Aodh previously worked in Cork County Council, during which time he undertook his PhD on a part-time basis. Aodh joined UCC as a tutor and part-time college lecturer in 1995 (25-year long service award in 2020). On the completion of his doctorate he was appointed as a College Lecturer in 2000. He was promoted to an 'Above the Bar' lecturer in 2005. Aodh was the Director of the BSc Government and Political Science degree programme for 14 years and he is currently the Director of and the MRes Government and Politics.His main research interests are in the areas of local government and public sector management. He is regarded as Ireland's leading specialist on local government and has published widely in this area, including nine books. In 2016, he established the Centre for Local and Regional Governance (CLRG) in UCC. Aodh served as a member of the Expert Advisory Group, supporting the work of the Dublin Citizens' Assembly in 2022 (chaired by Jim Gavin).

My research strategy is based on two areas in particular. The first is local government, the traditional core strength of the Department of Government (and of the Department of Public Administration before that). I aim to continue the legacy of Dick Haslam, former Head of the Department of Public Administration, who was respected nationally and internationally as a local government scholar. To date, I have had a major impact on my discipline in the area of local government and I am recognised as one of the two leading Irish academics in the field (the other is Mark Callanan who completed a PhD under my supervision in 2006). Each year I am invited to present papers at councillor conferences and I think it is vital to retain my links with the local government community at a practical level. From an academic standpoint, my main research output is in the area of local government (see below) and I am presently in the process of finishing two local government books which will be published in 2009: All Politics is Local: A Guide to Local Elections in Ireland (with Liam Weeks) and Innovation and Best Practice in Irish Local Government (with Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan). I am also in the process of setting up a local government specialist group within the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI). My second area of research is public management and governance, especially examining public service reforms in the context of new public management (NPM) literature. I have already published papers and book chapters in this area and I hope to expand on this in the years ahead. Aside from having a deep research interest in public management, my research strategy is partly driven by the fact that local government is a limited area of specialisation.

I try to vary my teaching methods to avoid ‘Death by PowerPoint’. There is a strong practical element to my teaching (as well as academic) so I use field trips and case studies to illustrate public policy issues. In addition I make every effort to vary my teaching approach, using such tools as videos, debates and guest lecturers. I also seek regular feedback from the class (i.e. not just at the end of the academic year) on what worked and what could be better. For this feedback I use techniques gained on the Teaching and Learning Certificate programme, such as the ‘muddiest point’ (Classroom Assessment Technique, CAT) and the ‘minute quiz’. As my research and teaching feature areas of current affairs (e.g. local government reform, public sector change, Croke Park negotiations) and I am in regular contact with practitioners in the field (through conferences and my commissioned research) my lecture notes are always topical, current and up-to-date. With this in mind, I always build in some flexibility into my module guides and lecturing plans to allow for breaking news and game-changing events. Since taking over the directorship of the BSc Government I have transformed the content of the degree. One of my initial concerns was that the degree lacked integration and that there was little coherence between the four years of the programme. I also felt that some modules were taught ‘out of place’ (e.g. fourth year modules which should have been placed earlier in the programme). Through a series of meetings of the BSc Board of Studies (which I convene and chair) and at a staff level in the Department of Government I have introduced changes through the Commerce Faculty which I believe greatly enhance the BSc Government. I am proud to say that