JCFJ’s formal collaboration with Dublin City University

The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice (JCFJ) and Dublin City University (DCU) have signed an agreement to deepen collaboration in research and public engagement, with particular emphasis on social justice and marginalisation in north inner city Dublin.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the two organisations will cooperate on theologically informed research, public lectures, teaching contributions and PhD scholarships for JCFJ staff and Jesuits. JCFJ research staff will be granted academic affiliate status at DCU.

A central element of the memorandum is a Visiting Jesuit Fellowship at DCU, which will enable a Jesuit scholar to spend an academic semester at the university. The fellow will have access to DCU’s library and research facilities and will be invited to contribute to lectures, seminars and broader academic life. Accommodation for the visiting scholar will be provided by the Jesuit community on Gardiner Street Upper.

Speaking at the signing in Woodlock Hall Library on DCU’s All Hallows Campus, Fr Niall Leahy SJ, director of JCFJ, described the partnership as a natural extension of the centre’s work. “We are a small organisation but collaboration is one of our core values. We have a track record of working well with academic institutions, civil society and church organisations. My hope is that this new institutional relationship with DCU will provide a stable platform for many joint projects in the future,” he said.

Fr Leahy said theology will continue to shape the centre’s research and advocacy because of the social problems clustered around its base in Dublin’s north-east inner city. “The effects of short-sighted housing policy, over-reliance on imprisonment, ecological degradation and economic inequality are evident in Dublin’s north-east inner city, where JCFJ is based. Christianity and Catholic Social Teaching have much to say about these issues, which is why theology informs our research and advocacy,” he said.

“We look forward to working with DCU academics who share our commitment to improving the lives of people and communities in north Dublin. I have no doubt that JCFJ and DCU researchers will find fruitful and transformative ways of working together,” Fr Leahy added.

The agreement was signed on behalf of DCU by Professor John Doyle, Vice-President for Research, who said the agreement builds on an existing one between the university and the Jesuit community. “Following on from the agreement between DCU and the Jesuit community regarding DCU’s hosting of the Milltown Library collection, this will allow us advance collaborative work, in teaching and research. It will support research and engagement around our shared commitment to addressing social justice issues in north Dublin, and it will extend the international scholarly use of the remarkable Milltown book collection,” he said.

The Milltown Institute, once a centre of Jesuit higher education and formation in Ireland, closed several years ago; its significant philosophy and theology holdings were transferred to Woodlock Hall Library at DCU’s All Hallows Campus. The move preserved a tangible link between the Irish Jesuits’ intellectual heritage and DCU’s current academic mission.