Lecture: “Ireland’s Call How Brexit Got Done” by Stephen Collins
Brexit altered the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom in a profound way and led to the resignation of four British prime ministers. It took four years for the UK to leave the European Union after the 2016 Leave vote and another four before the outstanding issues relating to Northern Ireland were finally settled in February, 2024.
Ireland’s Call tells the inside story of how Irish political leaders and officials waged a diplomatic campaign to persuade the EU that whatever the outcome of the Brexit talks there could be no hard border on the island of Ireland. Through interviews with senior figures on both sides of the Irish Sea and in Brussels the author reveals how the campaign was devised and pursued to a successful conclusion.
Praise for Ireland’s Call
A tale of shrewd politicking and diplomacy in Dublin told soberly and judiciously. A timely and occasionally eye-opening reminder of how Britain got into the mess. Rory Carroll, The Guardian
Stephen Collins has written a taut aide-memoire. Ireland’s Call provides handy historical context and interesting navigation of Brexit as seen from an Irish perspective. Jude Webber, Financial Times Stephen
Collins’s valuable book about the Brexit negotiations manages to fashion the highly complex events into a coherent and readable narrative. Bobby McDonagh, Irish Times
If you need a reminder of the twists and turns of Brexit, the ineptitude and miscalculations it’s all here, in all its gory detail. David McCullagh, RTE
A clear and readable account of a complicated and tortuous process. Historians and teachers of history will be grateful to have at their disposal such a valuable analysis of the process. Art Cosgrave, historian and former President of UCD
Doors: 7.30pm; Starts: 8pm
Tickets: £8 Entry | £26 with pre-ordered copy of the book
About Stephen Collins
Stephen Collins is a political columnist with the Irish Times and was previously
political editor of the newspaper for over a decade. He was born in Northampton to
Irish parents who returned home when he was a child. Educated at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, he went on to UCD where he graduated with an MA in Politics. He startedas a journalist with the Irish Press group and was political correspondent of theSunday Press and later the Sunday Tribune before moving to the Irish Times. He haswritten a number of books about Irish political history, including, The Power Game:Ireland Under Fianna Fail, (2002), Breaking the Mould: How the PDs changedIrish Politics (2006) and Saving the State: Fine Gael from Collins to Varadkar(2020). His most recent book is Ireland’s Call: How Brexit Got Done (2024).
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