Dooge had a profound effect on the debate over climate change, in the world of hydrology and in politics in the formation of the European Union.

His career spanned academia, politics and international affairs with his roles including a period as Minister for Foreign Affairs, a member of the Presidential Commission during two presidential vacancies, chair of the report that led to the Single European Act (SEA) and the Maastricht Treaty, Professor of Engineering in University College Cork and University College Dublin, President of the International Council for Science (ICSU), President of the Royal Irish Academy and Chair of the Irish Film Board.

[1] Dooge was a member of the Fellowship of Engineering, and worked as an expert consultant to a wide range of specialised United Nations agencies including UNESCO, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

[8] He went on to University College Dublin (here he was awarded the Pierce Malone Scholarship in Theory of Structures and Strength of Materials) and qualified as an engineer.

[10] Alongside fellow Irishman Eamon Nash, he was the founder of what today is called systems hydrology in the early sixties.

He witnessed first-hand the phenomenal growth in climate change awareness: "At that first conference the attendance was almost exclusively made up of scientists and engineers whereas, when the second World Climate Conference took place in 1990, the scientists and engineers were joined by a strong contingent of politicians, a sign that interest in the issues had broadened considerably."

In 1990, WMO launched the idea of an International Conference on Water and Climate that would be held as a preparatory meeting for the Rio Summit on the environment and development.

[13] He worked closely with his colleague Garret FitzGerald from the 1960s onward in establishing the so-called Just Society wing of the Fine Gael party.

In 1977 Dooge retired from politics, choosing to "devote more time to academic concerns and international cooperation in science and engineering".

In 1981 he made a return to politics, and was appointed by the then Taoiseach FitzGerald as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the short-lived Fine Gael-led government.

He had a primary role in the intergovernmental building of a report into improving the co-operation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1984 during Ireland's presidency.

[12] This work, the Dooge Report, is credited as helping form the basis of the Single European Act and the Treaty of Maastricht; those documents use much of the same language.