B.Comm. M.Econ.Sc. PG Cert in Teaching

Contact Details

UNIVERSITY TEACHER
Room 233
Cairnes Building
NUI Galway
T: Ext. 3053
E: stephen.mcnena@nuigalway.ie
Lecturer
Economics discipline
T: 091-493053
 
researcher
 

Biography

I hold a B.Comm. and a M.Econ.Sc. from NUI Galway.  In my teaching, I aspire to engage students with economics and economic concepts.  I show how economics can explain and help solve many challenges facing society. 

I lecture on the BA (Child, Youth and Family Studies) programme, as well as delivering economics modules to Arts, postgrad and online students.

I was based at St. AngelaÂ’s College, Sligo, a college of NUI Galway, between 1998 and 2019, where I taught on the B.Ed. in Home Economics, Nursing and Access programmes.

I am involved in research on local government economics with colleagues in NUI Galway, and collaborators from other universities.

Research Interests

Since 2013 I have become involved in researching Local Government economics, with internal and external collaborators.  We have a website to display some of our research into local government financial performance:
www.localauthorityfinances.com

My areas of research interest include public finances, taxation and the welfare state, as well as transport policy, especially public transit.

Previous projects include a socio-economic analysis of regions of Ireland (2012) and an evaluation of Ballinasloe marina on behalf of Ballinasloe Town Council and Galway County Council (2013).

Research Projects

  Project Start Date End Date
STEPHEN McNENA GENERAL RESEARCH ACCOUNT 01-MAR-19 28-FEB-29

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Equalisation transfers and local fiscal capacity: A new methodology for Ireland'
Turley, G., McNena S. (2021) 'Equalisation transfers and local fiscal capacity: A new methodology for Ireland'. The Economic And Social Review, 52 (1):53-74 [Details]
(2020) 'A reassessment of local governmentÂ’s financial position and performance: The case of Ireland'
Gerard Turley, Rémi Di medio and Stephen McNena (2020) 'A reassessment of local government’s financial position and performance: The case of Ireland'. Administration, 68 (2):1-35 [DOI] [Details]
(2019) 'Local government funding in Ireland: Contemporary issues and future challenges'
Turley, G; McNena, S (2019) 'Local government funding in Ireland: Contemporary issues and future challenges'. Administration, 67 (4):1-26 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession'
Turley, G., McNena, S., and Robbins, G. (2018) 'Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession'. Administration, 66 (4):1-24 [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Optimum Territorial Reforms in Local Government: An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Ireland'
Gerard Turley, John McDonagh, Stephen McNena, Arkadiusz Grzedzinski (2018) 'Optimum Territorial Reforms in Local Government: An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Ireland'. The Economic And Social Review, 49 (4):463-488 [Details]
(2016) 'An Analysis of Local Public Finances and the 2014 Local Government Reforms'
Turley, G.and McNena, S. (2016) 'An Analysis of Local Public Finances and the 2014 Local Government Reforms'. The Economic And Social Review, 47 (2):299-326 [Details]
(2016) 'Benchmarking the financial performance of local councils in Ireland'
Robbins G., Turley G., and McNena S. (2016) 'Benchmarking the financial performance of local councils in Ireland'. Administration, 64 (1):1-27 [DOI] [Details]
(2015) 'A Needs and Resources Assessment of Fiscal Equalisation in the Irish Local Government System'
Turley, G., Flannery, D. and McNena, S. (2015) 'A Needs and Resources Assessment of Fiscal Equalisation in the Irish Local Government System'. The Economic And Social Review, 46 (3):459-484 [Details]
(2015) 'A Framework to Measure the Financial Performance of Local Governments'
Turley, G., Robbins, G., McNena, S. (2015) 'A Framework to Measure the Financial Performance of Local Governments'. Local Government Studies, 41 (3):401-420 [DOI] [Details]
(2014) 'From boom to bust? The financial performance of city and county councils'
Robbins, G., Turley, G. and McNena S. (2014) 'From boom to bust? The financial performance of city and county councils'. Administration, 62 (1):119-151 [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Budget Institutions for Subnational Fiscal Discipline: Local Fiscal Rules in Post-Crisis EU Countries'
Gerard Turley, Christian Raffer and Stephen McNena (2021) 'Budget Institutions for Subnational Fiscal Discipline: Local Fiscal Rules in Post-Crisis EU Countries' In: Local Public Finance: An International Comparative Regulatory Perspective. Switzerland: Springer. [DOI] [Details]
(2018) 'Financing Local Government in the Twenty-First Century: Local Government Revenues in EU Member States, 2000-2014'
Turley, G., McNena, S. (2018) 'Financing Local Government in the Twenty-First Century: Local Government Revenues in EU Member States, 2000-2014' In: The Routledge Handbook on International Local Government. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Ltd. [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2014) Irish Accounting and Finance Association Annual Conference,
McNena, S. (2014) From Boom to Bust? The Financial Performance of City and County Councils in Ireland. [Conference Paper], Irish Accounting and Finance Association Annual Conference, Belfast , 29-MAY-14 - 30-MAY-14. [Details]

