Culture Night 2022

Department of Finance shares the launch of “The Irish Department of Finance 1959-99” by Dr Ciarán Casey for Culture Night.

As part of Culture Night 2022, the Department of Finance is sharing a recording of the launch event for “The Irish Department of Finance 1959-99”. The book, which was published by the Institute of Public Affairs, and written by Dr Ciarán Casey was timed to mark the 100th year anniversary of the Department of Finance. It was launched earlier in September (Wednesday 7th) in Dublin Castle and featured a panel discussion with Professor Mary E. Daly and former Minister of State Eithne FitzGerald.

Work on the book began in 2019, and was completed in partnership with the Irish Research Council. It follows on from the earlier volume published in 1978 by the late Professor Ronan Fanning which covered the history of the Department of Finance from the period immediately prior to the foundation of the State up to 1958.

Commenting on the launch of the book, Minister Donohoe said;

> “This is an important addition to our understanding of such a transformative period of Irish life and it provides rich insights into the enormous changes that took place both in our society and our economy. It is a valuable resource for policymakers and a fascinating read for all students of history. I would like to thank Dr Casey and the team that supported him for delivering on this project.”

In addition to the economic archives in the Department, the book covers a range of subjects relating to the societal changes that took place over the course of the four decades that it covers, many of which were accessed by Dr Casey for the first time.

Commenting on the research Dr Casey noted:

>“As the central Department of Government, the history of Finance is very much the history of the State and it was a fantastic opportunity to be able to access the records that detail how such a remarkable economic transformation was achieved, particularly in the final decade of the period of my research.”

The book is available from the Institute of Public Affairs. Owing to the change in the timing of the budget it was not possible to welcome guests to the Department of Finance for Culture Night this year.

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