EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and former Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill are among the guest speakers that have been confirmed for the 2023 Kennedy Summer School.
The annual event is hosted in the ancestral hometown and homestead of former US president John F Kennedy, New Ross in Co Wexford.
It will run from August 31st to September 2nd.
Details of guest speakers were announced this week and tickets are now on sale via the Kennedy Summer School website, KennedySummerSchool.ie.
Kennedy Summer school is partnering with American universities Boston College Massachusetts and Purdue University Indiana for the 2023 programme.
Boston College will sponsor the Speakers Lunch at the JFK Arboretum while Purdue University will sponsor some of the events on the final day of the programme.
Set to join in events at the summer school are leading expert speakers from both sides of the Atlantic: authors, ambassadors, politicians, news correspondents and academics who will focus on topical issues in Irish and US politics and participate in debates on a wide range of subjects with the US, the EU and Northern Ireland to feature prominently.
The summer school will be officially opened by Canadian Ambassador Nancy Smyth, who will address the summer school audience and participate in a public interview with Eileen Dunne. Ambassador Smyth will discuss the relationship and cultural differences between Canada and USA and more on Thursday, August 31st at 6.30 pm at St Michael’s Theatre in New Ross.
Football legend Martin O’Neill will be visiting New Ross for the summer school’s opening night. O’Neill won two European Cups as a player with Nottingham Forest and captained Northern Ireland at the 1982 World Cup. As a manager, he enjoyed great success at a number of clubs including, Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa. He also led the Republic of Ireland to qualification for 2016 European Championships.
In a public interview with Dr Brian Murphy, "Martin will discuss his extraordinary life in football and share his views on the future of the beautiful game".
Other highlight events include an expert panel set to discuss ‘Celebrity Politics’ which will be moderated by Sarah Carey. She will be joined by panellists: Dr Kathryn Cramer Brownell, associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University; Terry Prone, chairman at The Communications Clinic; Gerard Howlin, public affairs consultant, political commentator and former senior government adviser; and Dermot Murnaghan, former Sky News presenter and journalist.
An expert panel will also discuss the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s membership of the European Union with moderator Alex White SC, former TD and Government Minister and Director General of the Institute for International and European Affairs.
Other panellists include Patrick Honohan, former Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland; Ray Bassett, ex-Irish ambassador and diplomat; Suzanne Lynch, of Politico Brussels and former Washington correspondent for The Irish Times; Lucinda Creighton, CEO of Vulcan Consulting and former Minister for European Affairs; and Dermot Murnaghan.
On Saturday, September 2nd, the Saturday interview will see a husband and wife political duo take to the stage to discuss their opposing political viewpoints. Husband and Democratic political consultant James Carville, who was the lead strategist in Bill Clinton's winning 1992 presidential campaign, will appear alongside his wife and Republican political consultant Mary Matalin.
Matalin served under President Ronald Reagan, was campaign director for George H.W. Bush, was an assistant to President George W Bush and counsellor to vice president Dick Cheney until 2003.
The annual JFK Summer School Speakers Lunch at the JFK Arboretum will be dedicated to the memory of the late Dr Robert Mauro who was a good friend and a director of the Kennedy Summer School. The special guest of honour and speaker for the 2023 luncheon event is EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
