Watchback Discourse Series | Explaining Unionism panel discussion

Watch the recording of this panel discussion with Linda Ervine MBE, Philip Orr MRIA and Glenn Patterson, chaired by Tommie Gorman, that took place on 18 April 2024.

How is Ulster Unionism defined and is it misunderstood in the Republic? This panel discussion explored the different meanings of Unionism and how they can be explained to societies outside Northern Ireland.

Our panel:

Linda Ervine MBE is a language rights activist from East Belfast. She is a speaker and supporter of the Irish language and is the founder and project leader of the Turas Irish language project, which aims to connect people from Protestant communities to their own history with the Irish language.

Philip Orr MRIA is an independent scholar, playwright and public intellectual who brings the fruits of research into the public sphere to advance peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. He was admitted as a Member of the Academy in 2018.

Glenn Patterson is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter living in Belfast. He is a founding patron of Fighting Words Northern Ireland, and is the Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast.

Tommie Gorman was RTÉ News Northern Editor (2001-2021). His autobiography Never Better: My Life in Our Times was published in 2022.

Royal Irish Academy Discourse Series

Our discourses are the oldest and most renowned series of talks in Ireland. The first discourses were presented in 1786. Historically, Academy discourses were the occasion reserved for the most distinguished academics to first reveal and discuss their research in public. Continuing in this tradition, the Discourse Series brings international experts to the Academy to discuss important contemporary issues in front of a live audience.