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Former President of Ireland Dr Mary McAleese marks the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin with a discussion with the Ambassador of Ireland in London Dan Mulhall on the causes of the event, the subsequent development of Ireland and on the evolution of Irish-UK relations.

McAleese is a Roman Catholic born in Belfast. Her family was forced to leave the area by loyalists when the troubles broke out. She has worked as a barrister and as a journalist and served as the eighth president of Ireland for two terms from 1997 to 2011 after succeeding Mary Robinson. She has described the theme of her presidency as ‘building bridges’. This included efforts to reach out to the Unionist community in Northern Ireland. She played a big part in development of Irish-UK relations and hosted the Queen in 2011 for the historic first state visit of a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland.

Here she talks to Dr Dan Mulhall, who has been the Ambassador of Ireland in London since 2013. He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland in 1978 and has seen postings in New Delhi, Vienna, Brussels, Edinburgh and Kuala Lumpur. Mulhall is also co-editor with Eugenio Biagini of a new book to be published in March, The Shaping of Modern Ireland: A Centenary Assessment.

Supported by Lady Hatch.

Programme of Irish literature and culture.