Brian Hillery formed the Department of Industrial Relations in 1979, reflecting the early interest and success of the subject. Up to 1968 industrial relations had been taught as part of the subject of Business Administration for the Bachelor of Commerce degree. The first specialist Master of Business Studies (MBS) in industrial relations was launched in the early 1970s.
The scholarly tradition of the Group and its contribution to engagement with practice and public policy has long been recognised in terms of appointments to a range of external bodies in the professional and public policy fields at the national and the EU-level.
The Group and UCD have been fortunate in attracting renowned scholars as external examiners. Among those who have filled the post since the Group's inception are George Bain, former, Principal of the London Business School and former Vice Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, Arthur Marsh, Oxford University, Keith Thurley, late Professor of Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics, Professor Michael Poole, Cardiff Business School, Professor William Brown, Cambridge University, and Professor John Benson of the University of Melbourne. The current External Examiner is Professor Linda Dickens, University of Warwick.
Links to Programme Courses
Industrial Relations and Human Resources Group provides programmes and courses to undergraduate students at the Quinn Business School located at the Belfield campus and to postgraduate students in the Smurfit School of Business, Blackrock, Co.Dublin
Collaboration with the ILR School, Cornell University
The Group has recently entered a collaborative relationship with the Industrial and Labor Relations School, at Cornell University to offer a new ‘Semester in Dublin Programme’ for ILR undergraduate students. This is the first initiative in what is intended to be a comprehensive collaboration between the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University and the Industrial Relations and Human Resources Group in the UCD School of Business.
With the launch of a new collaborative programme between UCD and Cornell, Industrial and Labour Relations (ILR) students at Cornell will have increased opportunities to enhance their understanding of the international dimensions of their field of study. The ILR/UCD Semester in Dublin Program curriculum will afford eligible juniors and seniors an opportunity focus on the most important issues of work and workplace relations which affect the 27 member nations of the European Union.
The programme was formally inaugurated at a ceremony in Cornell at the end of 2006 by ILR School Dean, Professor Harry C Katz and Bill Roche, Professor of Industrial Relations and Human Resources in the UCD School of Business. Dr Roland Erne will be the Director of the ILR/UCD Program. The programme enrolled its first class in the fall semester of 2007
The UCD/ILR relationship also includes exchange opportunities for graduate and research students, and it is intended to develop further collaborative teaching and research initiatives.
