“Managerialism” is a term often used in relation to modern universities,
sometimes as a neutral description of certain organisational techniques, sometimes
as a pejorative expression. This article has three goals. Firstly, I suggest a
reasonably precise definition of managerialism in this context. Secondly, against
this definition I search for “managerialism” in modern Irish university law and
practice, from the Universities Act, 1997, to the present; in which it will appear
that managerialism has made considerable gains, though it has by no means
conquered the field. And thirdly, I sketch some of the implications for the
management of Irish universities.