Recorded at the London Irish Centre, Camden, 25 January 2017.

At the heart of the past year’s commemoration of the 1916 Rising has been consideration of Ireland’s evolving relationship with the United Kingdom — from being an integral part of it, to Home Rule devolution (realised in the North but not in the South), to Commonwealth dominion, sovereign republic (albeit partitioned), and finally co-members of the European Union. An implicit assumption in this exercise has been the contrast between an Irish state of flux and the apparent stability of the UK. Brexit has now turned this assumption on its head, with major implications for the European Union, the Northern Ireland peace process and the UK itself.

To discuss these and related matters History Ireland editor Tommy Graham was joined for a lively round table discussion by Dan Mulhall (Irish ambassador to the UK), Mary Kenny (writer & journalist), Michael Kennedy (Royal Irish Academy’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), and Martin Mansergh (vice-chair of the Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations). 

The Hedge School series of podcasts is produced by History Ireland and the Wordwell Group. For more information or to subscribe, visit historyireland.com

Supported by the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Initiative.