This year's festival will open with a panel discussion on the recently published book The Taoiseach: A Century of Political Leadership.

Edited by Iain Dale, broadcaster and political commentator, the book features essays on every holder of the office of Taoiseach, including chapters by Stephen Collins (Jack Lynch), Dr Deirdre Foley (Liam Cosgrave) and Professor Gary Murphy (Charlie Haughey). We're delighted to announce that the panel will feature all four in conversation. For a taster, you can check out the most recent episode of the History Show on RTÉ Radio One.

Stephen Collins is a political columnist with the Irish Times and was previously political editor of the newspaper for over a decade. Deirdre Foley is a historian of modern Ireland with a particular interest in the legal and social status of women in twentieth-century Ireland.  Gary Murphy is a Professor of Politics at Dublin City University.

You can get your tickets here - please note this event will start at 3pm on Friday 7 August (an earlier Festival start time than previous years). We'll see you at our beautiful Festival venue, Inish Beg, from 7-9 August!