A united Ireland is among the most contentious issues in Irish and Northern Irish politics. At times during the past century, the idea united Ireland has seemed impossible or been dismissed as romantic but unrealistic. However, in recent years, the outcome of the Brexit referendum, changing demographics in Northern Ireland, and the electoral success of nationalism in Northern Ireland’s most recent elections have reinvigorated the debate around Irish unity, and whether, how, and when it should happen. In his most recent book, Making Sense of a United Ireland, Professor Brendan O’Leary, a global expert on the politics of divided places, explains how unification could happen, sets out potential models of a united Ireland, and analyses the economics and politics of Irish unity. In this keynote address to the IIEA, Professor O’Leary addresses questions of preparation and strategy in the light of public opinion North and South.

About the Speaker:

Brendan O'Leary is the Lauder Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Professor of Political Science at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is the author, co-author, and co-editor of thirty books and collections, and he has written extensively on the Northern Ireland conflict. Professor O’Leary also is a founding member of ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South) programme at the Royal Irish Academy. Professor O’Leary’s three-volume study, A Treatise on Northern Ireland, received the James S. Donnelly Sr. best book prize of the American Conference on Irish Studies in 2020, and he is the inaugural winner of the Juan Linz prize of the International Political Science Association for contributions to the study of multinational societies, federalism and powersharing. Professor O’Leary has also been a political and constitutional advisor to the United Nations, the European Union, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, the Governments of the UK and Ireland, and to the British.