Please join the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies for a public conversation with Claire Hanna, MP and Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and Colin Graham, Professor of English at Maynooth University. Hanna and Graham will reflect on the decade since the Brexit vote and the constitutional future of the island of Ireland. A reception will follow the conversation.
About Claire Hanna
Claire Hanna is currently leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), taking up this role in October 2024. Claire’s political career began with her election to Belfast City Council in 2011. She then served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2015 to 2019. She has served as a Member of Parliament for Belfast South and Mid Down since December 2019. In Westminster, Claire serves on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.
About Colin Graham
Colin Graham is Professor of English at Maynooth University. His books include Ideologies of Epic, Deconstructing Ireland and (as @BorderIrish) I am the Border, So I am. His book Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography won the Michael J. Durkan Prize and was an Observer Photography Book of the Month. His book of memoir-essays, Sensation, will be published in September 2026. Graham presents the My Identity podcast for ARINS and the Royal Irish Academy, and farms sheep in the Dublin mountains.