First Thought

Brexit and the North: Glenn Patterson, MP Claire Hanna and Dave O’Connell

The majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU but has failed to insist on a course which is, arguably, very much in its best interests. What are the divisions within Northern society that have led to the current situation, and how will Brexit play out for the different communities there?

In this episode, we'll hear from Glenn Paterson, novelist and author of Backstop Land and Claire Hanna, SDLP MP for Belfast South. Dave O’Connell, Editor of the Connacht Tribune, moderates the discussion. Claire Hanna participated in the event via video. 

This First Thought Talk took place in front of a live audience in September 2020 as part of Galway International Arts Festival's Autumn Edition. See more: https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/brexit-and-the-north

COVID-19 in Ireland: Dr Luke O’Neill, Dr Catherine Motherway, Dr Paul Moynagh, Dr Mary Favier & David McCullagh

How has Ireland managed the novel coronavirus COVID–19? Were we ready for it? Did the government make the right choices? What isthe science now on the virus?

In this episode, hear from Luke O’Neill, Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Catherine Motherway, intensive care specialist at University Hospital, Limerick, Paul Moynagh, Professor of Biology at Maynooth University, and Dr. Mary Favier, President of the Irish College of General Practitioners, in conversation with David McCullagh, historian and RTÉ presenter.

This talk was recorded in front of a live audience in September 2020 as part of Galway International Arts Festival's Autumn Edition. More: https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/pandemic-reflections-2-covid-19

Bloody Sunday 1920: Paul Rouse, Anne Dolan and Diarmaid Ferriter

100 years ago this 21 November, over 30 people were killed in three separate events: the assassination of British intelligence agents by Michael Collins’ Squad in the morning, the shooting in reprisal of civilians at a match in Croke Park in the afternoon, and the torture and killing of Dick McKee, Peadar Clancy and Conor Clune at Dublin Castle that night.

History is turning its gaze on violence and its effects during this turbulent period. In this episode, two eminent historians enlighten us about new perspectives on what happened that day. Paul Rouse, Professor at the School of History at University College Dublin and Anne Dolan, Associate Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin are joined in conversation with Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin.

This talk was recorded in front of a live audience in September 2020 as part of Galway International Arts Festival's Autumn Edition. More: https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/bloody-sunday-1920

Samantha Power & Áine Lawlor: The State of the US

How do we think about the domestic situation in the United States, and America’s role in the world, as the November 2020 presidential election approaches?

Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Harvard professor, and US Ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama from 2013-2017, will discuss the current state of America and her recent fascinating memoir, The Education of an Idealist, with Áine Lawlor, broadcaster and journalist.

Samantha Power and Áine Lawlor participated in this event via video.

This talk was recorded in front of a live audience in September 2020 as part of Galway International Arts Festival's Autumn Edition. More: https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/the-state-of-the-us

Marion McKeone & Larry Donnelly: Will Trump Win Again?

The US election in November of this year will be one of the most consequential in many years. Can Trump be beaten by Joe Biden? If he is, will he accept the result? If not, what then?

In this episode, hear from Marion McKeone of the Business Post, one of the leading reporters on the US political situation, in conversation with Larry Donnelly, lecturer in law at NUI Galway and frequent media commentator on US affairs.

This talk was recorded in front of a live audience in September 2020 as part of Galway International Arts Festival's Autumn Edition. Presented in association with Festival Education Partner NUI Galway. See more:  https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/will-trump-win-again

Tomi Reichental: A Holocaust Survivor Living in Ireland

One of the last remaining Holocaust survivors living in Ireland, Tomi Reichental did not speak about his experiences for many years after immigrating. Decades later, he went on to take part in a documentary about his attempts to meet one of his jailers. In this episode, recorded at Galway International Arts Festival in July 2018, Reichental speaks with human rights lawyer Saul Woolfson about his experiences in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and what he thinks about 21st century politics.

 

Please note that this subject matter may be upsetting to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. 

To watch the Q&A with Tomi Reichental, and for more First Thought Talks, visit the Galway International Arts Festival website on giaf.ie https://www.giaf.ie/talks/first-thought-talk-with-tomi-reichental

Ireland's Direct Provision System: Donnah Vuma, Bulelani Mfaco and Evgeny Shtorn

First established in the year 2000 to house asylum seekers entering the Irish state in search of international protection, Direct Provision was intended as an interim accommodation system for a six-month period. That was not how it worked out. The average length of stay in Direct Provision was 23 months at the end of 2017, with some staying for as long as five years in conditions which have been criticised by human rights organisations. In this episode, we’ll hear from Donna Vuma, Bulelani Mfaco and Evgeny Shtorn in conversation about their experiences in Ireland’s Direct Provision system. 

 

This First Thought Talk was recorded at Galway International Arts Festival in July 2019 in front of a live audience. Anne Mulhall, activist in the Movement for Asylum Seekers in Ireland, moderates the discussion.

 

 

Bee Wilson: Food, the Vital Frontier

In this episode, celebrated food writer Bee Wilson joins Catherine Cleary, journalist and food writer with The Irish Times, to discuss our evolving relationship with food and the way we live (and eat) now. Bee Wilson is a journalist and historian and the author of five books on food-related subjects, the most recent being The Way We Eat Now: Strategies for Eating in a World of Change (2019). She has been described by Jane Kramer of the New Yorker as having “the kind of narrative charm that could carry large chunks of scholarship; weave them together; sprinkle them with asides, experiences, suppositions, and strong opinions; and entertain you.”

 

Bee Wilson is chair of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery.

 

This First Thought Talk was recorded in front of a live audience at NUI Galway as part of Galway International Arts Festival’s Autumn 2019 First Thought Talks programme https://www.giaf.ie/talks/food-the-vital-frontier

Fintan O'Toole: Brexit

Perhaps Ireland’s best known journalist, Fintan O’Toole is well known for piercing political commentary and in this episode he ruthlessly dissects the psychology and politics of Brexit. His First Thought Talk Listen, recorded in 2018, is both pointed and prescient. Listen to learn how trivial journalistic lies became far-from-trivial national obsessions; how the pose of camp indifference to truth and historical fact has come to define the style of an entire political elite; the redefinition of a country that once had colonies as an oppressed nation requiring liberation; the strange gastronomic and political significance of prawn-flavoured crisps, and their role in the rise of Boris Johnson.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at NUI Galway at the Winter 2018 First Thought Talks programme presented by Galway International Arts Festival. To watch the Q&A which followed the talk, visit the talks section on Galway International Arts Festival’s website on giaf.ie: https://www.giaf.ie/talks/first-thought-talk-with-fintan-otoole

Kate Mulgrew: How to Forget

Kate Mulgrew is an actor and author best known for starring roles in Star Trek (Captain Janeway) and Orange is the New Black (Red). In this episode, Kate discusses her memoir How to Forget, which chronicles the time she spent caring for her parents at the end of their lives. Her moving, funny talk explores the universal themes of life, death, and family as well as the riotous stories and career highlights that could only come from Kate herself. Kate is joined in conversation by Eithne Verling, Director of the Galway City Museum.

Kate Mulgrew’s First Thought Talk took place on the NUI Galway campus and was recorded in front of a live audience as part of Galway International Arts Festival in July 2019. You can watch the video from this event here (Star Trek fans especially will want to tune into the audience Q&A at the end): https://www.giaf.ie/talks/first-thought-talk-with-kate-mulgrew