DrTadhg O'Mahony

Biography

Dr. Tadhg O'Mahony is an Environmental and Energy Economist specialising in macro-environmental systems, spatial-transport planning, and quantitative climate policy evaluation. Over a 20-year career spanning elite academic research and senior institutional roles—including serving as Senior Economist at the secretariat of the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council—his work focuses on developing quantitative structural frameworks to evaluate aggregate development trajectories under systemic energy and climate constraints.

A former double Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Dr. O'Mahony has led quantitative research streams for international research projects and served as a lead author for Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment. His pedagogical and research expertise bridges standard neoclassical environmental economics, market-based instruments (such as carbon pricing and cost-benefit frameworks), and macro-structural simulation. Methodologically, he specialises in integrating top-down macroeconomic accounting with bottom-up techno-economic and spatial-transport modelling to provide data-driven insights for long-term policy design.

He holds research and lecturing affiliations with leading institutions, including University College Dublin and the Turku School of Economics, and his work is extensively published across leading international peer-reviewed journals in environmental economics, energy, and policy.

Core Research & Methodologies

• Environmental & Energy Economics: Neoclassical environmental economics curriculum delivery, market-based instruments (carbon pricing/taxation), and rigorous Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) frameworks.
• Urban, Regional & Spatial-Transport Economics: Integrated transport, infrastructure, and spatial-economic planning, capital project evaluation, and the deployment of "Avoid-Shift-Improve" transit paradigms.
• Macroeconomic Modelling & Policy Evaluation: Top-down macroeconomic and productivity accounting (EEIO), bottom-up techno-economic simulation (LEAP), and structural economic transitions under resource constraints.

Elite International Fellowships & Competitive Funding

• Double Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow (Finland and Spain), securing prestigious EU funding for macro-environmental, energy systems, and structural modelling projects spanning Europe and Asia.
• Visiting Fellow, Princeton Environment Institute, Princeton University.
• Visiting Fellow, DEMAND Centre, Lancaster University (Focusing on spatial, economic, and infrastructure patterns of energy demand).

Public Policy & Institutional Impact

• Senior Institutional Leadership: Served as Senior Economist and Transport Lead at the secretariat of the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC).
• Strategic Assessments: Served as Lead Author on Volume 4 of Ireland's Climate Change Assessment (ICCA), authoring sections on systemic, macro-structural, and economic transitions.
• Expert Parliamentary Testimony: Regularly called as an expert witness before Ireland's Oireachtas parliamentary committees to advise on macro-environmental policy, cost-benefit frameworks, transport infrastructure strategy, and climate and biodiversity policy.