Art, Imagination and Public Service

Art, Imagination and Public Service consists of three dialogues between a President of the Supreme Court and a painter (Hughie O'Donoghue and Brenda Hale); between a Permanent Secretary and a musician (James O'Donnell and Clare Moriarty); and between a Secretary of State and a poet (Micheal O'Siadhail and David Blunkett). Together they seek to explore how art and imagination can feed public servants to enable them to find new ways of addressing the intractable problems facing government, parliament and the law, and resist utilitarian responses where people end up being treated only as numbers in a target-driven world. In the dialogues the speakers discover surprising synergies in their respective approaches to their work. The conversations offer a unique way into thinking about imaginative, compassionate and intelligent public service. The book is intended to inspire public servants of all kinds to reconnect fearlessly with their fundamental humanity.