Kevin Rafter
Irish academic and non-executive director
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Career
Rafter is currently Head of the School of Communications[2] at Dublin City University where he is Full Professor of Political Communication.[3] He is also Chairperson of the Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland[4] and Chairperson of the Independent Advisory Committee of Culture Ireland.[5]
He chaired an independent review panel on civil service reform in 2015[6] and was the independent rapporteur to the talks that led to the formation of Ireland's minority coalition in 2016.[7] He is a board member of Dublin Bus and Oxfam Ireland.[8]
In June 2019 Rafter was appointed Chair of the Arts Council.[9]
Prior to 2008, Rafter held editorial positions with the Irish Times (political reporter), Sunday Times (political correspondent), Sunday Tribune (political editor/assistant editor), Magill magazine (editor) and RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster (Prime Time reporter and This Week presenter).[10][11]
Publications
Rafter has authored/edited over a dozen books including, most recently, Dillon Rediscovered: The Newspaperman Who Befriended Kings, Presidents and Oil Tycoons published by Martello, 2025.
His previous books include Political Advertising in the 2014 European Parliament Elections (2017),[12] Martin Mansergh (2002)[13] - and several histories of Irish political parties including Clann na Poblachta (1996), Sinn Féin (2005), Democratic Left (2010),[14] and Fine Gael(2010)[15]
His list of academic publications include numerous book chapters and research journal articles with a specific focus on media and politics including a study of Irish journalists in 2016.[16]