We had a fantastic Festival event at the Royal Irish Academy on Monday evening, discussing Ireland & Neutrality.

Professor Eunan O'Halpin introduced the history of neutrality as a central pillar of Irish foreign policy. Historian and broadcaster Misha Glenny then gave us a fascinating view on the wider contemporary European context with particular focus on Austria, where he is currently Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. They were joined on a panel to discuss the subject with Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, former Chief of Staff of Ireland's Defence Forces, Professor Patrick Keatinge and Stephen Kelly of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), all very ably chaired by Festival co-Founder Simon Kingston. We are most grateful to Stephen for stepping in at the last moment after Catherine Connolly TD had to withdraw.

A film of the event will be posted on our website shortly, but in the meantime here's some pictures of the evening.