Professor Kate Kenny Presents Research on Whistleblowing

Work, Organizations and Society leader, Professor Kate Kenny has participated in a number of events recently showcasing the research she has undertaken on Whistleblowing.

On 21st November, Professor Kenny was invited to be a panellist at the Transparency International Ireland Conference on Integrity at Work in Dublin. Transparency International Ireland’s Integrity at Work Conference 2019 brought together employers and experts to explore how to promote ethical behaviour in the workplace. Over 70 organizations were represented from Ireland’s public, private and non-profit sectors.  Professor Kenny presented recent research into promoting ethical infrastructures via speak-up arrangements, specifically addressing the reasons people opt to remain silent when wrongdoing is witnessed.

Prof Kate Kenny on the panel at Transparency International Ireland’s Conference on Integrity at Work 21 November.

On 27 November, Professor Kenny was invited to giving a briefing on Whistleblowing to the Oireachtas. Recent years have seen dramatic and fundamental changes in whistleblower protections in Ireland and internationally. Prompted by a spate of important public disclosures, a new EU Whistleblowing Directive has been adopted and must now be transposed to member states by 2021. Yet research-based understanding of what these changes mean for Irish organisations, and Irish whistleblowers, remains lacking. Against this backdrop Professor Kenny presented to TDs and Senators on the opportunities and challenges associated with whistleblowing, and made recommendations based on best practice from overseas and within Ireland.

Prof Kate Kenny giving a briefing on Whistleblowing at Oireachtas, 27 November.