The health of democracy, the European Union, and food will all be examined in a new series of the Galway International Arts Festival's First thought talk, taking place not in the summer, but in October.
MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, journalist Vincent Browne, food writers Bee Wilson and Catherine Cleary, and political scientist David Runciman will explore these issues in three separate talks on Saturday October 12 at NUI Galway.
The talks begin at 2.30pm with Food – The Final Frontier, where Bee Wilson will be in conversation with The Irish Times' Catherine Cleary, to discuss our relationship with food and how we learn to eat.
The 5pm talk will be The Health of Democracy with David Runciman, best selling author of How Democracy Ends. He will discuss democracy in an era of rising nationalism, populism, and ‘strongman’ leaders.
Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were TDs for Dublin North and Wexford respectively from 2011 to 2019, when they were elected as MEPs for Dublin and South. They have worked on many campaigns, including opposition to austerity, protesting US military aircraft stopping at Shannon Airport, highlighting policing issues, and shining a light on practices employed by NAMA’s in selling off its property portfolio. They will be in conversation with Vincent Browne at 7pm.
Tickets for individual talks are €12/10 or €30/25 for all three. They are available via www.giaf.ie/talks/upcoming
