In the second episode of ‘My Identity’ Professor Colin Graham (Maynooth) is in conversation with NI Justice Minister and Leader of the Alliance Party, Naomi Long MLA. This episode is a recording of a public conversation which took place in Dublin on 6 December 2024.

A lifelong resident of East Belfast, and politically active since her early twenties, Naomi first joined Belfast City Council as an Alliance Party councillor in 2001. She was subsequently elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast in 2003. After having the honour of serving as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2009 to 2010, she became the first Alliance MP elected to Westminster, as Member of Parliament for East Belfast in 2010, unseating the then First Minister, Peter Robinson. In May 2016, Naomi returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly as MLA for East Belfast, before becoming Leader of Alliance that October. Since then, she has presided over the most successful elections in Alliance’s history. Naomi is the current Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

In this episode she discusses, among other things, her upbringing, her faith and her career journey.

The recording of the event can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXiqr9KX34s

Read more about the event here: https://www.ria.ie/blog/the-long-view-identity-is-a-fluke-of-where-you-were-born/ This is episode 2 of the My Identity podcast series hosted by Professor Colin Graham, Maynooth. In this series, Colin is in conversation with a range of people whose ideas, work and life experiences shed light on the topic of identity on the Island of Ireland. My Identity is part of the ARINS project.

Colin Graham is Professor English and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Maynooth University. His books include Northern Ireland: Thirty Years of Photography, Deconstructing Ireland and Ideologies of Epic. He was editor of The Irish Review from 2004 to 2020. During the Brexit negotiations he created the Twitter account @borderirish and wrote the book I am the Border, so I am, published by HarperCollins.

ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com

ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.

My Identity is hosted by Professor Colin Graham. Podcast management and production by Dr Susie Deedigan. Audio design and editing by The Spinning Mill, Belfast.