Having Completed his BA in Public Administration at the University of Limerick, Damien continued initially into undertaking a Masters by Research in 2008, before transferring to PhD research in 2009. He has acted as co-representative for the PhD students in the department of Politics and Public administration for the years 2010 - present and also is co-organiser of the EP3 research cluster. Most recently, Damien was involved as co-organiser of the highly successful and well received "Renewing Democracy through Civic Engagement" summer school held at the University of Limerick in June 2011, where he presented a paper. Damien has also completed the Specialist Diploma in Teaching Learning and Scholarship at the Centre for Teaching Learning, which advanced a number of techniques in teaching at higher level and also academic skill training and development. He has taught on a number of core modules within the department. His research interests include North South cooperation and cross border cooperation; Institutionalism and Institutionalisation; Public Administration, Management and Reform; Governance; Public Policy Processes. He is a member of the Political Studies association of Ireland. Research Interests: North South cooperation and cross border cooperation; Institutionalism and Institutionalisation; Public Administration, Management and Reform; Governance; Public Policy Processes