‘Trump, Irish America and the New Right’ – Renowned New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and founder of IrishCentral, Niall O’Dowd will lead a discussion of the new right phenomenon

One of the most striking recent developments in American politics has been the emergence of Irish Americans associated with the Right and their participation in (or support for) the Trump administration. The traditional expectation that Irish Americans align themselves with the Democratic Party (led by the Kennedy family and figures like Tip O’Neill) has been overturned, first by conservative commentators on Fox News like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, and then by prominent members of the Trump election team and cabinet (past and present), including Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, John Kelly, Sean Spicer, Mick Mulvaney, Kelly-Anne Conway, and others. In the wider Republican leadership, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, among others, play an important part in this emerging trend.

This event is designed to develop a better a better understanding of this transformation, what values animate it, and how significant it is for American (and world) politics.

Maureen Dowd, a major American commentator on political questions as columnist for The New York Times (and The Irish Times), and Irish journalist Niall O’Dowd (founder of Irishcentral) will lead a discussion of this phenomenon. A panel of contributors will also participate: Dr. Kathleen Cavanaugh (NUI Galway), Mr. Larry Donnelly (NUI Galway), Prof. Eileen Gillooly (Columbia University) and Dr. Charlotte McIvor (NUI Galway). The event will be chaired by Prof. Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway.

Important Notice

While the event is free, attendees must register in advance due to space restrictions.  Register here.  

Visitor Information

There is very limited paid parking on the grounds of NUI Galway.

On-street parking is available nearby. Pay & Display and permit holder parking available at the Park & Ride facility, North Campus, NUI Galway located just off the main Galway-Oughterard-Clifden Road.

About Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary on Bill Clinton’s impeachment woes, became a columnist on The New York Times Op-Ed page in 1995 after having served for a decade as a correspondent in the paper’s Washington bureau. She was a White House correspondent for Bush I and Clinton and has covered nine U.S. presidential elections, the Irish peace referendum, and elections in France and England. She has written extensively on those countries as well as Saudi Arabia, and has reported on issues of gender around the globe for 30 years. Ms. Dowd has written three New York Times bestsellers: “Bushworld,” “Are Men Necessary?” and “The Year of Voting Dangerously: The Derangement of American Politics.” She is the recipient of the Breakthrough Award from “Women, Men and Media” at Columbia University, the Matrix Award and the Damon Runyon award for outstanding contributions to journalism, and has been named Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year. In 2017 the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded her with its highest honor, the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Mademoiselle, Harper’s Bazaar, Sports Illustrated and Family Circle. She is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the Times’s Styles section. NUI Galway awarded an honorary D Litt to Maureen Dowd in 2012.

About Niall O’Dowd

Niall O’Dowd, a native of Tipperary, is Founder of Irish Voice Newspaper, Irish America Magazine and Irish Central.com which has 3 million users every month. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, UCD for his role in the Irish peace process, acting as the mediator between Sinn Fein and the White House. He was also awarded the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service by President Michael D. Higgins in 2015.

The Washington Post magazine recently published a profile of him and his work titled The Negotiator. Former President Bill Clinton has named him as the person who first got him involved in the Irish peace process. Personally close to the Clintons, he was a member of Hillary Clinton’s Finance Committee in 2008 and 2016.

He was an adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Journalism from 2010 to 2012. He also founded the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and has lobbied for over two decades for a fair and principled immigration policy in the US. In March 2018 he was named as one of the nine most influential Irish-born people who emigrated to the US. A former schoolteacher in Ireland he emigrated to the US in 1979.