Ireland’s Edge — Welcome Here, Kind Stranger // Fáilte Romhat, A Strainséir Shéimh

Ireland’s Edge returns to Dingle as part of the Other Voices festival, bringing together artists, thinkers, makers, activists and organisers, to reflect, imagine and exchange perspectives at the edge of things.

This year’s theme, “Welcome Here, Kind Stranger // Fáilte Romhat, a Strainséir Shéimh” is a tender invocation of empathy and belonging drawn from a lyric of the great folk song The Lakes of Pontchartrain, a song that in its own journey both geographical and creative, embodies this year’s theme.

Over two days of conversation, performance, and reflection; Welcome Here, Kind Stranger will explore overlapping themes of humanity, art and place. We will hear from voices pursuing justice and peace in Palestine, from those reflecting on the profound implications of the AI boom, and from experts offering timely and constructive perspectives on climate change, housing, and gentrification. The programme will also reflect on the resurgence of the Irish language, the renewal of Irish craft, and the broader creative renaissance unfolding across Ireland today.

With a programme of exceptional speakers and performers drawn from a rich cross-section of life, origin and craft, we will ask what our role can be in charting a future of openness, understanding and common purpose​.

Friday 28 November | 15:30–19:00

Dán do Manchán Magan / A Poem for Manchán Magan

Dairena Ní Chinnéide, File / Poet

This year’s Ireland’s Edge is dedicated to the memory of Manchán Magan who died on the 2nd of October. More than 32 words would be required to do justice to this magnificent and special human being. We are so proud to have known him and called him a friend and forever grateful to him for his unforgettable Ireland’s Edge interview, still our most popular video and podcast to date. Inspirational, kind, creative, magical, always his own person, he left us too soon. As the Irish phrase has it “tá sé imithe ar shlí na fírinne”, but then Manchán always was on the path of truth. Philip King will introduce his friend, poet Dairena Ní Chinnéide, who will read her poem Eirí Amach an Tródaí which she read at his funeral to open our 11th edition of Ireland’s Edge.

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Is i ndílchuimhne ar ár gcara Manchán Magan, cara mór linn a d’imigh uainn ar an dara lá de mhí Meán Fómhair, a chuirimid eagrán na bliana seo de Ireland’s Edge i bhur láthair. Ní leor 32 focal chun a cheart a thabhairt don duine oirdhearc, spreagúil, cineálta, draíochtúil seo, duine uathúil go smior. I measc na n-agallamh go léir atá foilsithe ag Ireland’s Edge ‘sé an t-agallamh a rinne Manchán ag Ireland’s Edge 2021 an ceann is mó a bhfuil tóir air go fóill. Is fíor a rá go bhfuil Manchán imithe anois ar shli na fírinne agus aithnímid go raibh sé i gcónaí ar thóir na fírinne, mar ba dhual dó. Le tús a chur le heagrán 11 de Ireland’s Edge, cuirfidh Philip King fáilte roimh an bhfile Dairena Ní Chinnéide a dhéanfaidh aithris ar Éirí Amach an Tródaí, dán dá cuid a léigh sí ag sochraid Mhancháin.

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Rage Against the Machine? AI and Its Discontents

With Investigative Journalist, Carole Cadwalladr, Senior Reporter, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Niamh McIntyre, and Writer, Roisin Kiberd. Hosted by Christopher Kissane.

The internet has become a very different place thanks to the rise of AI, with automated content, generative bots, and dynamic algorithms changing the nature of our online world. For many, 'artificial intelligence' is the route to a better future, but for others, it is a regulatory nightmare metastasising toxic bias. So are new technologies improving our online world, or contributing to its 'enshittification', and how do their effects filter through to our offline real lives?

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Bearing Witness: Voices and Testimonies from Gaza and Palestine

With Deputy Medical Coordinator of MSF's operations in Palestine, Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaisib and Human-rights campaigner, educator, filmmaker, and psychotherapist, Caoimhe Butterly. Hosted by Christopher Kissane

As the horrors of the genocide in Palestine have unfolded, the reaction from policy-makers and the international community has not matched the will of ordinary people to respond. Humanitarian workers and activists  have gone to extraordinary lengths to make a difference, but after decades of violence, many feel little hope for the prospects of peace and justice.

