Serving Communities, Connecting People - A Relational Public Service approach

A Relational Public Services event on the theme of Serving Communities, Connecting People event took place on 13 November 2025 in Revenue Buildings as part of the Public Service Transformation Week 2025. The event was a collaboration between the Department of Education and Youth, Department of Health, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, and Department of the Taoiseach.

Relational public service was defined as: “public service based on learning relationships with the people you serve, and between the people who serve them”.

Guest speaker Professor Toby Lowe delivered a keynote speech, titled: “What is Relational Public Service and Human Learning Systems?”. This talk included helpful examples from academia and projects he had been involved in, showing the power of taking a relational approach to work. The talk was followed by a panel discussion on the topic with the Assistant Secretaries. Case studies of relational working were presented by six different government departments/ public service bodies and workshops focused on how each of the attendees could apply the learnings of the day to their own area of work. These presentations illustrated how relational ways of working can be implemented in different settings, from projects in local communities to the co-creation of national strategies.

Bernie McNally, Secretary General of the Department of Education & Youth, spoke on the topic: “The best way to predict the future is to create” highlighting the difference that a small, committed team can make. A workshop led by Dr Joan O’Donnell titled: “Exploring your situation through a relational lens” focussing on how each of the attendees could apply the learnings of the day to their own area of work, and encouraged attendees to commit to making small changes in their ways of working towards a more relational approach.