Dr. O'Mahony received his doctorate from the National University of Ireland in 1991 and spent the next seven years as Director of the Centre for European Social Research before taking up a position as lecturer in Sociology at UCC in 2000. He theoretical interests cover a wide span but are currently focused on questions of public participation and the public sphere. He has wide-ranging methodological expertise in a variety of research approaches and techniques. He has conducted and coordinated wide-ranging research, primarily focused on questions of environment, the societal implications of new technology and identity and ideology in Ireland and internationally. He is currently working on a book on the Public Sphere of Biotechnology in Britain and Ireland and the UK.