As a country with a deep commitment to both peace and solidarity, how can we both bear witness to the suffering and further the cause of a just peace? Caoimhe Butterly and Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaisib are two people who have devoted much of their lives to this cause as an activist and advocate and as a doctor and witness. We are deeply grateful that both have agreed to share their experiences and perspectives with us.

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“Weak Become Heroes”: Culture, Coalition and DIY Collectivism

With Multidisciplinary Artist and Creative, Lava La Rue and DJ and Presenter, Shampain. Hosted by Una Mullally

Audre Lorde described the margin as a site of radical possibility—a place to experiment, play, ask different questions, subvert, resist, and imagine the world anew.

It is in this spirit that we bring together two multifaceted creatives to explore how subcultures, grassroots cultural movements, and DIY collectives foster community, create inclusive spaces, build coalitions, and act as catalysts for positive change. At a time of deep existential anxiety, polarisation, dislocation, and loneliness, how can free parties, shared cultural experiences, art, and music promote dialogue, connection, and collaboration beyond our silos and echo chambers?

This is an ode to the underground, the Other, and the creative and emotional freedom that comes from living outside convention and outside the binary. It is also a reflection on the essential role of the arts in realising the world we dream of.

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Music at the Edge: SOAK

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Saturday 29 November | 12:00–18:00

The Tide Is High: Protecting Ireland’s Coastal Future

With Co-Founder, Maharees Conservation Association CLG, Martha Farrell and Head of the Department of Environmental Science at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Sligo, Dr Salem Gharbia. Hosted by Christopher Kissane.

Nearly half the Irish population lives within a few miles of the coast, and the rising sea levels and extreme weather associated with climate change are putting our coastal areas at risk. Both coastal erosion and urban flooding are increasing dangers for coastal communities, many of which also face issues of economic and demographic sustainability. We will discuss how we can prepare our coasts for the challenges of the next decades and how scientific expertise and community insight must work together to build a sustainable future.

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Rabharta Gaeilge (Irish language panel)

With DJ and Presenter, Shampain, Creative Director, Photographer, and Filmmaker, Peadar Ó Goill and Writer and Journalist, Una Mullally. Hosted by Broadcaster and Writer, Emma Ferrari.

Tá athéirí suntasach ag tarlú thart orainn i saol na Gaeilge – rabharta mór Gaeilge atá ann.  Tá an teanga ina gné lárnach agus tathagach i zeitgeist ár linne, agus tá sí ag fágáil a lorg go láidir ar cheol, scannánaíocht, scríbhneoireacht, faisean, agus na meáin ar bhealaigh atá úrnua, fuinniúil, agus spreagúil. 

Cén borradh atá taobh thiar den rabharta mór seo? Cén tionchar atá á imirt ag cultúr agus ealaíon ar an teanga? Cén léargas a thugann sé seo dúinn ar ár bhféiniúlacht náisiúnta, agus cén buntáiste is féidir a bhaint as seo le leas na Gaeilge ó thaobh tacaíochta agus maoiniú de sna blianta atá amach romhainn?

Beidh Emma Ferrari ag comhrá le triúr a bhfuil tionchar á imirt acu ar chúrsaí cultúrtha, ar an chomhcheangal agus idirspleáchas atá le sonrú idir theanga agus chruthaíocht, an borradh suntasach atá le sonrú in ealaíon Ghaeilge an lae inniu, agus an dóigh a bhfuil an Ghaeilge agus saol an lae inniu fite fuaite le chéile.

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The Irish language is in the midst of a remarkable resurgence. From music, film, and literature to fashion and new media, it has become part of the cultural zeitgeist in ways that feel unprecedented, invigorating, and uplifting.What’s driving this powerful new wave? How have art and culture shaped its story? What does this moment say about our national identity, and how can this momentum be translated into meaningful funding and long-term support for the language’s future?Emma Ferrari sits down with three leading cultural voices to discuss the symbiosis between language and creativity, the flourishing of contemporary Irish-language art, and its intersection with life in modern Ireland.

This conversation will be conducted completely in Irish with simultaneous translation accessible via translation headsets. Please note, there are a limited number of headsets which will be given out on a first come first served basis.

