MacGill Summer School 2025
July 17th-19th

In association with University of Notre Dame

The MacGill Summer School, in association with University of Notre Dame, is Ireland's international forum for thought leaders to discuss the critical issues facing the country, Europe, and our world.

The MacGill Summer School was founded by Dr. Joe Mulholland over forty years ago in the small town of Glenties in County Donegal and has grown from very modest beginnings to being one of the most important fora in Ireland for the analysis of topics of national and international interest.

It has consistently been a source of innovative and fresh thinking on a range of social, economic, and political ideas. Every July it brings together government ministers, parliamentarians, heads of industry, trade union leaders, economists, sociologists, church leaders and a broad range of public representatives from the North and South of Ireland, and beyond. 

In 2025 the event will take place at The Highlands Hotel on July 17th-19th and is in association with University of Notre Dame.

Schedule Highlights 2025

A Fractured World

 

11.00 Opening of MacGill School 2025: Ireland in a Fractured World
  • Vincent Mc Carthy, Director MacGill Summer School
  • Prof. Colin Barr, Thomas Moore and Judy Livingston Director, Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies; Professor of Modern Irish History at University of Notre Dame
  • Prof. Brigid Laffan, Chancellor of University of Limerick
  • Prof. Mary Gallagher, Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at University of Notre Dame

12.00 Ireland’s Business Model 2.0
  • Sarah Carey, Journalist & Broadcaster [HOST]
  • Prof. Martina Lawless, Director ESRI
  • Danny McCoy, CEO IBEC
  • Dan O’Brien, Chief Economist IIEA & Columnist at The Currency
  • Sean Finlay, President Irish Academy of Engineering
13.15  Break

14.30 How to Make Ireland the Best Place In the World to Grow Up?
  • Áine Kerr, Chair of Gaisce [HOST]
  • Dr. Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children
  • Chris Quinn, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People
  • Prof. Rose Anne Kenny, Founding Principal Investigator The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) & Chair of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin
  • Patricia Forde, Ireland’s Laureate na nÓg, Former Director of the Galway International Arts Festival & Co-founder of Baboró International Arts Festival

15.45  Break

16.15  Caught in the Crossfire: Ireland, Trump, and the China Dilemma
  • Finbarr Bermingham, Europe Correspondent South China Morning Post [HOST]
  • Prof. Mary Gallagher, Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at University of Notre Dame
  • Bill Emmott, Former Editor of The Economist and Chair of IISS
  • Prof. Donnacha O Beachain, Professor of Politics Dublin City University. Author of new book ‘Unfinished Empire: Russian Imperialism in Ukraine and the Near Abroad’.
17.30  Break

20.00 The Case For and Against a United Ireland
  • Sarah Carey, Journalist & Broadcaster [HOST]
  • Sam McBride, Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph & Sunday Independent. Co-Author of upcoming book ‘For and Against a United Ireland’.

21.30 CLOSE
  • Traditional Music @ Navvy Poet Bar Highlands Hotel

  * Programme is subject to change

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