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Evidence-informed practice (EIP), broadly conceived as a data and research-based approach to enhance practice, has recently come to the fore of the Irish education system. With changes to the structure and duration of professional education over the last decade, most notably Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs, coupled with the implementation of a school leadership framework upon which a mandatory data-informed school improvement process of school self-evaluation (SSE) is based, multiple reforms connected to EIP have been introduced. Furthermore, in terms of compulsory education, assessment practices at the lower secondary level have also been significantly reformed. EIP has now become a core element of almost all educational reform initiatives in Ireland. This is a remarkable achievement given that prior to the Education Act (Government of Ireland, 1998) the conception that data and research-informed decision-making should form a core component part of school life was rarely conceived if at all in the policy discourse of educational reform. We draw on the Malin et al. (2020) interpretation of Hoods (1998) social cohesion/regulation matrix to describe and classify the Irish system. The chapter concludes with a discussion of key lessons for policy and practice based on Ireland's experience over the course of the last decade.

Patrick Pearse’s status in Ireland today oscillates between the iconic and kitsch: he was recently voted by readers of a newspaper as the person whom they would most like to see commemorated by a statue or monument in central Dublin (though this proposal has not met with universal approval even with that publication’s staff) and as one of the most important Irish heroes by readers of another paper. But it also possible to buy chess piece like statuettes or figurines of this national hero in tourist souvenir shops as one might buy model or tin soldiers. However, Pearse has consistently, and often fulsomely, been praised for his educational work and ideas, even by those who are otherwise critics, being described by one as ‘stimulating and, for Ireland at least, novel’ in this respect.

This introduction sets the scene for the study by explaining the rationale for presenting a comparative analysis of five nation states’ governance systems; England, Northern Ireland, Arabs in Israel, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, with Nigerian interests represented in the research design. The context is that of a global phenomenon of a Black–White achievement gap (Wagner, 2010). The quality is world leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour. We present a theory of colonisation between groups with different interests, which includes nation states colonising other nation states, and dominant groups within nation states colonising marginalised groups. We also explored how dominant groups within educational governance systems may colonise marginalised groups within education governance systems. We theorised colonisation using Karpman’s Triangle (1968) identifying that different groups can be oppressor, and/or victim, and/or rescuer, and these roles may shift as changes occur in power and economic influence. We present the Empowering Young Societal Innovators for Equity and Renewal Model (Taysum et al., 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) with five principals for equity and renewal. We explain the turbulence that senior-level leaders experience and how education governance systems need to empower their autonomy as credentialed educational professionals’ with track records of school improvement. Impact strategies to optimise students’ learning and students’ outcomes, and build the community’s values of social justice, courage and prudence need to underpin social mobility. These innovations are only possible if they are informed by grass roots participatory philosophical inquiry, that is informed by and informs policy, and is carefully monitored for quality assurance against the highest of educational professional standards.

This paper aims to trace parallels in the unintended consequences of interpretations of special-needs law in Ireland and Sweden.

The paper is conceptual, based on Irish and Swedish legal reports, studies and national planning documents on supports for people with disabilities. It begins by discussing unintended consequences, and then analyses the Irish court decision in Sinnott v. Minister for Education (2001), which stated that the State’s obligation to provide for education for people with special education needs (SENs) ceases when they reach 18 years. It considers how economic considerations influenced that decision. The focus then diverts to Sweden’s human rights culture and the 1994 legislation, LSS (Sweden’s Act Concerning Support and Services for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments), which enshrines equality and support for people with disabilities, including personal assistance (PA). Cost-saving restrictions on PA allowances are discussed.

While the Irish State enacted a law on education rights following the Sinnott case the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004), or EPSEN (2004), it restricts those rights, and sections remain uncommenced. The case may have exhausted litigation as a remedy for people with SENs. In Sweden, austerity diluted the impact of LSS, leading to reduced entitlements and intrusions on privacy. It allowed legal discourse to dominate discussion. Families were negatively affected. In both countries, human rights may have suffered. Identifying which consequences of the legal actions were unintended, and which party did not intend them, can be problematic.

The paper concludes that the courts limited entitlement to the detriment of people with disabilities, and that caution must be exercised in having recourse to law courts in settling entitlements.

The paper is an original analysis of unintended consequences of legal interventions in special-needs policy. It illustrates difficulties in matching visions and systemic requirements in legal and the educational domains.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a national survey of information skills training (IST) practices in Irish higher education institutions, which was carried out during 2006‐2007 with the aim of documenting current practice and identifying areas in which change or innovation may be warranted. Despite an emerging picture of information literacy (IL) practice worldwide, a lack of published research has made it difficult to gain an accurate overview of IL activity in the Republic of Ireland. This paper aims to partly fill this gap.

An invitation to complete a 26‐item questionnaire was sent out to librarians in all publicly‐funded higher education institutions in the Irish Republic in November 2006. Out of 154 librarians, 77 responded, giving a response rate of 50 per cent.

Results showed that, while librarians spend a significant portion of their time engaged in IST activities and are enthusiastic about developing and promoting their programmes, IST continues to be delivered in primarily standalone format, using non‐integrated methods. Formal assessment of IS outcomes is not commonly carried out in Irish higher education institutions.

This paper represents the first national survey of IST practices in higher education in the Irish Republic, and serves as a baseline for international comparison and future longitudinal studies.