Rónán Kennedy

Dr.

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Information technology law, environmental law, legal research and writing, copyright law, egovernment, e-government, eregulation, e-regulation, lawtech

Calculated based on number of publications stored in Pure and citations from Scopus

Personal profile

Biography

I explore how law and information and communications technology influence each other, trying to see through the hype and understand the real consequences. The principal focus of my research is the use of ICT for environmental regulation.Rónán Kennedy researches and teaches environmental law, information technology law, and the intersections between these. He has a background in information technology and information systems, including spending much of the 1990s working in the industry as a programmer, analyst and webmaster. His involvement in environmental protection include establishing the Ecology Society in what was then University College Galway as an undergraduate, and his membership of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, including a period as chair of its board of directors. In 2016, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency on the nomination of the Irish Environmental Law Association. Since 2024, he has been a member of the ICT Committee of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce. In 2025, he was appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission by the Minister for Justice.He worked as Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, from 2000 to 2004. During this time, he was editor of The Supreme Court of Ireland: A History, first editor of the Judicial Studies Institute Journal from 2001 to 2003, and was involved in a number of initiatives to expand the use of information technology in the courts. Before coming to the Law Faculty in NUI Galway, he taught environmental law and Public - No restriction international law in the University of Limerick. He was the co-ordinator of the LL.M. in Law, Technology and Governance from 2008 to 2014 and was Associate Head for Development and Promotion for the School from April 2009 to April 2010.Rónán Kennedy holds a degree in commerce and a higher diploma in systems analysis from University College Galway, an LL.B. with first class honours from the National University of Ireland, Galway, an LL.M. from New York University and a Ph.D. from University College London. He also studied for the degree of Barrister-at-Law in the Kings Inns and was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2003. He was a visiting PhD student in the Tilburg Institute for Law and Technology in 2010, and a Visiting Scholar at the School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 2017. In 2020, he was a Science Foundation Ireland Public - No restriction Service Fellow in the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. In 2022, he was awarded both the College of Business, Public - No restriction Policy and Law and the NUI Galway Presidents Award for Teaching Excellence.Selected Public - No restrictionations Rethinking Reflexive Law for the Information Age: Hybrid and Flexible Regulation by Disclosure (2016) 7(2) George Washington Journal of Energy and Environmental Law 124139 E-regulation and the Rule of Law: Smart Government, Institutional Information Infrastructures, and Fundamental Values (2016) 21(1) Information Polity 7798 Climate Change Law and Policy in Ireland 32011 Ympäristöjuridiikka (Finnish Environmental Law Review) 6683

Research Interests

Lawtech, Environmental Law, Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law, Copyright Law PhD or LLM proposals in these and related areas are welcome.

Teaching Interests

Irish Legal System Information Technology Law Legal Research and Method Environmental Law Law and Innovation Law and Analytics

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Related documents

Education/Academic qualification

BComm,HDipSysA,LLB,BL,LLM,CertTLHE,PhD

Accepting PhD Students

  • Accepting PhD Students

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