Carole Cadwalladr at TEDSummit 2019 in Edinburgh. Image: Ryan Lash/TED/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The first round of speakers announced for the Ireland’s Edge event in Dingle includes journalist Carole Cadwalladr, CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan and a former Brexit spokesperson.
Returning to Dingle, Co Kerry, this November is Ireland’s Edge, an event welcoming thinkers, policy-makers, innovators, commentators and artists to enjoy talks and performances as part of the Other Voices festival.
This year’s theme for Ireland’s Edge is centred on ‘endings and edges, bonds and borderlands’, with topics drawn from current discourse on sovereignty, immigration, citizenship, climate, international trade, gender and technological innovation. These subjects will be explored in the context of Ireland and its diaspora’s dramatically changing relationships with the UK, the EU and the US.
Politics, tech and the media
The role of the media in this shifting landscape is likely to be in the spotlight with a line-up that includes CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan, known for his work tracking online disinformation campaigns; OpenDemocracy UK investigations editor Peter Geoghegan, whose latest book – Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics – will be released in February; and investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr.
Last year, Cadwalladr famously published her investigation into Cambridge Analytica with contributions from whistleblower Christopher Wylie. Published in The Observer and shared with the New York Times, Cadwalladr’s investigation saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called before US Congress and changed how social media users think about data-sharing and the content they see online.
This work also won Cadwalladr a Polk Award and the Orwell Prize and, this year, she spoke at TED on the role social platforms play in politics, and the threat that poses to democracy.
The Ireland’s Edge line-up also includes artists, performers and creative directors woven into discussions around Brexit, Ireland’s place in Europe and more.
The conference will also host Matthew O’Toole, former Brexit spokesperson at 10 Downing Street who stepped down one year after the referendum, saying: “I think that there should have been more emphasis on Irish things before the referendum”; and environmentalist Saoirse McHugh, who rode the ‘green wave’ of this year’s European Elections to go from an unknown candidate for Ireland’s Green Party to securing 64,000 votes.
Ireland’s Edge will take place in Skellig Hotel, Dingle, on 29 and 30 November. Tickets are available now, priced at €35 for two days or €20 for one day.
Carole Cadwalladr at TEDSummit 2019 in Edinburgh. Image: Ryan Lash/TED/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
