John Jackson:Prof John A Jackson was a former head of the department of sociology at Trinity College Dublin, who in retirement made a substantial contribution to shaping Ireland's overseas development aid programme.
Until his appointment in December 1974 as head of the newly established department, the three sociologists employed by the University of Dublin were under the wing of Basil Chubb, professor of political science. This was a relatively new and exciting discipline for the university and some viewed these young staff members sporting tartan scarves and leather jackets with suspicion. The advent of a suit-wearing professor reassured the more conservative amongst them.
Under his direction, the department grew and pursued lively teaching and research programmes in Ireland and further afield. He was appointed a fellow of the university in 1976, acted as dean of the faculty of economic and social studies between 1977 and 1981, and served as senior lecturer from 1981 to 1984.
He was the author of the seminal study The Irish in Britain (1963), and contributed to a wide range of academic journals. In an article published in 1997 he and his co-author wrote that the "overriding influence" on the distribution of poverty in Ireland is not place but class. They argued that economic power, not geographical location, is the key factor in determining whether people are likely to experience poverty.
From a farming background, he was born in Devon in 1929; his mother was from Killaloe, Co Clare. He was educated at Wellington College, and graduated with an arts degree from Hiram College, Ohio. He taught at Liverpool and Sheffield universities and at the University of East Anglia, spending four years at Queen's University Belfast before moving south.
Soon after retiring from TCD in 1997 he accepted an invitation to become chair of the Irish Aid Advisory Committee to advise the then minister of state, Liz O'Donnell, on policy matters of relevance to Irish Aid, the official overseas aid programme of the Irish government.
He provided excellent leadership to the committee and oversaw the production of many research and policy papers that influenced the direction of the Irish Aid programme.
A visit in 1999 to Zambia and Zimbabwe convinced him that Irish Aid needed to develop a dedicated strategy in response to the HIV/Aids problem. He chaired a group established to develop this strategy, contributing hugely to its formulation. Once completed, six months later, it was discussed with and publicly launched by Ms O'Donnell.
Today the Government's commitment to tackling HIV/Aids is recognised worldwide and is now one of the cornerstones of the Irish Aid programme. Ireland's annual spending on fighting HIV/Aids has risen from just below €2 million, when the strategy was launched, to well over €100 million this year and it is likely to increase further. All of this spending is guided by the strategy that Jackson initiated and saw to completion.
In addition he was a member of a review team established to advise the government about policy priorities in the context of a rapidly expanding overseas aid programme. The report of this review, which was published in 2002, has been hugely influential in guiding decisions which have subsequently been made by Irish Aid in the context of a much-increased budget.
One of its recommendations was to strengthen collaboration between Irish Aid and major Irish institutions. It gave him considerable pride that a consequence of that decision was a deeper engagement by Irish universities with international development, in particular the leading role in global public health that has been assumed by Trinity College.
More recently he was a member of the audit committee charged with providing independent oversight of financial decisions which are made by the department, in order to ensure accountability and value for money.
A member of the Royal Irish Academy, from 1984 he served on the academy's committee for social sciences, which he chaired from 1988 to 1992. In 1995 he became chairman of the Social Sciences Research Council, a forerunner of the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. His commitment to this endeavour was critical in the history of Irish research funding in this area.
After the establishment of the IRCHSS he helped secure significant private funding for the creation of the Third-Sector Research Programme that he also chaired from 2001 to 2006. The programme gave vital support to young researchers engaged in study on the voluntary sector. Many academics embarking on their careers owe a great deal to his tireless work in research support.
He spent much time in west Cork with his wife and family, and published an important report on Skibbereen commissioned in the 1960s. Leisure pursuits included sailing, travel and music - particularly jazz. He lived at Greenane, Co Wicklow.
Predeceased in January by his wife Wendy, he is survived by his daughters, Shona and Rebecca, and sons, Rory and Patrick.
John Archer Jackson: born October 19th, 1929; died June 19th, 2007