What do Brexit, Trump, human evolution and the US all have in common? They will all be up for discussion this Saturday, September 12th,  at the Galway International Arts Festival's First Thought Talks series presented in association with NUI Galway as part of the festival’s Autumn Edition programme. 

Always a hugely popular part of the Festival, the First Thought Talks series returned last weekend with engaging and enlightening talks from the likes of Professor Luke O’Neill, Fintan O’Toole, RTÉ’s Fergal Bowers and David McCullagh, Dr. Catherine Motherway, Prof Diarmaid Ferriter, Minister Eamon Ryan, Róisín Ingle and many more. 

This weekend, you can catch Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Harvard professor and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power discussing the current state of the US; Glenn Paterson, novelist and author of Backstop Land and Claire Hanna, SDLP MP for Belfast South on Brexit and Northern Ireland; author Gaia Vince discusses the influence of culture on human evolution; journalist Marion McKeone of The Sunday Business Post in conversation with NUIG law lecturer Larry Donnelly on the fate of Trump in this year’s election. 

The Black Box theatre in Galway plays host to the talks this year with all social distancing guidelines adhered to for anyone who wants to watch in-person. All of the talks are also being live-streamed and available to watch later on the Galway International Arts Festival’s website, YouTube channel and Facebook page. 

The Galway International Arts Festival’s Autumn Edition runs until September 26th in the city where visitors can also see Mirror Pavillion, the spectacular outdoor installation by John Gerrard on the Claddagh Quay. It will be moved to Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara in October and is also part of Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture programme. 

For more information on Galway International Arts Festival’s Autumn Edition, visit: https://www.giaf.ie/