Aoife Keating Fitzpatrick (MPP 2023) joined the Blavatnik School after a career working in different roles around government. She is determined to take ideas and inspiration from governments around the world back into public service in Northern Ireland.
Aoife is a Political Leadership Scholar, a fully funded scholarship designed to support individuals aiming to run for elected office in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It aims to improve the diversity, calibre and training of public leaders by making it more accessible to study public policy for those early in their career. “Without the scholarship, I really wouldn’t have been able to come here", Aoife notes, adding that applying for the scholarship has allowed her to give the course her full attention given that there is a contribution towards living costs too.
Hailing from Northern Ireland, Aoife studied History at Cambridge University, fascinated by the parallels between the society she’d grown up in and the nations and cultures of the past. ‘You always have some sort of divide in society, whether it is rich and poor, North and South - even with the Phoenicians and Spartans!' Thinking about how to bridge those divides is something that preoccupied her and set her on a path to politics.
Studying the Masters of Public Policy course has really emphasised the importance of trying to empathise with people across divides. We often assume we know why people are saying things but when we try and understand where someone is coming from, our whole outlook can change.
After an MA in Law, Aoife worked for FDI consulting firm in Belfast on a contract with the Department for International Trade where she had the opportunity to go on secondment to the Department as Private Secretary to the Director of Investment. Aoife worked closely with the Ministerial Team, Foreign Embassies, Number 10, and other government departments as the Brexit referendum and result unfolded, altering the machinery of government around herself. It was a time of flux that made her reflect on how government works for citizens in times of change.
While studying for her MA, Aoife began working for a local Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland. She engaged in constituency work as well as legislative research, and worked for the Party's Campaigns Team during the 2022 Assembly Election. While she was in this role, the Executive collapsed, leaving her team in limbo. While the government was in chaos, she saw public services worsen around her. It was another demonstration of the harm that can be felt when a government is ‘lost in distraction’.
When a chance to study the Master for Public Policy at the Blavatnik School came up, Aoife was thrilled, commenting on the diverse student body that sets this course apart from others.
I love how international it is and how there are people from so many different walks of life. It opens your mind to new ideas. Where else would you ever come into contact with a local representative from Brazil and an election agent from Australia?
Aoife was inspired by the ‘well-structured’ course that gave her a solid grounding across different topics, from economics to negotiation. She has particularly appreciated the practical nature of the teaching, citing a recent lesson where the class worked together on a cost-benefit analysis of whether to build an airport on a small island, with extra information being disclosed at every stage of the seminar to challenge their thinking. The result was a lively discussion that tested their knowledge with real-world scenarios.
When I joined the School I was worried that I was too much of a generalist but the teaching gives you a holistic introduction to all of the essential elements of going into public service. It feels like everyone here has found their path.
The teaching from dynamic academics has also made the course stand out for Aoife. She cites a course taught by Professor Ciaran Martin on ‘doing business with business’ where he brought in people at the top of their fields to talk to the students. Similarly, Aoife recounts a fascinating seminar with Ngaire Woods, founding Dean of the Blavatnik School, and Jonathan Powell, the former diplomat, Chief of Staff to Tony Blair and key architect of the Good Friday agreement. In an intimate session with students on how to succeed in ending conflicts, she was struck by the sense that progress can be achieved.
So where does Aoife want to go from here, and what’s her own vision for progress? She hopes to return to Northern Ireland, to make a meaningful difference to the lives of people that live there. What the course has given her is a blueprint for different ways of doing things – ‘what works’ in a range of different contexts and countries.
Where Aoife feels that Northern Irish politics often takes inspiration from what is done closer to home, Aoife says her mind has been opened to new ideas from across the globe. She’s determined to deploy some of these ideas to ‘fix the everyday problems felt by everyday people’.
Aoife Keating Fitzpatrick is a Political Leadership Scholar.
May 2024