Point-Counterpoint: Irish Essays, 2012-2025

Essays on Irish affairs illuminate contested debates about constitutional futures, free speech, and accountability, aided by culture analysis.

Comprising articles on Irish affairs written over the past thirteen years, this collection by Maurice Fitzpatrick offers a wide-ranging analysis of contemporary Ireland. Contributions address topics such as the prospect of a United Ireland, Ireland’s relationship with the United States, British policy on Northern Ireland, and Ireland’s engagement with the wider world. Throughout, Point-Counterpoint dismantles persistent myths and brings clarity to some of the most contested debates of our time.

The collection charts Ireland’s evolving relationship with Europe and Britain in the post-Brexit era and examines the increasingly urgent questions surrounding future constitutional arrangements on the island. Incisive essays on film and literature explore the vital role artists play in illuminating Irish culture and identity. Above all, the book underscores the need for vigilance in defending free speech and ensuring that those in elected office remain accountable to the public. This is a timely and essential volume for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping modern Ireland.

The 91 articles are divided into seven sections: Ireland and the World, Counterpoints, Pop Culture and Politics, Film, Literature, Freedom of the Press, and The North. Notable essays include ‘A Verdict on the Famine’, ‘The Politics of Deportation’, ‘Sinn Féin and the Irish Constitution’, ‘The Rise of the Far Right in Ireland’, ‘Knee-capped But Not Tongue-tied’, ‘Lies, Damn Lies and Documentaries’,‘Friel Translating Irish Identity’, ‘The State of Free Speech’ and ‘I’ll Blooming Kill That Joyce Fella’.

Maurice Fitzpatrick is an author, academic and filmmaker. His book John Hume in America was named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2020 by the American Library Association. In 2024, his essay ‘Remembering for the Future’ was a prize winner in the Hubert Butler Essay competition. His films include The Boys of St. Columb’s (2010), Translations Revisited (2013) and John Hume in America (2017). A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Maurice has lectured at Keio University in Tokyo, Bonn University and the University of Cologne. He held the Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University and was Visiting Professor in Irish Studies at the University of Tübingen. He was recently a Marie Curie Fellow at Sciences Po Paris and is currently a Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge.