Professor John FitzGerald:

Going back to its foundation, like a university, the institute did not want to be responsible for the views of its authors. There were various rows in the past about this, particularly in the 1970s. If the research is of academic quality and does not libel anybody, it will be published. It is like a university. The director or the council may not like what has been said in a report but it vindicates the right of the researcher to publish the results of his or her research which has been peer-reviewed and is of quality, even if they do not necessarily agree with it. For example, if a professor in Trinity College Dublin says something, the provost is not expected to answer for that. In the public mind, people believe the ESRI thinks. The ESRI does not think. It is its researchers that think. The ESRI corporately does not take responsibility but it does take responsibility for the quality of the research and that it stands up academically.