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The Maker Makes: The Art of Irish Craft

With Knife-maker Hugo Byrne, Artist, Domino Whisker and Founder and Creative Director at J. Hill’s Standard, Anike Tyrrell. Hosted by Founder of NATIVE Ballydehob, Didi Ronan.

In an age of mass production, craft offers a way of imagining a better world, a slow, human process that connects us to material, to place, and to one another. Artist Domino Whisker, knife-maker Hugh Byrne, and Anike Tyrrell, founder and artistic director of J. Hill’s Standard Glass, discuss the resurgence of Irish craft and its dialogue with design, memory, identity, and modern culture. From handmade glass to forged steel, tufting and embroidery, this conversation explores the preservation and reimagining of Irish craft, the relationship between art and function, and the quiet power of making as both resistance and renewal.

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Music at the Edge: Dove Ellis

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"What's Left?": A Conversation with Journalist, Dimi Reider. Hosted by Christopher Kissane.

Left-wing journalists across the world continue to report on injustice and violence, but their work has become ever more difficult in the face of rising authoritarianism. Dimi Reider is an Israeli journalist living in London. He is the co-founder of +972 Magazine, the Palestinian-Israeli media collective that has undertaken many major investigations into the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and was a major critic of the rise of Israeli authoritarianism. After moving to the UK, he was also founding editor of The Lead, a group of progressive local and national publications in England. He has written and reported widely on politics in both the Middle East and Britain, and his articles have appeared with The New Statesman, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, and many others. As a facilitator and researcher, he has explored peace-building and dialogue in Northern Ireland. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the Othering and Belonging Institute at University of California, Berkeley. He speaks with Christopher Kissane about what more we can do in the struggle for solidarity.

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Oró Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile: Housing, Gentrification & the Gaeltacht

With Artist & Singer-Songwriter Gemma Dunleavy, Lecturer & Housing Policy Analyst at TU Dublin, Lorcan Sirr and Housing Campaigner with BÁNÚ, Adhna Ní Bhraonáin. Hosted by Una Mullally.

What began as an issue in isolated pockets of Ireland’s cities has become a national crisis affecting every facet of Irish life. Though it consistently tops opinion polls as Irish people’s most important issue and continues to be debated and discussed at every level of media discourse, progress or even clarity on the issue of housing often feels beyond our reach.
Hosted by journalist and author, Una Mullally, this discussion will try to tell this story from a different perspective – to focus on areas less covered and less understood in the current discourse. From gentrification to the Gaeltacht, our panel including artist and musician, Gemma Dunleavy, BÁNÚ spokesperson, Adhna Ní Bhraonáin, and lecturer & housing policy analyst, Lorcan Sirr, will dig into the issues both diffuse and acute facing different communities on our island, and how such communities might be key to charting our collective path forward.

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Reporter at Large: A Conversation with Author & Contributing Writer at The New Yorker, Ed Caesar. Hosted by Christopher Kissane

In our age of ever-shorter attention spans, long-form reporting has become an endangered art. But some stories require months and years of investigation and thought to be told properly. Ed Caesar is a Staff Writer for The New Yorker Magazine, whose recent feature essay, ‘The Irishman’, offered the most in-depth look yet into Daniel Kinahan and his criminal empire. He has previously been named Journalist of the Year by the Foreign Press Association of London for his coverage of the civil war in the Central African Republic, alongside other investigations of diamonds, money laundering, and sinking ships, while his most recent book The Moth and the Mountain was a Telegraph Sports Book of the Year. He speaks with Christopher Kissane about the process and importance of deep reporting and long-form storytelling.

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Courtesy of our venue partner The Dingle Skellig Hotel, a specially prepared three-course lunch will be available to all Saturday attendees in the Hotel’s Coastguard Restaurant.

This year's edition of Ireland's Edge has been made possible thanks to the support of our partners, Reed.‍

This year’s Ireland’s Edge is dedicated to the memory of Manchán Magan. A light-bringer, keeper of the flame, philosopher, druid, scholar, wild rover, connector, Gael. His contribution to Irish life, culture, and language is beyond measure. We owe him so much, and we will miss him deeply. “No better star need exist by which to steer”. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

Tickets for this year's Ireland's Edge are now available below.

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Join us // Bígí linn.