Conference Paper

  Year Publication
(2005) Welfare State in Ireland 1997-2002. Belgium: Presented at the Conference the State of the Welfare State Anno.
McNena, S (2005) Welfare State in Ireland 1997-2002. Belgium: Presented at the Conference the State of the Welfare State Anno. Conference Paper [Details]

Magazine Article

  Year Publication
(2021) Getting the Right Balance - A redesigned revenue equalisation funding model for local government.
Turley, Gerard and McNena, Stephen (2021) Getting the Right Balance - A redesigned revenue equalisation funding model for local government. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration Magazine Article [Details]

Non Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2013) An evaluation of Ballinasloe marina.
McNena, S. (2013) An evaluation of Ballinasloe marina. Non Published Reports [Details]
(2002) Sligo County - Economic, Social and Cultural Profile.
McNena, S. (2002) Sligo County - Economic, Social and Cultural Profile. Sligo: Non Published Reports [Details]

Web Page

  Year Publication
(2020) www.localauthorityfinances.com.
Gerard Turley and Stephen McNena (2020) www.localauthorityfinances.com. Web Page [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2016 NUI Galway President's Award for Teaching Excellence - nomination NUI Galway
2015 NUI Galway President's Award for Teaching Excellence - nomination NUI Galway

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2014 NUI Galway Postgraduate Diploma Stand-alone module on Learning Technologies
2009 NUI Galway Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning

Other Activities

  Description

Programme Director of the Higher Diploma in Economic Science since September 2017. https://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/taught-postgraduate-courses/economic-science.html

Teaching Interests

Stephen teaches on, and contributes to, a wide range of modules: macroeconomics, mathematical economics, social policy, environmental issues and health economics.

Recent Postgraduate Students

  Graduation Name Degree Primary Supervisor
2018 Weichen Li, M.Econ.Sc - Is GDP growth translating into real-wage growth? Y
2018 Mathews Joseph, M.Ecoc.Sc. - Indian demonetisation Y
2018 Alex Gardiner, M.Econ.Sc. - Cryptocurrencies Y
2016 Niall Pender, M.Econ.Sc. - Terrorism and tourism Y
2016 Alasdair Walsh, M.Econ.Sc. - Brexit and five possible trade relationships between the UK and EU Y
2015 Carol McLoughlin, MSc Health economics 2014/15 Y

Modules Taught

  Term/Year Module Title Module Code Subject / Desc
2019/20 Introductory Macroeconomics EC136
2019/20 Introduction to Economic Policy EC1110 1st year BA (Child, Youth, Family) and BSc. Applied Social Science
2019/20 Economics of Public and Social Policy EC267 2nd year BA (Child, Youth, Family) and 3rd year BSc. (Applied Social Science)
2019/20 Macroeconomics EC268
2019/20 Economics of Family Policy EC272
2019/20 Ireland in the Global Economy EC426.3 Part-time online B.Comm.
2019/20 Introduction to Youth and Family studies SP1103 Team teaching, I teach one-third of module
2019/20 Research Methods in Public and Social Policy SP1117 Team teaching - I teach 1/6
2018/19 Intermediate Macroeconomics EC7102 Part-time online B.Comm.
2016/17 Microeconomics EC 2.1 B.Ed. programme at St. Angela's College, Sligo
2014/15 Access programme - Economics and maths modules xx Access programme at St. Angela's College, Sligo

Internal Collaborators

  Name Description of Collaboration
Dr. Gerard Turley
Research
Dr. Geraldine Robbins
Research
Dr. John McDonagh
Research

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country Description of Collaboration
Christian Raffer Hertie School of Governance GERMANY
Research
Dr. Richeal Burns St. Angela's College, Sligo
Teaching