Anthony was awarded a PhD in Political Science from University College Cork (UCC) in 2016. His dissertation 'Exploring Ireland's Approach to Negotiating the 2012 Fiscal Stability Treaty: A Qualitative Study' explored the various forces (domestic and international) that shaped Ireland's national position on the terms of the Fiscal Stability Treaty and the domestic and international opportunity structures that the Irish negotiating team used to achieve concessions closest to Ireland's national preferences. The dissertation was supervised by Dr Mary C Murphy (UCC) and externally examined by Dr Dermot Hodson (Birkbeck).Following his PhD, Anthony was a lecturer in the Department of Government & Political Science (University College Cork). He remained in the post until joining the School of Humanities at Liverpool Hope University in September 2020.
Teaching and Research Specialisms
Anthony lectures on both the politics, and international relations programmes with special teaching interests in EU integration and governance, EU foreign policy, comparative European Politics and Ethnic Conflict. He is the International Relations Coordinator for Year 1, and Year 3 respectively and the coordinator of the 'Contemporary Britain' course which is offered solely to visiting students. He has published work on the Fiscal Stability Treaty/Fiscal Compact, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Turkey and the EU, Brexit, and deliberative democracy and the Future of Europe. In line with his research on European Integration, he is particularly interested in the concept of Differentiated Integration and Differentiated Disintegration in the EU.In 2023, he was appointed REF Coordinator for Unit 19 (Politics, and International Relations) for the 2022-2029 period. In September 2024 he was appointed Recruitment Lead for the School of Humanities.
External Academic Projects Anthony regularly reviews research articles and textbooks for top-tier publications, including being a reviewer for the Journals of European Political Science, and Frontiers in Political Science, respectively. In 2023 he co-edited a special section for the Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies on the topic of contestation toward European integration and Europeanisation in Europe's periphery. Additionally, he is co-convener of the Political Studies Association of Ireland's (PSAI), Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (PDD) Specialist Group.
Recent Publications
Costello, A (2024) Citizens’ Preferences and the Future of Europe: a case for the ‘Five Scenarios’ as deliberative entry-points in mini-publics. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. [Published Online
Özçelik, A O, Renda, K & Costello, A (2023) Battle for the European Union in the Periphery: Contestation Dynamics and Domestic Debates. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.
Costello, A (2023) 'Miscalculations and Constraints: Brexit and the Failed Statecraft of Theresa May' in Roe-Crines, A and Jeffery, D. Policies and Politics under Prime Minister Theresa May: A Question of Statecraft. Palgrave MacMillan.
Costello, A (2022) Analyzing and Understanding European Democracy. European Political Science. Palgrave MacMillan on behalf of the European Consortium of Political Research.
Costello, A. (2022) 'Expectations, Benchmarks & Tensions: Exploring Turkey's Political U-Turn from Brussels' in Cakmak & Onur Ozcelik (ed) EU Conditionality in Turkey: When it works, when it fails. Lexington Books.
Costello, A (2021) Meaningful, but Effective? A Critical Evaluation of Ireland's Citizens' Dialogues on the Future of Europe. Politics. Vol, 42, No.4, pp. pp. 464–479. Sage on behalf of the Political Studies Association.
Costello, A (2021) 'The European Neighbourhood Policy in the South Mediterranean' in Haastrup, T, Mah, L & Duggan N (ed) Routledge Handbook on EU-Africa Relations. Taylor & Francis.
Costello, A (2023) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2022) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2021) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2020) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2019) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2018) Ireland. Yearbook of European Integration. Institute of European Politics. Nomos.
Costello, A (2014) The Fiscal Stability Treaty Referendum 2012. Irish Political Studies. Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 457-470. Routledge.